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Tag: JTF

  • JTF arrests Amaechi’s opponents with arms,ammunition, hands them over to police

    JTF arrests Amaechi’s opponents with arms,ammunition, hands them over to police

    The Joint Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta, codenamed Operation Pulo (Oil) Shield, has arrested six persons with arms and ammunition in Rivers State, with sources indicating that the suspects are political opponents of Governor Rotimi Amaechi, the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).

    The Spokesman of the JTF, Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, last night, confirmed the arrest, but insisted that the suspects were picked for illegal possession of firearms and not for political reason.

    Nwachukwu said: “As at 3rd January six suspects with arms were arrested during a routine patrol at Ogu community in Ogu/Bolo LGA (of Rivers State). Items recovered were: 7 x AK-47, 164 rounds of ammunition and six locally made canon launchers.

    “Suspects were handed over to the Nigeria Police yesterday (Friday). They were arrested for illegal possession of firearms and not for any reason of political or social affiliation as being wrongly insinuated.”

    The Rivers Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ahmad Muhammad, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), when contacted at 8:12 pm yesterday, said of the suspects’ handover to the police by the JTF: “I have not been briefed of such handover, for now.”

    A source in Port Harcourt stated that the suspects were associates of Senator George Sekibo, who represents Rivers East Senatorial District and the self-acclaimed Speaker of the Rivers House of Assembly, Evans Bipi, the representative of Ogu/Bolo constituency, who are allies of the wife of President Goodluck Jonathan, Dame Patience.

    The source said: “On January 3rd, members of the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) arrested six youths around Ekporo Road, on their way to Ogu in Ogu/Bolo LGA of Rivers State. They were in an off white Land Rover jeep, with registration number JJ 441 BZ. The youths were arrested based on their suspicious movement.

    “Those arrested gave their names as Sunday Elisha, Uche Jenikachi, Ibinabo Lawson, Okechukwu Okoro, Jerry Tonye and Daniel Ibito-Anga, who parades himself and his known in Ogu/Bolo as Security Adviser/Personal Assiatant to both Senator George Sekibo and Evans Bipi.

    “Both Senator Sekibo and Evans Bipi are from Ogu and are known and have confessed publicly to be extremely close associates of the Nigerian First Lady, Patience Jonathan, who hails from nearby Okrika and they all speak the same native Okrika dialect.

    “As a matter of fact, Evans Bipi was a domestic aide of Mrs. Jonathan before he was elected into the Rivers State House of Assembly in 2011. Senator Sekibo, who nurses a governorship ambition in 2015, is hoping to ride into Rivers State Government House on the back of Mrs. Jonathan.

     

    All of them are also known publicly to be fighting the Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.”

    While also corroborating that arms and ammunition recovery from the suspects by the JTF, the sources said: “Found in the possession of the boys and recovered from them were 7 AK-47 assorted riffles, 146 rounds of 7.62 mm special life ammunition and 10 life magazines, among others.

    “After their arrest, they were taken by the JTF team to Bori Camp, the military base in Port Harcourt. The boys have been handed over to the police in Rivers State. The police in the state are headed by the Commissioner, Mbu Joseph Mbu, who is said to have been brought to head the State Police Command by Mrs. Jonathan. Mbu has been accused of taking directives from Mrs. Jonathan and her associates.

    “Only recently, the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, raised the alarm that arms, ammunition and weapons are being brought into the state (Rivers) by those opposed to his administration, ahead of the next general elections.”

    It will be recalled that Amaechi, President Jonathan, Dame Patience, and most leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers state had been at loggerheads over the scheming for 2015 and worsened with the NGF chairman’s defection to the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).

  • How oil firms can help war against theft, by JTF chief

    How oil firms can help war against theft, by JTF chief

    The Commander, Joint Task Force (JTF) Operation Pulo Shield, Major-General Bata Debiro, spoke on the operations of the JTF since he took over the command. He spoke at the headquarters of the military outfit in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. MIKE ODIEGWU was there.

    JTF’s mandate in the Niger Delta

    The mandate of the Joint Task Force (JTF)) is to stop oil bunkering activities in the upstream sector, protect the oil and gas facilities and installations and ensure a secure environment for lawful activities.

    To achieve this mandate, the JTF within the period, has conducted series of operations on land, waterways and air against illegal activities of oil thieves bedeviling the oil and gas industry.

    Consequently, the general security situation within JTF’s area of responsibility has been relatively calm. Although operating in an extremely challenging terrain, the JTF has remained determined and committed to achieving its mandate.

    JTF’s operations

    The JTF successfully conducted several land, maritime and air operations against oil bunkering and refining activities, pipeline vandalism, armed banditry and sea robbery. The Task Force has also conducted anti-kidnapping operations, cordon and search and destruction of re-emerging militant camps. It equally provided security to oil and gas facilities in the region to sustain their production.

     

     

    War against oil bunkering and illegal refineries

     

     

    JTF anti- oil bunkering/refining operations led to the arrest of numerous suspects, the impounding of several barges, vessels, trucks and other tools used to perpetrate the crime and the outright destruction of illegal refineries. These operations, like many others, were achieved through constant patrols based on credible intelligence obtained from various sources particularly higher headquarters, other components of the JTF, informants and other good citizens.

    From January to date, the JTF has conducted a total of 1,025 anti- oil bunkering patrols, while over 1,951 illegal refineries have been destroyed.  Also scuttled were 81 barges, 1,117 Cotonou boats, 82 tanker trucks, 1,873 surface tanks and 1,857 suspects were arrested.

    Additionally, 39,760 drums of illegally refined products, 570 pumping machines and 75 outboard motor engines used as apparatus to facilitate oil theft were seized and destroyed.  Vessels of various sizes and capacities numbering 46 were also arrested during the period under review.

     

    Pipeline vandalism

     

    Although limited incidents of pipeline vandalism still occur in the region, the JTF operations have drastically reduced their occurrence. Those that still occur are mostly in remote areas of the creeks which are carried out by criminal gangs who take advantage of the JTF’s limited accessibility of the difficult terrain between 11:00 in the night and 3: 00 in the morning.

    The JTF provides full security on Port Harcourt–Aba pipeline which has succeeded in reducing the incidents of vandalism on that axis. The JTF operations therefore enabled the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC) to re-open the Port Harcourt -Aba pipeline which had been closed for years.

    Similarly, the presence of the JTF had encouraged the PPMC to consider the re-opening of the Aba-Enugu pipeline to be extended later from Enugu to Makurdi. The JTF has, in addition to physical protection of oil facilities, intensified patrols of the pipelines in order to forestall acts of pipeline vandalism.

    The JTF provides physical security to oil facilities. Critical oil platforms have troops deployed to them to ensure their protection round the clock.  These efforts have assisted in sustaining the operations of these companies and lowering of total deferred production of crude oil.

    However, the situation can be improved upon if oil companies are encouraged to adopt international best practices by installing Information Communication Technology (ICT)-based sensors within their pipelines to provide early warning of acts of sabotage.

    We also conduct ground trotting patrols (GTP). Ground trotting is an inch-by-inch foot patrol along the pipelines in the creeks and swamps. This was used to check the activities of vandals on the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL) pipeline.

    Hitherto, the inaccessibility of this trunk line due to difficult terrain was being exploited by oil thieves who are conversant with the terrain; thereby making it one of the most vandalised pipelines in Bayelsa and Rivers states.

    Ground trotting patrols were therefore conducted jointly between Task Force personnel and representatives from the affected oil companies tracking the pipelines all through the terrain. The exercise has been very helpful in checking criminal activities and identifying breached points which need to be clamped by oil companies.

     

    Kidnapping

    and piracy

     

    The JTF operations against armed robbery, piracy and other forms of organised crimes had also yielded positive results.  Over 42 armed robbers were killed and 183 were arrested from January to date while over 40 sea pirates were also killed and 41 others arrested. Assorted arms and ammunition were also recovered from them.

    Although kidnapping seems to be on the rise recently in the region and the country, perhaps due to the pecuniary gains from its ransom, the JTF has been recording successes in its operations against the menace. The successes recorded were as a result of co-ordinated efforts between the JTF and other security agencies. Overall, over 23 kidnappers were killed, 236 arrested and assorted arms and ammunition recovered from them within the period under review.

     

    On militancy in

    the region

     

    The introduction of amnesty programme by the Federal Government formally ended militancy in the Niger Delta; hence the JTF maintains zero-tolerance for militancy in any form.

    In this drive, the JTF consistently haunts for militants throughout the area of responsibility. Operations were conducted against militant activities as necessary while their camps and hideouts are constantly being haunted for destruction.

    We conducted Operation Clean Slate. This operation was conducted from April 22 to 23, last year in Azuzuama and its environs in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. The operation was designed to stamp out the emergence of militant activities in the area.

    The ex-militant activities in this area came to a head on April 5, last year when some ex-militants led by renegade commander Mr. Jackson ‘Jasper’ Feuztobobai, attacked a police escort boat and killed 11 policemen. Operation Clean Slate was conducted to flush out the perpetrators of that attack, other militants and criminals from the area.

    The operation led to the destruction of their hideouts and assets; including speed boats, assorted ammunition and communication gadgets. It is pleasing to note that the mastermind of the attack on the police, Mr. Jackson ‘Jasper’ was later arrested and handed over to the police for prosecution.

    The JTF does not tolerate the existence of any militant camps in the region and as such suspected areas are constantly checked and those identified are immediately destroyed.

    In that regard, a militant camp discovered at Adagbarasa/Itagbene in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State was destroyed on 27 April, last year after 12-hour gun battle with the militants who were well fortified.

    Similarly, on November 8, last year, a robust patrol team from Sector three dispatched to a suspected militant camp in Bakassi Local Government Area of Cross River State uncovered and dismantled an Efut Esighi Militant Camp.

    Challenges of the JTF

    In spite of the difficult environment it operates, the JTF has recorded modest successes even though it is still confronted with a handful of challenges and constraints.

    These challenges include inadequate maritime platforms, insufficient operational vehicles, lack of some essential kits and insufficient manpower, among others.

    The Task Force is, however, optimistic that most of these challenges will soon be addressed through the efforts of the Chief of Defence Staff, Defence Headquarters and the National Economic Council (NEC) Intervention Plan initiated by the President.

    While the Task Force remains highly committed to achieving its mandate, its ability to operate optimally will, no doubt, be enhanced if some of the challenges confronting it are addressed.

     

  • The Nigerian youth made it

    The Nigerian youth made it

    ALL through the year, theyed play roles that touched all the senses. And all the acts. They played. They fought. They worshipped. They learned. They were music to the ears. The young Nigerians, who had been banished by their parent’s generation and even their own from virtue, recast the story of the year 2013 in a different image: their own.

    It was a year where as sports ambassadors they outclassed their peers around the world. The Eaglets did not play neophyte as they soared to world championship. Their fellow country men and women cheered, first as mere partisans, then as fans, then as patriots. Glory came to all through the lads who roused a country famished for genuine accomplishment. But in politics too, the civilian JTF gave courage with bare hands as they rattled Boko Haram in the way the soldiers could not. They were the true heroes of our politics. They gave without taking. They served as the model of intelligence and pluck.

    The musicians also did not slack. For the past decade they have given grace to a continent of philistines, and everywhere our musicians have served as our best ambassadors. Not our soldiers, or politicians or bureaucrats. They sang to the world and the world loved us back. Individual youths personified the narrative. Jomiloju Tunde Oladipo, the Microsoft whiz kid, Zuriel Oduwole the precocious media sensation and a few others told us that we could rest on our oars even when WAEC results mocked us and the 419 cloud weaves a counter-narrative and sullies the prospect of a future. As playwright Euripides notes, “whoso neglects learning in his youth, loses the past and is dead forever.”

    While many young men and women may seem astray in a wayward generation, The Nation editors present the Nigerian Youth as our Person of the Year. The youth has upturned by acts of sports, soldiery, grassroots defiance, entertainment and personal example, the familiar narrative of drift. The young men and women have pointed the right way out of a gangway.

    The runner-up, Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, was a close second. In a year of protests, he was the chief voice of dissent. He saved our politics from errant mathematics, forced the centre to account for our money, nudged us to affirm our democratic loyalties and personified the schism in PDP until now seen as impregnable.

    Coach Stephen keshi came third for exemplifying the story of rebirth, and rebirth by nationalism. He made our soccer our own by succeeding as coach and inspiring us into the new year where he hopes to prove his and his country’s mettle in the world’s marquee sports tournament: the world cup in Brazil.

  • JTF’s killing of two men ignites fury in Delta

    JTF’s killing of two men ignites fury in Delta

    Eyewitnesses were stunned and infuriated. The paths of two men were joined in death in the prime of their lives. Both married to two women named Mabel with whom they sired three children each. One was an okada rider the other a staff of a national oil firm.

    “The scene plays out in my mind every time; the soldiers pummeling this hapless man, then one drawing his rifle and opening fire at him, pointblank and in broad day light with everybody watching,” a man who claimed to had witnessed the shooting told our reporter.

    It was a day of madness in the early hours of December 5, in Ughelli, headquarters of Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State. Efe Ewugharodo, a commercial motorcyclist (okada) was gunned down barely an hour after he bade what turned out to be a final goodbye to his wife and children.

    Shortly before he met his untimely death, troops of the 222 Battalion attached to construction firm, Setraco Nigeria Limited barricaded one of the two lanes at the Ughelli Bridge, where they prevented motorists and other commuters from accessing a section of the road.

    Unfortunately, Ewugharodo was at the right place at the wrong time. Very few persons knew what actually led to his shooting; some said he tried to shunt his way through the heavy traffic that had built up as a result of the troops action. The JTF said he snatched a soldier’s rifle magazine.

    “What we noticed was that one or two of the soldiers swooped on him. They took out whip made from copper wires and started flogging him. Others joined and they started playing (kicking and punching) him until he fell from his bike,” an eyewitness, who simply identified himself as Ovie, told our reporter.

    Apparently overwhelmed by the early morning beating, Ewugharodo reportedly tried fight his way out of the scene. He was stopped by enormous strength of his attackers and even more soldiers joined the fray, ostensibly to warn others who might want to try similar antic of the fate that awaited them.

    His family, speaking though Mr Oghenejabor Ikimi, a human rights lawyer, said: “Other soldiers who started beating him. In the process, a soldier emerged from nowhere and shot the victim twice on the chest and forehead, and the victim slumped and died on the spot.

    “The victim was thereafter taken by the said soldiers in their pickup van to the premises of the Nigeria Police, “A” Division, Ughelli from where the body was deposited at the morgue of the Central Hospital, Ughelli,” Ikimi added.

    If the late Ewugharodo’s killing was shocking, the death of Felix Adjeke was ill-fated. The 37-year-old security staff at the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) was taking his two children to school. He was oblivious of the madness taking place at the Ughelli Bridge; his determination was to get his children to school early.

    He was a few meters away from his destination when he was hit by the stray bullet. He was spun to ground, dragging his two children, whose arms were linked with his, to the ground.

    As the angry mob watched the killing of the two men, tempers grew. One of the soldiers alerted his colleagues to the danger. They moved swiftly, picked Adjeke and rushed him to the Ughelli Central Hospital, where he was confirmed dead.

    Efe’s remains were taken to the Nigeria Police Area Command, Ughelli and from there it was taken to the Central Hospital morgue and united with Adjeke’s.

    The Commanding Officer, 222 Battalion, Lt. Col Victor Ibeh, later told newsmen that Efe was killed while attempting to disarm a soldier.

    However, his claim was hotly disputed by Ikimi, who accused the military of trying to sweep the dastardly killings under the carpet. Ikimi, in an interview with NDR, queried the veracity of Ibeh’s opinion.

    “This is another case of extra-judicial murder that the military is trying to explain off with ‘attempting to disarm a soldier’. How can one an okada rider try to disarm one of many soldiers in broad day light?”

    He flayed Ibeh’s assertion as “both an afterthought and an attempt by the military to sweep the matter under the carpet which we hope to resist in the law court”.

    He urged Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan to institute a public inquiry into the killings in a bid to ascertaining the exact version of what happened on the aforesaid date, noting, “justice delayed is justice denied.”

    “Furthermore, in the light of the degree of impunity and indiscipline exhibited by the soldiers in the public, we call on the Army authorities in the State to fish out the said erring soldiers for possible court martialling and their subsequent handover to the Police authority in the State for investigation and prosecution for murder to serve as a deterrent to other bloodthirsty soldiers as we are not in a jungle where might is right,” he added.

    The Media Coordinator of the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta, Colonel Onyema Nwachukwu, who was contacted, reaffirmed the position of Lt. Colonel Ibeh that the first victim tried to disarm a soldier.

    His reaction sent through a text message stated: “The incident occurred on December 5 at Setraco Construction site where the troops were officially deployed for escort duties. The victim attacked a soldier and removed his rifle magazine. While attempting to escape into the crowd with the magazine, the escort guard commander shot him.”

    Nevertheless, Nwachukwu revealed that the army has launched an investigation into the matter to unravel the circumstance surrounding the December 5 killings. He assured that no stone would be left unturned to get to the bottom of the matter.

    He expressed “deep regret” over the death of Adjeke and disclosed that effort was being made to get the management of the construction firm to locate his family in order to reach amicable settlement with them.

     

  • Kokori deserted as JTF, Kelvin’s gang battle for control

    Kokori deserted as JTF, Kelvin’s gang battle for control

    The Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield, has uncovered an armoury of the suspected kidnap kingpin and leader of the Liberation Movement of Urhobo People (LiMUP), Kelvin Ibruvwe (aka Oniarah), in Koko, Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State.

    The discovery of the weaponry followed an intense push by men of the Sector 1 Command of the JTF to rid the Urhobo town of remnant of the ragtag army purportedly led by Ibruvwe, who was arrested in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on September 25.

    The Nation learnt that no fewer than 10 of Kelvin’s gang members, including his second and third in-command, Mr. Rufus Ovwigho (aka Don Jazzy), who succeeded Kelvin after his arrest and Ezegbe Ogheneruno (aka Commander Kelly) had been killed since the operation to rid the area of criminals began.

    Also, 12 members of the gang, including a member of the team which abducted a security expert, Dr. Ona Ekomu, have been arrested.

    A dilapidated storey building located off Market Road in the heart of the town was captured by the JTF during a bloody shootout, which lasted from the early hours of last Thursday till Saturday.

    The volume of arms and ammunition recovered from the building could not be ascertained, but our visit to the town yesterday showed that troops have taken over control and secured it with no fewer than 10 military checkpoints manned by stern-looking soldiers in strategic locations.

    The Commanding Officer of the 3 Battalion, Lt.-Col. Ifeanyi Otu, who spoke with reporters in the deserted town yesterday, said the internal security operation to rid the area of criminal and ensure security of life, property and to create a conducive environment for lawful activities had been carried out.

    He said: “This internal security role has been carried out by the synergy of officers and men of the services, mainly the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Department of State Services (DSS).”

    Although Lt.-Col. Otu was silent on the number of casualty, if any, resulting from the bloody duels, a source in the team, which confronted the gang members, told our reporter that they were armed with sophisticated weapons and ammunition.

    “They (youths) took position on storey buildings and fired at us for several hours. It was clear that they wanted to regain control of the community. We overpowered them and tightened our hold,” the military source added.

    A community source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said at least two members of the gang were gunned down, while others, who sustained gunshot injuries, were taken away from the scene by their members.

    However, the JTF boss lamented the activities of some of the community’s leaders, who he accused of encouraging the criminal activities of the group, stressing: “The conspiracy of silence maintained by the community leaders and especially its elders fanned the embers of these criminals. It also encouraged the establishment of a kidnap/militant groups led by Kelvin Ibruvwe.”

    The Nation’s visit yesterday showed that Kokori had become like a ghost town as over 95 per cent of its inhabitants had fled the community in the wake of the recent bloody clashes between troops and members of the armed gang. Nearly all the houses in the communities’ main quarters were empty.

    Scenes of destruction and carnage dotted the town: windows and doors were smashed. Over 50 cars and motorcycles were either destroyed or burnt. One of the victims was said to be a visitor, who drove his girlfriend to the town on Friday. His car was burnt as used to barricade the main road leading to the Egba Shrine in the centre of the town.

    The shrine was still smouldering yesterday. JTF sources said troops were engaged in an hour-long gun fight with the gangs, who took cover at the shrine before they were overpowered. The shrine was believed to render the militants invincible and bulletproof.

    The masterminds of the latest destruction were a subject of debate between the community leaders and the JTF authority.

    Residents accused troops of looting shops and houses in the wake of the abandonment of the town by residents and criminals. One of the leaders, who spoke with our reporter, said his house was among those looted.

    However, Lt.- Col. Otu debunked the allegations, saying: “The allegation of destruction and looting of property by the troops is not true. The daily administration is closely monitored by five officers; discipline is maintained as one is not unaware of the possible fallout in an operation of this nature.”

    He said the allegations were meant to draw sympathy from those who knew nothing about what was going on in the town before the current situation, adding: “It is an attempt to undermine the good work the troops are doing in Kokori, aimed at restoring law and order in a community, which hitherto drifted towards anarchy.

    “The headquarters of Sector 1 under the command of Brig.-Gen. Pat Akem has the backing of the state government to maintain law and order and restore normalcy in Kokori. It is on record that the rate of kidnapping and armed robbery has reduced in Edo and Delta states following the ongoing operations,” he added.

    Otu appealed to the indigenes to cooperate with the troops in the ongoing operations to restore normalcy.

  • Four terrorists killed in Kano raid

    A dawn raid carried out on Tuesday by combined team of Kano Joint Task Force and the Directorate of State Security Services at Taiyawa in Remin –Kebi in Ungogo local goverment area of the state has resulted in the killing of four terrorists.

    The operation, sources said lasted for several hours as residents were gripped in fear when they heard sound of explosion and gunshots.

    It was learnt that the operation was a continuation of the last operation carried out by the two agencies last month when two soldiers and five terrorists were killed.

    Sources also said that dangerous weapons were also recovered at the terrorists’ hideout in the area.

    Residents told this reporter that two soldiers appeared dead in the gun duel, while the family members of the owner of the building, believed to be the terrorists’ hideout were apprehended.

    However, the Spokesman of the JTF in Kano State, Capt. Ikedichi Iweha, could not confirm the report. But he told this reporter that “anytime I get something, I will keep you informed.”

     

  • Two soldiers, five militants die in army/Boko Haram clash

    Two soldiers, five militants die in army/Boko Haram clash

    A fresh clash erupted yesterday in Kano between  a combined team of the Kano Joint Task Force (JTF) and Directorate of State Security (DSS) with the Islamist sect, Boko Haram.

    When the dust settled, two soldiers and five of the fundamentalists had died.

    The shootout occurred at Hotoro Dan’Marke Quarters and Brigade quarters at about 3am and lasted about three hours.

    Residents said the security agents had stormed two houses in the affected areas apparently following a tip off about the presence of terrorists there.

    A gun duel between the two sides soon ensued but the law enforcements agents gained the upper hand.

    They recovered two AK47 rifles, 458 rounds of 7.62 special and 6 AK47 rifle magazines from the hideouts.

    Security sources said the suspected terrorists were finalising plans to carry out simultaneous suicide attacks in Abuja and Kano when the soldiers struck.

    Spokesman for the JTF, Capt. Ikedichi Iweha, said  the JTF operation had “denied the terrorists freedom of action in Kano and from using the state as a spring board to launch attacks on other parts of the country.

    “This is due to the cooperation the JTF is receiving from members of the general public.”

    The JTF spokesman noted that the recent rise in activities of members of the terrorist sect might  not be unconnected with “the increase in pressure being mounted on them by troops in the North Eastern axis and their desperation to make loud statements of their presence.”

    He, however, expressed worries over “the ease with which terrorists secure accommodation easily in Panshekara, Ja’en, Mariri, Farawa, Hotoro, Sherada, Brigade and other outskirt areas in the state despite appeals by the JTF to property owners to desist from renting their properties to persons with questionable identities. The JTF in Kano would not allow the state to be used as haven for terrorists.”

    The   JTF, he vowed, would not only “continue to destroy any such properties found to accommodate terrorists but will also arrest the owners of such properties,  treating them as accomplices even if they do not reside in the said property.”

     

  • JTF nabs three sea robbers, recovers three AK47 rifles

    The Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield, has apprehended a three-man gang of sea robbers along Twene in Torah community, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.

    The Media Coordinator, JTF, Lt. Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, said the sea bandits were armed with three AK47 rifles when operatives of the outfit arrested them.

    Besides the rifles, he said the operatives recovered 177 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition from the robbers.

    Lt.-Col. Nwachukwu said the robbers were floating on a double-75 horsepower speedboat, waiting for their targets, when luck ran out on them.

    He said: “The sea robbers were arrested while prowling the waterways for opportunity targets.”

    Nwachukwu said the patrol troops also apprehended six suspected thieves siphoning oil from Well Head 26 located at Ekuluma 11.

    The JTF media coordinator said operatives of the outfit arrested 40 suspected oil thieves and destroyed 25 illegal refineries.

    He said 24 of the suspects were nabbed in Delta State by troops of 3 and 19 battalions covering the Sector 1 area of responsibility of the JTF.

    Lt.-Col. Nwachukwu said they were arrested on the Mosagor-Sapele Road, Egwu 1, Opumami, Asiagbere Creek in Gbekebor, Okufoma and Okwuagbede communities, in Ethiope West, Warri South, Warri North and Okpe local government areas of the state.

    “The patrol troops also scuttled seven illegal crude oil distillation sites and 17 Cotonou boats, 16 steel reservoirs, 29 large plastic reservoirs and three welding machines used by the oil thieves for their illicit operation,” he said.

    In a similar operation in Bayelsa State, Nwachukwu said troops of 343 Regiment and 5 Battalion of Sector 2 of the JTF patrolling the waterways arrested 10 suspected vandals.

    He said they were apprehended at Bolbo, Opigni and Mansonkiri in Brass Local Government when attempting to hack into AGIP pipeline in Nembe.

    Said he: “The suspects were operating with a pumping machine, 15 angle iron, five metal pipes and other pipeline vandalism equipment. The troops further scuttled 18 illegal oil distillation sites and nine Cotonou boats conveying illegally-stolen crude oil.”

    Lt.-Col. Nwachukwu said the suspects would be handed over to prosecuting agencies after undergoing preliminary investigations.

  • JTF nabs 3 sea robbers

    • Arrests 40 suspected oil thieves
    • Destroys 25 illegal refineries

    The Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield, has apprehended three-man gang of sea robbers along Twene in Torah community, Ikwerre Local Government Area, Rivers State.

    The Media Coordinator, JTF, Lt. Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, said the sea bandits were armed with three AK47 rifles when operatives of the outfit arrested them.

    Apart from the rifles, he said the operatives recovered 177 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition from the robbers.

    He said the robbers were floating on a double-75 horsepower speedboat, waiting for their targets when luck ran out on them.

    He said: “The sea robbers were arrested while prowling the waterways for opportunity targets.”

    According to him,  the patrol troops also apprehended six suspected thieves siphoning oil from Well Head 26 located at Ekuluma 11.

    He said operatives of the outfit arrested 40 suspected oil thieves and destroyed 25 illegal refineries in various patrol operations — 24 of the suspects were nabbed in Delta State by troops of 3 and 19 battalions covering the Sector 1 area of responsibility of the JTF.

    Nwachukwu said they were arrested at Mosagor Sapele Road, Egwu 1, Opumami, Asiagbere Creek in Gbekebor, Okufoma and Okwuagbede Communities in Ethiope West, Warri South ,Warri North and Okpe Local  Government Areas of the state.

    “The patrol troops also scuttled seven illegal crude oil distillation sites and 17 Cotonou boats, 16 steel reservoirs, 29 large plastic reservoirs and 3 welding machines used by the oil thieves for their illicit operation”, he said.

    In a similar operation in Bayelsa State, he said troops of 343 Regiment and 5 Battalion of Sector 2 of the JTF patrolling the waterways arrested 10 suspected vandals.

    He said they were apprehended at Bolbo, Opigni and Mansonkiri in Brass Local Government Area of the state while they were attempting to hack into AGIP pipeline in Nembe.

    “The suspects were operating with a pumping machine, 15 angle iron, 5 metal pipes and other assorted pipeline vandalism equipment. The troops further scuttled 18 illegal oil distillation sites and 9 Cotonou boats conveying illegally stolen crude oil.”

    He said the suspects would be handed over to prosecuting agencies after undergoing preliminary investigations.

  • Boko Haram: 35 bodies ‘in army uniform’ at morgue

    Boko Haram: 35 bodies ‘in army uniform’ at morgue

    Yobe State Governor Ibrahim Gaidam seems to believe that Boko Haram fighters are better equiped than soldiers — going by his call for better guns for troops battling the insurgency in his state.

    Gaidam also cited “poor intelligence” and inadequate support of the military action as part of the reasons why the insurgency thrives.

    He said if the war must be won, soldiers must be given superior arms and ammunition as well as better intelligence gathering.

    Damaturu, the capital of Yobe, was the scene of last Thursday’s deadly attack by the Boko Haram in which many soldiers and insurgents died.

    Gaidam donated N1million to each of the widows of the dead.

    The governor, inspected the areas destroyed by the insurgents. He was accompanied by the Joint Task Force (JTF) Commandant in the state, Col. Aliyu Abdullahi and Police Commissioner Sanusi Rufai.

    He said: “It appears to me that the security operatives, the police and the army and every other security personnel, were taken unawares. I have been taken round and based on what I have observed, we don’t have enough intelligence all over the state to give information. If our security operatives were on 24 hours alert, some of these things would have been averted and these boys would not just come to the town and start shooting.

    “I have also observed that some of the weapons used by the insurgents are superior weapons in capacity, which are much higher than the ones obtained by the military or the police in Yobe State.

    “I wish to call on the Federal Government to prevail on the Defence Headquarters to ensure that they provide high profile capacity weapons to the army, if this insurgency is to be averted or stopped.

    “The military, the police and other security men in Damaturu only have AK 47 rifles. Maybe a few high profile weapons are there with the military. We need more of trained personnel on ground and more equipment to fight the insurgents.

    “The Federal Government is interested in seeing the end of the insurgency but if the type of weapons used by the military and police in this place does not change, I think the chances of defeating this insurgency is very remote. They must be provided with high-profile weapons.”

    The governor added: “How can you have a smaller weapon and somebody has a rocket launcher that can destroy a building, let alone a human being. If the Federal government provides the required weapons for the security agencies, the problem will be over within weeks.”

    The tragedy of the invasion of Damaturu came to the fore yesterday. It emerged that no fewer than 35 bodies in military uniform were deposited at the morgue.

    Twenty soldiers are hospitalised in Jos, the Plateau State capital, it was also gathered. Many insurgents were killed by the troops.

    Thursday’s attack in Damaturu was the first raid in a major urban centre in several weeks by the insurgent group waging a four-year Islamist uprising.

    Police and residents said large numbers of Boko Haram fighters, some in vehicles and others on foot, stormed Damaturu after dark.

    Armed with guns and explosives, they attacked and torched four police buildings, sparking a fierce, hours-long gun battle with the security forces.

    “We have received lots of bodies in the last three days from the attacks. I counted 35 bodies in military uniform,” said a senior official at the Damaturu Specialist Hospital, who requested for anonymity.

    An army officer based in Jos, the Plateau State capital, said 20 soldiers had been admitted at a hospital there, suffering from “gunshot wounds sustained in the battle against Boko Haram in Damaturu”.

    “They were brought here for security reasons and better medical facilities,” said the officer, who also asked his name to be withheld.

    The military rarely discusses troop fatalities following Islamist attacks

    Contacted by the AFP, Yobe State military spokesman Capt. Lazarus Eli did not deny reports that dozens of soldiers were killed during the clash.

    “We do not have any data on the death toll,” Capt. Lazarus said.

    Boko Haram has repeatedly worn military uniforms as a disguise during attacks and it was not yet clear if the bodies were those of insurgents or troops.

    The day after the attack, witnesses and local officials did not say the insurgents who staged it were disguised in uniforms.

    Nigeria’s sweeping offensive against Boko Haram has entered its fifth month and the military has described the group as being in disarray and no longer capable of attacking major population centres.

    But the success of the operation remains unclear and the attack in Damaturu, apparently carried out by a significant number of insurgents in a heavily fortified city, has cast further doubt on the effectiveness of the military offensive.

    There are, however, signs that Boko Haram has been pushed back into the Northeast, its historic stronghold, after carrying out attacks across the wider North through much of 2011 and 2012.

    President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa States in May and vowed to permanently end the uprising.

    Jonathan must decide whether to extend the emergency measures when the six-month mandate expires next month.

    The conflict has killed thousands since 2009.