SaharaReporters further learnt that Ogbonnaya, who is now currently detained by the Nigerian police at an unknown location in Lagos, was contacted by Major General Yinka Famadewa (Retd.) who was an aide to Monguno at that time to assist the Buhari government in persuading the avengers to end the bombings of oil pipelines.
The former administration of Muhammadu Buhari through his then National Security Adviser, Maj Gen Babagana Monguno (retd.), reached out in May 2016 the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Edmund Ogbonnaya, more commonly known as Greg, and requested for assistance to quell the Niger Delta Avengers’ crisis, SaharaReporters gathered from sources familiar with the matter.
SaharaReporters further learnt that Ogbonnaya, who is now currently detained by the Nigerian police at an unknown location in Lagos, was contacted by Major General Yinka Famadewa (Retd.) who was an aide to Monguno at that time to assist the Buhari government in persuading the avengers to end the bombings of oil pipelines.
SaharaReporters had last Saturday reported that the Nigeria Police Force reportedly invaded the residence of Ogbonnaya, “Greg” in the Ajegunle area of Lagos State and arrested him.
SaharaReporters had learnt that Ogbonnaya was arrested by the police and has been detained at an unknown location as his whereabouts are presently unknown.
One of the associates of the MEND leader had told SaharaReporters that despite assisting the former president, Muhammadu Buhari's administration to stop the bombing in the Niger Delta region by militants - the avengers in 2015 and 2016, the government had forgotten him and turned back to witch-hunt the Niger Delta leader.
SaharaReporters was told that "Greg" is the chairman of the Overseas Marine Services (OMS).
One of Ogbonnaya's junior associates, Oluwasegun Moses, had narrated how the police picked up Ogbonnaya (who he refers to as "my boss" and the police claimed that he had a psychiatric condition and they needed to take him to a secret location.
Speaking further on the events in 2016 between Ogbonnaya, Buhari and Monguno, the aide said, “The retired Major General Yinka Famadewa PGSO1 To General Monguno, NSA to Muhammadu Buhari was the person who contacted my principal on a Wednesday afternoon, three weeks after he had been persuaded by Charles to assist the government in putting an end to the bombings on oil pipelines by the avengers (NDA) based on Charles’s awareness that my principal had some sort of relationship with Henry Okah.
“My principal then said he would only be comfortable having such meeting with the C-in-C (Buhari) but after much persuasion to meet with the NSA and PGSO1, he later agreed. Brig Gen Yinka then requested to meet him on that day but my principal pushed the meeting till the following day being Thursday, May 19, 2016. The General was a mutual friend of Agboola Abiola and he was introduced to my boss by Charles Adeogun Philips and Agboola Abiola, the son of the late MKO Abiola.
“That day was the day we were meant to visit NAPIMS in Lagos to go take “something else”, as they all referred to it. I mean people like Mele Kyari who was then general manager materials and metals (NAPIMS); were involved and a whole of other stakeholders including those currently acting on the political stage at the highest levels.
“So, instead of going straight to Lagos, my principal honoured the invitation by the then Brig Gen Yinka Famadewa at the ONSA building. Alas, this was the most crucial matter to the ONSA and the C-in-C at the time due to the economic implication of the bombs on the pipelines and also the social effect which was based on the disintegration of Nigeria as touted by the Niger Delta Avengers, General Yinka confessed to my principal that the Niger Delta was like another country entirely and that they did not have an inroad into the region.
“The meeting shed light into the identity of my principal as the brain behind the Movement of the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). He presented the picture of himself and Henry Okah, his wife and son, he told them that military operation was not an option and that if they shot a bullet, what they didn’t want to happen would happen (the disintegration of the Nigerian state as touted by the avengers).
“The meeting also shed light into the main reason the avengers resorted to the destruction of critical national assets which was nothing more than our NAPIMS/Chevron/NCDMB anchor handling tug supply vessels. My principal requested that they immediately conducted an investigation into the matter; this was done and confirmed as genuine. The meeting also had in attendance the P.A. to NSA Monguno, Lt Colonel Ibrahim. This was the beginning of a new path for the Nigerian state.
“Also 24 hours after the meeting, Buhari requested to meet with the MD of the SPDC and he used the platform to ask the Niger Delta militants to sheath their sword and embrace him, everyone knows this was against his initial position of crushing them which already led the military to begin a show of force in Delta State at the time.”
“My principal led the entire operation from that moment on, through the means of legal interception by the ONSA, by communicating with me on a daily basis, he led the system through the rigorous process of securing the Niger Delta and ensuring there would be economic development across the various sectors. MEND agreement with the federal government highlighted the release of Nnamdi Kanu, Henry Okah and co, all these agreements and other articles that were released were done by Buhari’s ONSA.
“This is the most classified intelligence as we speak, Buhari and Monguno used and dumped my principal and by extension myself at the detriment of our hard earned success, our project was about $100,000,000 at the time. It was placed aside for all these great things that I haven’t talked about which occurred and influenced the entire Nigerian system.”