By Ayo Alonge (Lagos), Femi Folaranmi (Yenegoa) and Ben Dunno (Warri)

Former Abia State governor, Orji Uzor Kalu, Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka and five others have been named by a faction of the Niger Delta Avengers as members of a committee to dialogue with the Federal Government on behalf of Niger Delta Avengers.
This was disclosed, yesterday, in a statement signed by Ballatyne Agiri, a contact person for the East and Central axis of the group as well as other splinter militant groups.
Other members of the team of negotiators include environmentalist and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State, Nalaguo Chris Alagoa, Mrs. Alice Mobolaji  Osomo, Prof Steve Odi Owei Etibom, Dr. Anthony A. Ani  and Mr. Inienimi Ballantyne Agiri. Soyinka will serve as adviser to the team.
Agiri, who disclosed the names of the negotiators, in a statement, said the team would be representing the interest of militants in the Eastern and Central zone and other splinter groups in the oil rich region.
The Eastern and Central zones comprise Ijaw speaking communities in Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers and Bayelsa states.
The Niger Delta Avengers split into factions over disagreement on the modalities to adopt in the negotiation with the Federal Government. More than ten groups, including Adaka Boro Avengers, Niger Delta Warriors, and Reformed Niger Delta Militants had emerged since resurgence of militancy in the Niger Delta region due to what the militants called the insensitivity of the Muhammadu Buhari administration to the plight of the Niger Delta people.
Speaking to Sunday Sun on the phone, from Washington, United States of America, Kalu said if President Muhammadu Buhari had agreed to dialogue with the Avengers, and he was required to be among those to negotiate with the Federal Government, he would willingly oblige, as he would be glad to be among those to bring about peace in the country.
Kalu added that the actions of the Avengers were not good for the economy, in particular, and the country in general. According to him, at a time like this, what Nigeria needed was peace, stressing that all Nigerians must join in the onerous task of nation building.
The former governor said that dialogue was required in ending the Niger Delta crisis, adding that it was better than military action.
Meanwhile, the “High Command” of the Niger Delta Avengers has rejected the plot of the splinter faction.
In a quick reaction to the claim of the faction, spokesperson of the Niger Delta Avengers, Brigadier Gen Mudoch Agbinibo, in a press statement yesterday said: “We are amazed that Professor Wole Soyinka has been taken on the jugular by enemies of the Niger Delta because of his belief that the government of the day should understand the need for restructuring and listen to the Niger Delta agitation positively. That we, the NDA, have named Prof Wole Soyinka and some incredible names to advise and lead any group is the lie of the century.”
Putting the records straight, he said the names parading as factions of the Niger Delta Avengers are just the figment of some persons protecting their jobs and hell-bent on derailing the wheel of progress in the history of Nigeria and the Niger Delta agitation.
“The NDA cannot be teleguided by Mr Charles Okah and Henry Okah from their respective prison cells using disorganised characters of the All Progressive Congress  (APC) from the Niger Delta to impress Abuja. We are not unaware of the creations of the Nigerian intelligence community and security apparatus to sustain the Niger Delta struggle and to bloat their pocket and credibility. The NDA has unequivocally given our tacit support to the Chief Papa (Dr.) Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, led Niger Delta Elders and Stakeholders Conference Committee to lead the Pan-Niger Delta Negotiations/Dialogue Team, whenever this wicked entity called Nigeria shows its readiness,” Agbinibo said.