President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday in Abuja said that his administration was talking to Niger Delta militants through oil companies and law-enforcement agencies to find a lasting solution to insecurity in the region.
He was speaking during a farewell audience with Mr. Michael Zinner, the outgoing Ambassador of Germany to Nigeria at the presidential villa, spokesman Garba Shehu said in a statement.
He told the ambassador that his government was studying the instruments of the Amnesty Programme inherited from the previous administration with a view to carrying out commitments it made that were undelivered.
“We understand their feelings,” the President said. “We are studying the instruments. We have to secure the environment, otherwise investment will not come. We will do our best for the country," he affirmed.
President Buhari used the opportunity to thank the government of Germany for its continuing support of Nigeria in the efforts to tackle insecurity and the on-going rehabilitation and resettlement of displaced citizens in crisis areas in the North-Eastern parts of the country.
He also thanked Nigeria’s neighbours for their firm and unflinching support in the war against terror.
Mr. Zinner, in his comments, noted that bilateral relations between Nigeria and Germany have improved very much since the beginning of the Buhari administration.
He expressed the readiness of Germany to assist Nigeria in the rehabilitation process in the North East to help displaced persons return to their villages. He also expressed the eagerness of German businesses to invest in the country, as “conditions for investment have been put in place”.
The outgoing German Ambassador reiterated the standing invitation of Chancellor Angela Merkel to President Buhari to visit Germany.
