Rebels demand Buhari axing

A MILITANT group in Nigeria’s oilrich southern Niger Delta threatened yesterday to cripple Africa’s top oil producer if President Muhammadu Buhari is re-elected in a vote due to be held tomorrow.

The Niger Delta Avengers – who have been demanding a greater share of the oil revenue produced in the impoverished southern region – said they hoped to end Buhari’s rule through elections and that opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar was their preferred choice for president.

Buhari faces a tight contest against Abubakar, a business and ex-vicepresident, in tomorrow’s elections in Africa’s biggest democracy.

The group warned that if Buhari were re-elected there would be “a perpetual recession for Nigeria” and that if elected, Abubakar should start a “restructuring of Nigeria” within six months to forestall further attacks in the Niger Delta.

Attacks on pipelines and other facilities in the Niger Delta in 2016 cut Nigeria’s crude output to the lowest level seen in Africa’s biggest economy in at least 30 years.