President Buhari orders suspension of military action in Niger Delta for two weeks

In a bid to quell the unrest in the Niger Delta region by militants in recent times, President Buhari has ordered the military to suspend operations in the region for two weeks to create room for dialogue with militants. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, disclosed this at the handover ceremony of Federal Polytechnic of Oil and Gas to the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja, yesterday June 6th.

According to Kachikwu, the team for the dialogue will consist of top officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, service chiefs and ministers from the Niger Delta region.

"The President is interested in dialogue and has mandated the military to halt actions for about two weeks to ensure a team that will be led by the NSA, dialogues with the militants to ensure peace in the region. The avenue is open for them, provided the militants are willing to embrace dialogue and allow truth to reign because we are going to involve key leaders from the region who have had previous experience in that area to play whatever role they can"he said