The Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force (JNDLF) has said that its earlier threat to launch six missiles simultaneously against some targeted areas in Nigeria, especially, Abuja, the nation’s Federal Capital Territory was waved aside as a result of President Muhammadu Buhari’s move to open talks with them.

This position was made known in a press statement on Friday and signed on behalf of the Joint Revolutionary Council by the Commander, General Duties, General Akotebe Darikoro; Creeks Network Coordinator, General Torunana Owellatei; Pipelines Bleeding Expert, General Agbakakuro Owei-Tauro and Intelligence Bureau, General Pulokiri Ebiladei.

The group said that they saw some genuine aspiration “on the part of Pharaoh of Nigeria (Buhari) who made several contacts to us to see reasons with them in terms of under-development of the region. And since he (Buhari) had set the ball rolling for a clear negotiation with us, there is no problem without solution hence we ceasefire to negotiate with the
government if it is a true reflection of what they have in mind to development the Niger Delta region.
“We are not ready to negotiate with the federal government in terms of monetary benefit to us but how genuinely the government can develop the region is at the centre of our discussion, anything less than that we will continue our struggle without further warning to the federal
government.
“Our demands include:
1.      Immediate release of the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd.) and Dr. Nnamdi Kanu, whose releases was pronounced by the court severally and their continue detention is unconstitutional and against the tenet of our nascent democracy in the
country.
2.      Direct EFCC to defreeze the bank accounts of ex-militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, (a.k.a. Tompolo)

3.     The only Nigerian Maritime University sited in the most appropriate and befitting place – Okerenkoko in Delta State, must start the 2015/2016 academic session immediately.
   4.      The immediate implementation of the report of the 2014 National Conference report, failure of which Nigeria will forcefully break-up.
   5.      Oil-polluted lands in the Niger Delta must be cleaned up, while compensation should be paid to all oil-producing communities, e.g. Chevron fire outbreak of gas explosion in Koluama, Bayelsa state and Bonga Oil Spill in 2011.
   6.      Removal of Brigadier General Paul Boroh (rtd.) as an Amnesty Coordinator who is naïve about the programmes and policies and does not know us to the grassroot. Hence he (Boroh) should be re-placing with Dr. Felix Tuodolo who has been in the struggle of non-violence
   since 1980 and the designer of the Amnesty programme, as this will stall further vandalization of pipelines in the region.
   7.      Why all these attacks on oil and gas pipelines in the region is that the Pharaoh of Nigeria (Buhari) made a childish statement that, he will develop those areas that gave him 95% votes during his presidential election last year. We the Niger Delta people only gave
   him 5% hence we vowed that our oil money will not be use for the development of any other region. The President should change his mind set towards the region, if not this will continue.
   “We further thanked the American government and other international nations through several email, in prevailing on us not to use Missiles but to tow the part of coming into a round table discussion with the federal government, we shall continue to engage in dialogue if our
   demands are met. Our representatives for the dialogue especially the Governors and others will not betray our demands with the federal government. Any betrayal on their own part shall be viewed as betrayal of the entire region and we shall go after them immediately as they knows our mode of operation in which they will not escape from us.

“We also thank our foreign partners who have gone back with their chartered submarine vessel if these demands are not met as we have ceasefire now, there will be NO further ultimatum to the Nigerian government.” [myad]

Amnesty International has said that Nigerian soldiers are guilty of using “unnecessary and excessive force” in shooting dead, scores of pro-Biafra protesters in southern Nigeria.
The military clashed with members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)—a group calling for independence of the region of Biafra from Nigeria—on May 29-30 in Onitsha in Anambra state. IPOB members have carried out regular demonstrations across southern Nigeria since the group’s leader Nnamdi Kanu, a dual British-Nigerian national, was arrested in October 2015 in Lagos. Kanu remains in detention and is facing charges of treasonable felony, which he denies.
Witnesses told Amnesty that at least 40 people were killed in the clashes, and the human rights organization said it was able to confirm at least 17 deaths and 50 people wounded.

“Opening fire on peaceful IPOB supporters and bystanders who clearly posed no threat to anyone is an outrageous use of unnecessary and excessive force and resulted in multiple deaths and injuries,” said M.K. Ibrahim, Amnesty’s country director in Nigeria.
The Nigerian Army hit back with their own claims about the incidents, describing Amnesty’s report as part of a “campaign of calumny” against its soldiers.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Nigerian Army said that pro-Biafra protesters engaged in “violent protests which led to the outright breakdown of law and order.”

The army claimed that two soldiers were killed in the clashes and that it had exercised “maximum restraints against the odds of provocative and inexplicable violence that were employed against them by the pro-Biafra protesters.”
The clashes in Onitsha came as pro-Biafra activists marked the anniversary of the one-time republic’s independence, which was announced on May 30, 1967. Following the violence—with clashes also reported in Asaba, the capital of Nigeria’s Delta state.

The Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, had earlier issued an order for all IPOB protesters to be disarmed.

Amnesty said that all the people it interviewed claimed that the activists were not armed and that the evidence pointed to the military having opened fire on them first.
Witnesses told Amnesty that tens of protesters were still being held by the Nigerian military in their barracks, though the organization could not confirm this.

Amnesty called for any IPOB members being held in detention to be immediately charged or released. [myad]

The FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has lamented that the Abuja township transport service is almost collapsed, as many township buses are grounded.
The Minister who spoke in his office in Abuja while receiving a delegation from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), led by the Korean Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Noh Kyu-duk, said that the running of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system has been quite challenging as substantial numbers of the huge fleet of buses in the system were down and non-functional.
“We are thinking that if we can get the company that is very experienced in managing urban mass transit system that uses buses, they may want to come in and we can go into partnership.
“We own the bus company but if we get serious investors, we can reduce the percentage of ownership because what we are interested is not to make money out of the business, but to improve the movement of the people within the city.”
Muhammad Bello noted that the geometric rise in Abuja’s population is posing serious challenges in the areas of managing the city’s traffic movements, waste disposal and electricity generation.
The Minister said that the Korean government could consider the possibility of investing in these areas to deepen its relationship with Nigeria.
He praised the Korean Agency for the proposed capacity building programme planned for the would-be teachers in its school, saying that it would create quality managers whose by-products would positively impact on the development of the country in the future by the time the school comes on stream in 2018.
The Minister said that the FCT Administration is working at creating a special unit in his office that would communicate directly with all the multilateral agencies and countries that are doing projects on joint venture with the FCT Administration to smoothen their operations.
He commended the 15 million USD Korea Model School being built along the Airport road, Abuja via multilateral cooperation between Nigeria and the Korean government.
He assured that visitors that his government is ready to partner with them on any project that any of the Korean companies is interested to do in Abuja, especially in the area of power generation, “because power is needed now more than ever in the city for all the public facilities; we get the power from the national grid and it’s not enough.”
Earlier, the Korean Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Noh Kyu-duk said that his home government would build certain parts of the Model School, while the FCT Administration will handle other parts.
Kyu-duk described the project as  unique as it would serve as landmark in educational sector between Nigeria and the Korean Republic.
The Ambassador recalled that the electricity situation in the FCT was much better some 20 years ago when KOICA first came to Abuja, but regretted that the agency is now running on generators to sustain its activities.
“Some of the Korean companies have good experience and technology to build this kind of power plant if the opportunity could be given to us.” [myad]