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20 May 2009 Nigerian president Umar Yar'Adua has
received praises from international communities for
dealing with Delta criminal gangs as Defence
Headquarters reiterated on Monday that the ongoing
military onslaught in the Niger Delta to douse the
activities of militants would continue until order is
restored to the troubled region.
The authorities also denied killing innocent people
while attacking the militants, saying the allegation
to this effect was a mere media strategy by the
militants to turn the public against the military.
Director of Defence Information (DDI), Chris
Jemitola, a Colonel, at a press conference in Abuja,
said the military cannot sit back and allow its men to
be killed in the line of duty, especially while
carrying out its constitutional duty.
Jemitola, who restated the need for the current
military action in the Niger Delta, noted that the
militants were the ones that first attacked the
soldiers on May 13 while men of the Joint Task Force (JTF),
Operation Restore Hope, were on routine duties around
Chanomi Creek.
The JTF, he said, lost some men to the ambush by
the militants.
He stated that prior to the ambush, militants had
hijacked a chartered ship, Tanker CM Spirit, with its
foreign and local crew captured, tortured and some
killed, while others were held hostage after its
content had been stolen.
He accused the militants of attacking the JTF team
sent to rescue the captives, adding that the JTF team
actually discovered a large cache of arms and
ammunition used for acts of criminality by the
militants when the soldiers repelled the attack.
Absolving the military of any complicity in the
carnage, Jemitola said the militants have always been
the aggressor in every act of confrontation between
them and the JTF men.
He noted that the law guiding the conduct of the
JTF prohibits the team from attacking the militants
until they are fired at first, adding that extra care
is also being taken to reduce collateral damage.
Even though, there have been reports that villages
like Oporoza, Ubefan, Okerenkoko, Kurutie, Azama,
Benikurukuru and Kunukunuma, among others making up
Gbaramatu-Ijaw communities in Delta State were bombed
with helicopter gunship by the soldiers, the military
spokesman dismissed the allegation, saying "no
community was razed down in this process and
collateral damage was kept to the barest minimum".
Reiterating the resolve of the military to continue
the attack in the region as long as the militants keep
operating there, Jemitola said "what we have observed
is the deliberate and repeated unprovoked attacks on
JTF troops, the sabotage of oil and gas facilities,
the kidnapping for ransom of people and the killing of
innocent citizens of the society, including children,
people of the clergy and the very old citizens.
"We have also seen the kidnapping and harassment of
site workers and contractors carrying out
socio-economic development of the area.
"These are all acts of criminality that cannot be
condoned by any government and no responsible military
leadership will fold its arm and watch its personnel
attacked and killed while on official assignment by
any criminal gang.
"Hence, the military was left with no choice than
to go after these criminals in order to bring them to
book.
"It is important to note that the Nigerian military
has the constitutional responsibility of protecting
our vital national interest wherever they may be.
"In the course of carrying out this responsibility,
the military will no longer tolerate or watch criminal
gangs slaughter its personnel without recourse,"
Temitola said.
Unconfirmed reports indicated that the military
still deployed about eight gunboats to the area on
Monday.
But Ijaw leaders from the area confirmed to Daily
Independent that there has been some respite in the
area but that the humanitarian crisis was getting
worse.
Some people were still stranded in the bush because
the military authorities have denied access to the
area.
Some of the survivors are said to have made their
way to nearby communities like Yokri, Ogulagha and
Sokibolo in Burutu Local Government area with others
still stranded.
One of the leaders, Bello Oboko, told Daily
Independent that it has not been possible to determine
the number of persons that have died or who were
stranded in the swamp since the military offensive,
due to the blockage of the waterways by the military.
Meanwhile, the Ijaw National Congress (INC) and
other prominent Ijaw leaders, including Edwin Clark,
on Monday evening, held a crucial meeting in Yenagoa,
the Bayelsa State capital to appraise the military
attack on some Ijaw communities in Delta State.
The meeting which had retired military officers of
Ijaw extraction in attendance, reviewed the situation,
appraised its implications for the existence of the
Ijaw nation and came up with a strong statement
against the action of the Federal Government.
Daily Independent gathered that, among other
decisions, the meeting condemned the action of the
military and urged the Federal Government to stop the
onslaught against their people.
In another development, Action Congress (AC)
governorship candidate for the 2007 polls in Rivers
State, Tonye Princewill, who chairs the Niger Delta
subcommittee of Vision 2020, has resigned his position
following the current debacle.
EsinIslam.Com
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