Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, flew to London for a 10-day holiday, during which he will receive medical treatment for a persistent ear infection, Reuters reported. His departure comes days after the 73-year-old former military ruler cancelled a trip to the restive Niger Delta region at the last minute. Last month, he pulled out of what would have been his first official trip to Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos.

“President Muhammadu Buhari will take 10 days off and travel to London on Monday June 6th to rest. During the holiday, he will see an Ear, Nose And Throat specialist (E.N.T.) for a persistent ear infection. The President was examined by his Personal Physician and an E.N.T Specialist in Abuja and was treated. Both Nigerian doctors recommended further evaluation purely as a precaution,” noted Femi Adesina, Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to the president, in a statement cited by Vanguard.

Also it was reported by Upstream that Nigeria will start a dialogue with the Niger Delta Avengers militant group which has been claiming a string of attacks as the President had appointed a team “to begin the process of a very intensive dialogue with those caught in the middle of this,” the Oil Miniter, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, said.

“We are making contacts with everybody who is involved, the ones that we can identify, through them, the ones that we can’t identify so that there is a lot more inclusiveness in this dialogue,” he said.