Niger Delta militants jettison decision to declare Niger Delta Republic today, say Jonathan appealed to them

Ijaw Militant group, the Adaka Boro Avengers (ABA), who vowed to declare the Independent Republic of Niger Delta today August 1st, have jettisoned the decision saying former President Goodluck Jonathan reached out and appealed to them to rescind on their decision. The group stated this in a statement released this evening. The statement reads in part;

"We adhere to the voice of our people, because our struggle is for the Niger Delta people and not for selfish reason. But this is not the end. More has yet to come. Our mission to cripple the economy of the Nigerian nation will not stop until the Nigerian government is ready to sit on a roundtable to dialogue and to restructure the Nigeria. We received calls from prominent leaders like Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Mrs. Ankio Briggs, Chief E. K. Clark and especially King Alfred Diete Spiff calling on the freedom fighters to abort their mission to declare Niger Delta Republic. Unless that, we will not stop until Nigeria becomes a zero economy. We are also saying this for the benefit of President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigerian government to stop wasting their time with those greedy fellows that call themselves MEND because nothing good will come out of them rather than sabotage. Everything they are saying, not even one will be accomplished. We will never agree with anything they say and henceforth MEND should watch their back because we have tolerated them for a very long time. Enough is enough, since they want to set confusion in the Niger Delta we will start from them.”