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Tag: JTF

  • Police, JTF dislodge criminal camp after six hour gun battle

    Police, JTF dislodge criminal camp after six hour gun battle

    The Police Command in Anambra and the Joint Security Task Force (JTF) have dislodged a criminal Camp at Ogbunka in Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra.

    According to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed this in a statement on Saturday in Onitsha.

    Ikenga said the Police-led Joint Security Team comprising the Army, Navy, Department of State Security, and Anambra State Vigilante conducted the sting operation on Thursday.

    “The security operatives were acting on information received over time and dislodged a criminal Camp at Ogbunka.

    “The JTF were in a six (6) hours gun battle with the armed criminals, but due to its superior firepower, diffused some explosives used as shields on the camp by the hoodlums,” he said.

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    Ikenga explained that the team also recovered items, including pots, foodstuffs and parts of dismembered vehicles, suspected to be stolen.

    The command’s spokesman said that some of the criminals escaped with various degrees of bullet injuries inflicted on them.

    He added that the JTF operatives had taken over the area to sustain security dominance and possibly arrest the fleeing suspects.

    Ikenga quoted the Commissioner of Police in Anambra, CP Ikioye Orutugu, as assuring residents of the state that the security agencies will not in any way compromise the confidence reposed in them.

    Orutugu also solicited the continued support of people in the state in fighting crime by providing information to security agencies.

  • Police, JTF rescue three kidnapped victims in Anambra

    Police, JTF rescue three kidnapped victims in Anambra

    The Police Command in Anambra, in collaboration with the Joint Security Task Force (JTF), has rescued three kidnapped victims along the Onitsha-Owerri Expressway in Ozubulu, Ekwusigo Local Government Area.

    According to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the rescue in a statement on Saturday in Onitsha.

    According to Ikenga, the Commissioner of Police, CP Ikioye Orutugu, has directed operatives to intensify efforts to apprehend the perpetrators.

    He assured the public that security operations would be sustained to deny criminals the opportunity to wreak havoc in the state.

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    “The Joint Security Team, in a coordinated operation on Saturday, March 22, 2025, at about 7:20 a.m., successfully rescued three kidnapped victims along the Onitsha-Owerri Expressway in Ozubulu,” Ikenga stated.

    “The victims were immediately rushed to the hospital for medical attention due to the injuries inflicted on them by their abductors.

    “They are currently responding to treatment and will be debriefed by the police once they are stable,” he said.

    Ikenga further explained that security checkpoints across the state were placed on high alert after the victims’ abduction was reported at Nkwelle-Ezunaka in Oyi Local Government Area.

    “This swift action contributed to their successful rescue,” he added.

    He reassured the residents of Anambra of the command’s unwavering commitment to protecting lives and property while maintaining aggressive security operations to keep criminals at bay.

  • JTF arrests 17, impounds two vessels with 500,000 litres of diesel

    JTF arrests 17, impounds two vessels with 500,000 litres of diesel

    The Joint Task Force, Operation Delta Safe (OPDS), has arrested 17 persons and impounded two vessels laden with illegally refined automotive gas oil (diesel).

    The Commander, OPDS, Rear Admiral John Okeke, revealed this to newsmen at Onne, Rivers State, yesterday.

    He said that the 17 persons were crew members of the two vessels.

    According to him, one of the vessels, MV King James, was laden with 400,000 litres of diesel, while the other, MV Messiah 1, carried 100,000 litres of diesel.

    Read Also: JTF uncovers 14 illegally refining sites in Rivers

    He said that OPDS impounded the vessels at the Federal Ocean Terminal at Onne, adding that the crew members were arrested on the Onne River.

    He said that MV King James was impounded with seven crew members while MV Messiah 1 was arrested with 10 crew members.

    Okeke said that the petroleum product had been handed over to the Nigerian Navy Ship Pathfinder.

    He gave the assurances that the arrested persons would be handed over to the appropriate authorities for possible prosecution.

    He said that the vessels had no approval and legitimate documents to carry the product.

    “The OPDS which I represent for the navy is the statutory agency for oil approvals. It means that when a vessel is found without requisite documents, it has defaulted,” he said.

    Okeke advised those indulging in oil theft, illegal oil refining and other illegalities to stop the acts and engage in legitimate businesses, or be prepared to face the law.

  • JTF uncovers 14 illegally refining sites in Rivers

    JTF uncovers 14 illegally refining sites in Rivers

    The Joint Task Force, Operation Delta Safe (OPDS), have uncovered 14 sites illegally refining crude oil in Rivers, the Commander, Rear Adm. John Okeke, has said.

    Okeke, who assumed duty on Thursday, said that the illegal refining site, located on Ataba Island, close to Bonny Island in Rivers, would be destroyed.

    The OPDS Commander who visited the location said it was uncovered based on intelligence information.

    He said though no arrest has been made, the joint operation will not allow the Niger Delta to be a safe haven for criminals.

    “We are going to make it very hot for them with the help of the Navy, Army, Air Force, Police, NSCDS, and the DIA, amongst others.

    Read Also: NAF hits six illegal oil refining sites in Rivers

    “Nobody wins alone without collaboration, with team work, we are going to achieve a lot in the fight against illegal bunkering and pipeline vandalism.

    “Today we are in Ataba Island, close to Bonny Island, Rivers State, moving towards Akwa Ibom.

    “What we discovered here is shocking, about 14 massive cooking sites, one of them is still hot and they must have pulled out on the arrival of the troops.”

    According to him, the OPDS would sustain surveillance and take out economic saboteurs in the region.

    “We are sustaining what my predecessor did and I want to thank God that within 24 hours we are able to achieve this feat, it shows that we are performing our duty.”

    He advised criminals operating in the area to go into legitimate businesses, warning that those engaged in pipeline vandalism and illegal bunkering will never find peace.

  • JTF arrests 135 suspects terrorising FCT

    JTF arrests 135 suspects terrorising FCT

    Security operatives under the Joint Tasks Force (JTF) have arrested 135 suspects for various crimes and terrorising the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    Addressing reporters in Abuja on Thursday, November 16, the FCT Commissioner of Police, CP Haruna Garba said: “You may recall that the Joint Task Force of Operation Safe FCT was launched by the minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, to flush out criminal elements out of the Federal Capital Territory most especially the armed hoodlums disturbing the peace of the residents of the FCT who reside at our boundaries with Niger, Nassarawa, Kogi and Kaduna state.

    “In line with the mandate of the operation, the Joint Task Force comprising of the NPF, Military, NSCDC and DTRS carried out coordinated raids of criminal hideouts, uncompleted buildings, shanties and of course clearance operations in the bushes and forest bordering the FCT.

    Read Also: JTF arrests eight vessels laden with diesel in Rivers

    “In the course of the operation, the joint Task Force arrested 135 suspects at various black spots located at; Kwali, Dutse  Alhaji, Mpape, Karu, AYA, Nyaya, Karimo, Karshi, Kuje, Airport road, Berger Roundabout, Jabi, Orozo and Mararaba etc. That out of these numbers, 75 suspects were arraigned in court for various offences, while sixty-five were sentenced to pay fines ranging from N5000 – N7000, the remaining ten were sentenced to community service.”

    The CP further said that 39 suspects we are parading on Thursday have been under interrogation and will be charged in court at the conclusion of the investigation.

    He said: “Out of this number, eight suspects are suspected to be members of one chance syndicate, as knives, handcuffs and swords were recovered from their vehicles with the following registration numbers.”

  • JTF arrests eight vessels laden with diesel in Rivers

    JTF arrests eight vessels laden with diesel in Rivers

    The Joint Taskforce of Operation Delta Safe (OPDS) has arrested eight barges suspected to be conveying over 100,000 litres of illegally refined diesel in Rivers State.

    The Commander, Joint Taskforce, South-South, OPDS, Real Admiral Olusegun Ferreira, said this at the weekend. He said the barges were seized in conjunction with some maritime units in the area Bonny.

    Ferreira, who was represented by the Maritime Component Commander, Commodore Adedokun Siyanbade, said: “The Joint Taskforce has pushed further in its operations in eradicating crude oil theft in the Niger Delta, and this led to the arrest of eight badges with products suspected to be illegally refined diesel, cumulatively over 100,000 litres in different compartments here in Bonny area.”

    Read Also: Bayelsa community under threat of extinction 18 years after JTF massacre

    Ferreira urged the public, especially youths, to desist from illegal oil bunkering and other criminality, warning that anyone caught will be face the law.

    “It is still a warning for those involved in illegal business to look for legitimate businesses. OPDS and other security agencies within the joint operation areas will not relent in their efforts at ensuring that crude oil theft is eradicated within the joint operations area,” he added.

  • Govt deploys JTF in Ekiti-Kwara border

    Ekiti State Government has ordered the deployment of military Joint Task Force patrol in the town sharing border with Kwara State.

    The squad was constituted to curtail the overbearing influence of suspected bandits.

    Some suspected herdsmen last Tuesday besieged a farmstead called Eda, at Iyemero in Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State. They shot two persons and raided houses during the midnight attack.

    Those shot by the assailants, including a seven-year-old boy, later died in hospital.

    This prompted Governor Kayode Fayemi to seek military intervention to prevent further carnage at the border town.

    The Olu of Iyemero-Ekiti, Oba Ebenezer Ogungbemi, hailed the governor for his quick and tactical intervention, saying this was a reflection of a responsive and people-centred government.

    The monarch and members of his council, in a letter dated April, 20, 2019 and addressed to Governor Fayemi, said the effort of military and local hunters would annihilate the suspected killer-herders and restore peace to the community.

    In a copy of the letter made available to reporters in Ado- Ekiti yesterday, Oba Ogungbemi said the community would help the soldiers with sensitive information to stem the rate of killings.

    He said about 60 persons displaced from their houses, who took refuge in his palace for three days, had returned home due to Governor Fayemi’s intervention.

    The letter reads: “We are thankful to Governor Fayemi for deploying military joint task force to restore tranquility to Iyemero, which has guaranteed peaceful coexistence among the residents.

    “The Olu-in-Council and the entire people of Iyemero-Ekiti wish to express our deepest and  heartfelt  gratitude to the governor for his prompt response during last week’s insurgency, which led to death, maiming, displacement, chaos and disturbance of peace in our town.

    “With the support and assurances of Mr. Governor, we are convinced that lasting peace is in sight and we are protected from the yet-to-be-identified assailants and terrorists.

    “We are happy to inform you that the displaced farmers had returned to their farmstead.”

    The monarch said the governor had built the foundation of trust and confidence in the residents by approving the construction of a police station at Iyemero, which will provide safety for our people and ward off criminals from the boundary community.”

    Oba Ogungbemi said the hunters had started receiving instructions on the need to be conventional in approach and refrain from any action that could portray them as being vindictive against any ethnic group.

    “This military deployment won’t stop us from being security conscious. We are not unaware that the military can only discharge their duties effectively when they are provided with information they can work on.

    “We are looking inward to ensure that saboteurs have no room to operate, so that the operation targeted at curtailing these blood-sucking bandits can be successful,” he said.

    The monarch thanked the governor for being magnanimous towards the injured by paying their hospital bills.

  • Breaking: Seven JTF members dead in clash with bandits

    No fewer than seven parsons were feared dead during a clash involving Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) and some bandits in Tsamiyar Jino village in kankara local government area of Katsina state

    Confirming the incident, spokesman of the Katsina State Police Command, Superintendent Gambo Isa, told newsmen on Tuesday that 35 persons didn’t die as erroneously stated in many social media posts.

    He further disclosed the Civilian JTF popularly known as Yansakai (volunteers) went into the forest to fight the bandits against the warnings of Police not to do so.

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    He said the bandits overpowered them because of possession of superior weapons and vast knowledge of the terrain better than the JTF.

    The police chief assured that the newly deployed IGP special squad against banditry and kidnapping in the state will soon catch up with the bandits and smoke them out.

  • Our operations boosted oil production, says JTF

    The Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Delta Safe (ODS) at the weekend said its military operations and civil interventions in the Niger Delta region boosted crude oil production in the country.

    The Commander ODS, Rear Admiral Suleiman Apochi, said the security outfit under his command increased crude oil production level from 900,000 barrels per day to two million.

    Suleiman spoke when he received the Garkuwan Mattassan Arewa Icon of Societal Transformation Award from the Northern Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) at the Headquarters of ODS, Igbogene, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

    He said it was heartwarming that such revered association acknowledged all the work he and his troops were doing to stabilize the Niger Delta region in accordance with the mandate of the ODS.

    He noted that the award would propel him to sustain the operational activities of the outfit to allow business to thrive in the environment.

    “With this award we have been challenged to sustain the tempo of our operational activities to continue to stop the illegalities here, so that the environment will remain very secure for the business within this area to thrive”, he said.

    While acknowledging that the security challenges in the region were different from those in the northern part of the country, Suleiman said military operations everywhere must be executed in harmony with their mandates.

    He said: “At the time we took over this operation, the production level of the oil in this country was about 900,000 barrel a day but as it is now due to the effectiveness of our operational activities, we have kept the environment calm and secured. We are getting two million barrels and above every day.

    “Whoever is conducting operation anywhere, anytime should remain committed to the mandate of that operation. Whatever we are doing here might not be enough to solve the problems in the North because they are not exactly the same environment.

    “I am a specialised trained officer, part of what I do is what I have been trained to do. So when I go to an environment I try to adapt the strategy that will solve the problem of the environment”.

    Presenting the award to Suleiman, the National President, Northern Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), Isah Abubakar, commended the leadership style of the commander.

    Abubakar observed that Suleiman’s courage in confronting the ills in the region brought a speed end to pipeline vandalism and enabled expatriates to undertake their businesses on the sea without fear.

    He urged the commander to share his experience with his colleagues fighting insurgency in the north to return peace to the troubled region.

    He said: “The commandant has actually exhibited one of the rare characters of leadership in Nigeria and as youth organisation it is our responsibility to propel individuals that have given in their best to the development of our country”.

    “The Niger Delta was a place where expatriates were afraid before but today they are not and some Northern states currently are facing insecurity, which has made the residents unsafe. We want you to share in his tactics in curbing these excesses.

    “I have objectively condemned the activities of some military personnel. I won’t mention names. They have to rethink and re-strategise on the way they tackle insecurity in the Northern part of the country.

    “We have never met the commander before. We have followed his activities and we are impressed with what he has done. That is one good thing with our council. We say it the way it is. We condemn persons who are not doing their best for this country but when you are doing your best we commend you. We are not bias”.

  • Boko Haram: Army locks down Borno/Yobe highways

     

    Hundreds of thousands of travellers were in the early hours of Wednesday stranded as soldiers blocked all major highways in and out of Yobe and Borno states.

    Security sources informed troops of Operation Lafiya Dole carried out the lock down of highways to engage Boko Haram insurgents in the bush and avoid any collateral damage.

    The development forced the Independent National Electoral Commission in Yobe to suspend the signing of peace accord by political candidates.

    The ceremony was billed for the the commission’s premises in Damaturu.

    The Resident Electoral Commissioner Yobe State, Alhaji Ahmad Makama told reporters: “We woke up this morning to find out that there are some security challenges.

    “The military have closed all the highways and roads leading to Damaturu and some of the delegates are coming from outside Damaturu.

    “So for that reason, we have agreed that it is wiser to postpone the programme to next week Thursday, January 17,” Makama informed.

    Our correspondent gathered that the roads were blocked as early as 6.00am, preventing free flow of traffic in and out of Maiduguri and Damaturu.

    Travellers from Gombe, Bauchi and Kano were stranded in different axis of the states.

    The military however denied closure of the roads.

    It however admitted carrying out clearance operation to weed out Boko Haram insurgents.

    Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, Operation Lafiya Dole,  Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, in a statement, said:  “Our attention has been drawn to rumours that the Nigerian Army has closed Maiduguri-Damaturu road.

    “This is not true. What is happening is an ongoing clearance and snap checks operations in the general area required to clear suspected Boko Haram terrorists along that road.

    “The clearance operation is ultimately for the safety and security of motorists and other road users.

    “Members of the public are please advised to cooperate and bear with the troops as they carry out these duties.”

    Some of the stranded travellers along Damaturu/Potiskum/Kano high way told our correspondent they were at the check-point as early as 6.00am but were denied access by security men at the checkpoints.

    Amina Abubakar, one of the women, said she was taking her two daughters back to school at Kano but became stuck on the road.

    “I set up my journey early hoping to arrive Kano in time, make some shopping for my children before taking them to their school but look at what has happened now.

    “I am not sure if I will still travel today or when I will get to Kano should the road is eventually cleared,” Amina said.

    Another traveller Ali Bulama disclosed that he had a flight to catch at Kano by 1.00pm for an important meeting in Abuja.

    “It is almost my flight time now at Kano to Abuja now but I am still here at the outskirts of Damaturu because of this unfortunate development here. I really don’t know what to do now. I am just confused,” Bulama informed.

    The Nation checks revealed some of the Yobe State Christian Pilgrims that returned from Jerusalem on Tuesday through Gombe International Airport could not reach Damaturu early today because of the blockage of the road from Fika axis of the state.

    Police Commissioner, Abdulmalik Sunmuno, also confirmed the JTF has locked up the roads because of certain operations the military had to carry out.