Nigeria will not use force on Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) because it might escalate the country’s oil production decline, according to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Ita Enang, as Sahara Reporters informed.

Ita Enang made the disclosure while fielding questions from journalists, when he also explained that the Presidency has deployed political office holders, top officials of the Federal Government and ministers from the Niger Delta region back home to commence dialogue with the NDA and other militants.

Meanwhile, the Niger Delta Avengers militant group has claimed responsibility for three new attacks on Nigeria’s oil infrastructure, promising to cut production to zero, according to Reuters. However, they urged other groups not to attack soldiers or kidnap people. In a statement, entitled “Message to Our Brothers in the Struggle” and cited by Reuters, they said: “The war is on oil installations. […] The high command is calling on all groups in Rivers, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Cross River, and Akwa Ibom to not indulge in any act of kidnapping and attacking of soldiers.”