They warned that a proper ceasefire would only happen if the Governor Okowa stopped the marginalization of the oil producing communities in the state.

In the letter to Clark the militants wrote, “The NDA has decided to shelve our planned attack on major oil facilities in the region from June 30, 2017.

“We are not oblivious of your concerns that our activities is capable of further causing adverse effects on the crude production and derail your ongoing engagement with the Federal Government. But as we said in several statements, our grouse is not with the Federal Government, but with the present Delta administration’s deliberate neglect and deprivation of oil bearing communities in the state and underfunding of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), since the swearing in of this government in 2015.’’

The militants said despite these signals, governor Okowa had continued to accuse them of being foreigners, saying they would prove him wrong and show him and the Federal Government that they are sons and daughters of Delta State.

They stressed that they would prove the governor that “they know the land and how to hit where it hurts most.”