The One Nigeria agenda received a boost after the coalition of Niger Delta militants withdrew the quit notice they issued to Northerners and Yorubas for the first of October 2017.
According to a new group, the Pan Niger Delta People’s Congress (PNDPC), who have claimed that they have the mandate to negotiate for the Niger Delta with the Federal Government and other interested stakeholders also claimed they have the blessing of the issuers of the quit notice to withdraw it.
The coalition comprises the Reformed Niger Delta Avengers; Niger Delta Joint Revolutionary Crusaders Council; Niger Delta Supreme Egbesu Fighters; Niger Delta Red Scorpion Fighters; Niger Delta Youth Mandate for Justice; Niger Delta People’s Liberation Force; Niger Delta Fighters for Resource Control; Niger Delta for Urhobo Resource Control; and Bakassi People’s Liberation Force.
They appointed His Royal Majesty Pere Ayemi-Botu, paramount ruler of Seimbiri Kingdom as the head of the PNDPC and named Chief Mike Loyibo as the coordinator/ convener of the group.
Loyibo announced the withdrawal of the quit notice stating that the youths were ready to step back after being educated on the implications of the quit notice to the peace and development of the region.
“People should disregard the quit notice from our youths. I have spoken to many of them and they mandated me to withdraw it on their behalf.” He said
He continued; “They have called off the quit notice and discharged it. Everybody in the region in the west, east and north should go about their normal business. I can guarantee them of their safety.
“The entire Niger Delta people are not in agreement with the quit notice issue. The boys that issued it are very remorseful. So, they have asked me, because they mandated me to speak for them and the region, to discharge the quit notice.
“This quit notice and counter quit notice found their foundations from the precolonial days. The three leaders that negotiated the independence of Nigeria did not love themselves.
“It was the crisis that extended to our era where everybody begins to struggle for their own. I don’t believe in regional or tribal considerations. As Ijaw people, those that had been good to us did not come from our region,” he said.`