The resurgent violence in Nigeria's oil region may continue despite the installation of a Niger Delta, Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, as Acting President, if indications from a militant group are anything to go by.
Vowing to continue fighting to liberate their people, the umbrella Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) said the decision to make Jonathan Acting President was ''an illegality cleverly crafted by those who feel that Niger Delta is a conquered territory and can only be plundered and looted.
'The deserting act of (President) Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua can only be appropriately categorised as gross misconduct and should naturally have attracted an impeachment.
''This ought to have been followed by the swearing in of the Vice-President as substantive President, not in an acting capacity,'' JRC spokesman Bakabio Walter said.
Describing Jonathan as ''a lame duck ruler,'' JRC said: 'Whatever happens, we shall not allow anything to deter us in our resolve to wage a continuous revolutionary war to liberate all parts of our territory - not even a Jonathan Presidency. We are even more convinced more than ever before that a Niger Delta independence through armed struggle is the way forward.'
JRC claimed responsibility for the attack against a Shell facility in the oil region last week.
The region's largest militant group - Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) - has not reacted to the installation of Jonathan as Acting President.
The group in a statement said: "We are monitoring the unfolding drama and will react at the appropriate time."
MEND recently called off its ceasefire, saying the government's amnesty programme had failed to address the concerns of Niger Deltans and vowing to resume attacks aimed at crippling the oil industry.
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