The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) is a militant group in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The group publicly announced their existence in March 2016.
The NDA is known for attacking oil-producing facilities in the deltas, causing the shutdown of oil terminals and a fall in Nigeria's oil production to its lowest level in twenty years. The attacks caused Nigeria to fall behind Angola as Africa's largest oil producer. The reduced oil output has hampered the Nigerian economy and destroyed its budget, since Nigeria depends on the oil industry for nearly all its government revenues.
The NDA's stated that their aims are to create a sovereign state in the Niger Delta and have threatened to disrupt Nigeria's economy if their aims are not met. The NDA claims its members are "young, educated, well travelled...and educated in east Europe". The group criticised the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, for having never visited the delta and his detention of the Biafran independence activist Nnamdi Kanu.
Organization
The leadership of the organization is not understood, as many local leaders have acted as the spokesperson to the government. This has made it difficult for the government to make meaningful contact with the group. Nigerian officials are also disorganized when speaking with the members, as many have found it their duty to make contact.
Additionally, many Niger Delta militant groups have sprung up in the wake of the NDA’s 2016 actions. These copycat organization have contested claims to various act against numerous oil companies originally attributed to the NDA. The most prominent of these splinter groups has been the Reformed Niger Delta Avengers (RNDA), whose similarity of name has caused confusion both inside and outside the country but is not affiliated with the NDA.