Nigerian government says it has already commenced discussions with militants in the Niger Delta region of the country.
President Muhammadu Buhari, speaking at a farewell audience with Michael Zinner, the outgoing Ambassador of Germany to Nigeria at the State House, Abuja, the talks are through oil companies and law enforcement agencies.
The President pointed out that this latest move is a bid to find a lasting solution to attacks on oil facilities in the region.
The attacks have brought oil production to as low as 1.2 million barrels per day as against an ambitious 2.2 million barrels per day plan.
Buhari said his administration was studying the instruments of the amnesty programme inherited from the previous administration with a view to carrying out undelivered commitments.
“We understand their feelings. We are studying the instruments.
“We have to secure the environment, otherwise investment will not come. We will do our best for the country,” he affirmed.
The President expressed appreciation to the government of Germany for its support to Nigeria in the efforts to tackle insecurity and the on-going rehabilitation and resettlement of displaced citizens in crisis areas in the Northeast.
The president also thanked Nigeria’s neighbours for their unflinching support in the war against terror.
In his remarks, Zinner noted that bilateral relations between Nigeria and Germany “had improved very much in the last 12 months of this administration”.
He expressed Germany’s readiness to assist Nigeria in the rehabilitation of the Northeast to help displaced persons return to their villages.
He also expressed Germany’s eagerness to invest in the country now that “conditions for investment have been put in place”.
Zinner reiterated Chancellor Angela Merkel’s invitation to Buhari to visit Germany.
