The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) has denied meeting with Nigeria’s Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung. Mr. Dalung claimed that on July 15, during a two-hour journey on the sea to Oporoza Community in the Gbaramatu Kingdom in Delta State, he held talks with NDA’s leadership.
The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) has denied meeting with Nigeria’s Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung.
Mr. Dalung claimed that on July 14, during a two-hour journey on the sea to Oporoza Community in the Gbaramatu Kingdom in Delta State, he held talks with NDA’s leadership.
However, in a statement released by the spokesman, Brigadier General Mudoch Agbinibo on Monday, July 18, denies that a meeting with Mr. Dalung took place.
The statement reads:
“The Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung narrated how he met with some self-claimed Niger Delta Avengers in Oporoza, Gbaramatu Kingdom. We are here to let the general public know that Niger Delta fraudsters have defrauded the Minister.
“Niger Delta Avengers can’t stoop so low to send representatives to meet with a common Minister of Youth that doesn’t know his work. Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung has been defrauded and played by Niger Delta Fraudsters.
“He didn’t have any meeting with us (Niger Delta Avengers). Let’s make this clear, any meeting with Niger Delta Avengers that the International communities are not part to witness, we (Niger Delta Avengers) will not be part of any such dialogue as well.”
Brig. Gen Mudoch Agbinibo
Spokesperson
Mr. Dalung claimed that during the meeting, he was given a sealed hand-written letter to be delivered to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Meanwhile, the leadership of the community has said that it did not receive Mr. Dalung. According to Vanguard, Mr. Johnbull Demebi, spokesman of the Gbaramatu Communities Chairmen Forum, was quoted as saying, “It is pertinent to state that to the best of our knowledge, we, the leadership of the community did not receive the Hon. Minister of Youth and Sports, or any other government official in Oporoza town last week.”
He asserted that the people of Oporoza condemn the activities of the NDA.
Insisting that to the best of their knowledge, Mr. Dalung had not visited the community, Mr. Demebi said that “the last government visitor to Oporoza community was the Acting Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris.”
He advised government functionaries and VIPs “to be careful and mindful of persons they associate with, particularly with the intention of visiting our communities, as some persons are out to make money from top government functionaries and bring the name of the community disrepute.”
He added that Mr. Dalung has been deceived by “mischievous person and perhaps must have been swindled,” and suggested that intending visitors to the community “should make proper arrangement with the leadership of such communities to avoid any mishap in the course of such journey.”
SaharaReporters reached out to Mr. Dalung for comment on this piece. However, he was not available at the time of publication.
