Reformed Niger Delta Avengers Discloses How NDA Was Formed

The Reformed Niger Delta Avengers (RNDA) has threatened that should former President Goodluck Jonathan further deny being the Grand Patron of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), it will reveal more sordid details of their relationship.

The threat is contained in a statement on Wednesday signed by spokesperson “Cynthia Whyte, in which he said the very name, “Avengers”, was first mouthed by Mr. Jonathan.  “Cynthia Whyte” is an alias for the RNDA spokesperson.
Whyte noted that NDA had been formed to counter the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), but failed to achieve that objective, adding that it has not surprised the RNDA that Mr. Jonathan, as NDA Grand Patron, has distanced himself from the violent group.
“Like every sponsor, sympathizer and operative earlier mentioned who has equally denied links with the Avengers, we can understand the wisdom behind their decision; as their participation was always meant to becovert,” the spokesperson said.
Whyte recalled that following a clandestine meeting in Otuoke, Bayelsa State in 2014 between the GrandPatron and several unidentified persons ahead of the Presidential election campaign of 2015, it was agreed that the Okah brothers should be contacted to reach out to MEND to endorse Mr. Jonathan and to work with the group of persons to ensure victory for the PDP and President Jonathan.  MEND was the suggested tool at the time, the spokesperson said, because the NDA as a body was not yet formed.
“Mr. Kingsley Kuku and Mr. Gordon Obuah, [Special Adviser] on Niger Delta and Chief Security Officer to President Jonathan, respectively were selected to visit Charles Okah in Kuje prison,” the spokesperson said.  “Mr. Daniel Alabrah was given the assignment to draft an endorsement statement for Charles Okah to go through and pass on to MEND.
According to the account, both men reported back that they had visited Okah in Kuje prison at night with the promise of his release along with others should hecooperate to get MEND to endorse Jonathan.
“It therefore came as a shock when MEND did the opposite and endorsed Buhari. Mr. Jonathan was livid with anger and swore that the Okahs would rot in prison.
He said it was also agreed that a show of force be put up in Yenagoa, where ex-militants led by Government Ekpemupolo and Kingsley Kuku would threaten war should the electorate vote in Buhari's favour.
“It was around that period the idea of forming the Niger Delta Avengers was conceived. In fact the name "Avengers" came from the lips of Goodluck Jonathan.
“As election day approached, certain stakeholders were mobilized to form a force to standby and ensure total anarchy in the South-South and South-East within 24 hours if the election results were not favourable to Jonathan. It took everyone by surprise to learn that Mr. Jonathan had conceded defeat even before the final results were released. The standby force who were to attack specific targets were told to stand down. They were all compensated in US dollars cash.”
He further stated that the Niger Delta Avengers was born from the failure at the polls and would now be used as an organ to make the Buhari governmentungovernable, bring economic hardship and cause hatred for the administration towards failure at the 2019 general elections.
“MEND was aware of this plot through a spy that could not be identified, and the group began its campaign to counter every effort of the NDA and the Biafra agitators to this day,” the spokesperson said, adding that MEND has been a thorn in the flesh because its successful propaganda has caused the current split in the ranks of the NDA.
Whyte concluded: “If former President Jonathan provokes us further with denials of this revelation, we will reveal more sordid details. The prison authorities in Kuje who witnessed the closed door meeting from the outside can attest to that night visit of November 2014.”