Militants vow to deal with N’Assembly members from Niger Delta region

National Assembly members from the oil rich region of Niger Delta have been described as “enemies of development,” by a militant group, Reformed Niger Delta Avengers (RNDA).

RNDA dubbed lawmakers from the region as full of “ineptitude, foolishness, non-committed approach and dumbness,” and vowed to deal with them by blowing up their properties in the region.

The militant threat was based on the allegation that the lawmakers “irresponsibly” consented to the cutback of funds to key infrastructural projects for the region in the 2018 budget, which was recently signed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The position of the militants came following the meeting they had at Benin River, in Egbema, Delta State, where they reportedly appraised the budgetary provisions for various projects in the region in what they said, is in commensuration with the wealth obtained from the area’s crude oil.

“To this end, the RNDA has declared all National Assembly members from the Niger Delta region as the true enemies of the development of the region and would deal decisively with them while their properties scattered across the Niger Delta region will receive a dose of our ravaging dynamites.

“We note that the National Assembly members have not been able to attract projects but would sit down and fold their hands in the Green and Red chambers and superintend over reduction of funding for key projects attracted to the development of the long neglected region by others.

“It is shameful and abysmal failure on the part of our legislators in the National Assembly to sit down and endorse this injustice done to the people of the region when the President had already allocated funds for such projects with direct positive impact on the people.

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“It is totally unacceptable in this era as it will no longer be condoned for our elected representatives to pursue their personal interest to the detriment of the region’s development as was clearly displayed by former President Goodluck Jonathan in his epileptic six years reign while under his blind watch, allowed some of his ministers and cohorts to milk the wealth of the region dry without contributing any single project to the region.

“We were totally taken aback over the reduction of funds allocated to the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenko. This was one project that we sacrificed our lives in the creek to fight for, the second Niger bridge, the East- West road that cuts across all the Niger Delta states, which former President Jonathan and his PDP government could not complete among other critical projects by the National Assembly,” the group said.

Recall that South-East National Assembly members had also kicked against the reduction of funding for key projects in its region in the 2018 budget.

 

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