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Tag: JTF

  • JTF arrests two Britons, 12 Nigerians for oil theft

    JTF arrests two Britons, 12 Nigerians for oil theft

    The Joint Task Force (JTF) in Bayelsa State –Operation Pulo Shield – yesterday in Yenagoa paraded two Britons and 12 Nigerians said to have been arrested for oil theft.

    They were apprehended while allegedly hatching a plot to siphon petroleum product from the pipelines of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) at Chanomi creeks, Warri, Delta State.

    The Nigerians,according to the JTF, were hired as technicians to facilitate the oil theft which would have been executed by connecting a hose to one of the SPDC’s pipelines along the Chanomi creeks for the purpose of siphoning the oil.

    The suspects were also said to have offered a bribe of N11million to officials of the JTF with a promise to pay an additional N10million if the illicit deal sailed through.

    But luck ran out on them when the Commander 4 Brigade, Brigadier-General Fidelis Azinta, rejected the bribe and arrested them.

    The suspects, the alleged bribe money and operational tools were paraded yesterday by the Commander, JTF, Major-General Emmanuel Atewe, at the headquarters of the security outfit in Yenagoa.

    Atewe said the suspects, representatives of an oil servicing company, were apprehended on March 17.

    He said the suspects initially came to the JTF’s headquarters on the pretence that they had been authorised to evacuate products from a vessel in the custody of Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS).

    He said they came with an approval letter from NNS and a permit from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    But Atewe said he directed the Sector 1of the JTF to monitor their activities on the waterways.

    He said: “The Operations Officer of 3 Battalion discovered through their confessions that their actual intention was to hack into one of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) pipelines in Chanomi creeks, Warri, Delta State and siphon crude oil”.

    To cover up their tracks, he said the suspects first gave the officer a bribe of $5000 for recharge cards and $1500 to fuel a gunboat that would escort the stolen crude oil.

    He said the suspects would be handed over to the Department of State Security (DSS) for prosecution.

  • JTF arrests two Britons, 12 Nigerians for oil theft

    JTF arrests two Britons, 12 Nigerians for oil theft

    * Suspects tried to bribe commander with $66,500

    Two Britons, Piers Eastwood and Vincent Haywood, including 12 Nigerians have been apprehended by the Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield, over their involvement in illegal bunkering along the Chanomi creek.

    They were apprehended while hatching a plot to siphon petroleum product from the pipelines of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) at Chanomi creeks, Warri, Delta State.

    The duo were rounded up alongside 12 Nigerian collaborators they hired as technicians to facilitate theft of the oil.

    Their sinister motive was to connect a hose to one of the SPDC’s pipelines along the Chanomi creeks and illegally siphon Nigerian oil.

    To actualise their evil intention, they offered a bribe of N11million to officials of JTF and promised to pay additional N10million if the illicit deal sailed through.

    But luck ran out on them when the Commander 4 Brigade, Brigadier-General Fidelis Azinta, rejected the bribe and arrested them.

    The suspects, their bribe money and operational tools, were paraded on Friday by the Commander, JTF, Major-General Emmanuel Atewe, at the Headquarters of the security outfit in Yenagoa.

    Atewe said the suspects, representatives of an oil servicing company,  were apprehended on March 17.

    He said the suspects initially came to JTF’s headquarters on the pretence  that they had been authorised to evacuate products from a vessel under the custody of Nigeria Navy Ship (NNS) DELTA.

    He said they came with an approval letter from  NNS and a permit from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    But Atewe said he directed the Sector 1of the JTF to monitor their activities in the waterways.

    He said: “The Operations Officer of 3 Battalion discovered through their confession that their actual intention was to hack into one of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) pipelines in Chanomi creeks, Warri, Delta State and siphon crude oil”.

    To covet up their tracks, he said the suspects first gave the officer a bribe of $5000 for recharge cards and $1500 to fuel a gunboat that would escort the stolen crude oil.

    He said two of the suspects asked the officer to facilitate a meeting between them and tue commander 4 Brigade.

    Atewe said the meeting was convened on March 20 at the Brigadier’s office as a bait to further ascertain the motive of the suspects.

    He said: “During the meeting, the suspects expressed their desire to connect a hose to SPDC pipeline along the Chanomi creek in Delta State so as to illegally siphon crude oil into barges.

    “While in the Brigade commander’s office, they promised to bribe the Brigade Commander with the sum of N20million as well as take care of the officers and soldiers along the Chanomi creeks.

    “On March 21, they brought to the commander 60,000USD which translates to N10.2million being 50 per cent of the N20million promised. The suspects were immediately arrested for attempting to bribe the commander and for economic sabotage.”

    He said the 12 technicians hired to connect the hoses to facilitate the theft were also apprehended.

    Atewe said a follow-up investigation led to the arrest of the two Britons who were in company with seven Nigerian policemen.

    He said the two Britons were security consultants from Port 2, Port Maritime Security Company Limited, United Kingdom, with a regional branch in Lagos.

    He said the Britons flew into Lagos on March 14, left Lagos same day for Port Harcourt and departed to Warri through Yenagoa where they met with other suspects.

    “The two Britons were to provide security escort and consultancy to a vessel believed to have been positioned at Brass open waters for suspected illegal oil bunkering”, he said.

    He said the suspects would be handed over to the Department of State Security (DSS) for prosecution.

    Atewe was, however, unhappy after a discovery that one of the suspects, Joshua Orupere, was once arrested and handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for prosecution.

    He said Orupere, a serial offender, was apprehended last year when he tried to bribe the same commander who was then the Chief of Staff, JTF.

    He blamed the hydra-headed nature of oil theft on lack of diligent prosecution and appealed to relevant agencies to assist JTF in curbing economic crime.

  • How we attacked Giwa Baracks, by Boko Haram

    How we attacked Giwa Baracks, by Boko Haram

    A NEW Boko Haram video in which the deadly sect relives Giwa barracks attack has been made public.

    In the video, the sect’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, boasts about its bloody exploits, saying:

    “We carried out the attacks in Maiduguri. This is a message from the leader of Jama’atu Ahlissunah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad. We carried out the attacks in Maiduguri as we were responsible for the other attacks being carried out all over. The Giwa Barracks attack is worth narrating.

    “Allah killed his enemies in Giwa Barracks. We launched the Maiduguri attacks and killed infidels in Giwa Barracks.

    He warned members of the Civilian JTF, the group of youths strengthening security in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital that is often attacked by the insurgents.

    “You either flee, take up arms, conscript into the army or police…what I’m telling you is that I have started a war against you,” Shekau said, adding:

    “There are only two groups of people in the world. There are either those with us or those on the other side, which I’ll kill once I spot them. This is my only focus now.”

    “Allah gave us the courage to break into Giwa Barracks (where) we killed and we burnt. We rescued over 2,000 of our brethren, and most of them commanders!…One of them even took up a gun and started fighting there. They all got away.

    “And for your information, western education is forbidden. University is forbidden. You should vacate university. You should leave university.”

    He advised girls to shun education, adding: “In Islam it is allowed to take infidel women as slaves and in due course we will start taking women away and sell in the market.”

    “We carried out the Maiduguri attack. And those you killed included freed detainees who were not our members but ordinary people who on being freed headed to town, thinking they were safe. They were dressed in shorts and when you encountered them you mistook them for us and killed them. That was what really happened,” Shekau said, adding:

    “We rescued all of our brethren, we gave them clothing, shelter, vehicles, food and all they needed….Our brethren are in good state; we thank God.”

    He gave a rather clumsy insight into why Boko Haram is fighting.

    “We are not fighting the north; we are fighting the world. And you will see us fighting the world. This is our job,” Shekau said.

  • 60 Boko Haram insurgents killed in foiled ‘jailbreak’

    60 Boko Haram insurgents killed in foiled ‘jailbreak’

    The Islamist sect, Boko Haram, yesterday lost at least 60 of its members during a five-hour daylight attack it launched on the Giwa Army Barracks, Maiduguri.

    The sect had launched the dawn invasion with gunfire and explosions in a desperate bid to free its members detained in the military facility.

    Over 250 insurgents were said to be in detention in the barrack at the time of the invasion.

    The Ministry of Defence confirmed that the invaders were repelled.

    The invaders failed to set free any of the detainees they had set out to rescue.

    The insurgents were said to have stormed into Maiduguri by land and water, using the Ngadda River channel behind the University of Maiduguri to stage the multi-pronged attack.

    It was shortly before 7am.

    Once they were inside the city, they split into smaller groups and headed for the barracks, but the soldiers fought back with military jets hovering above.

    The Defence Headquarters said four soldiers were wounded in the bloody encounter.

    Children who were on their way to schools when the shooting erupted cried in fear and confusion.

    Panicky workers and other residents also scampered into safety.

    Multiple witness accounts said that the gunmen opened fire on civilians and torched several homes as they passed through the residential neighbourhood of Fauri.

    Students at the University of Maiduguri reported hearing sustained gunfire throughout the morning.

    A top security source said yesterday that the Boko Haram attack ended in a crushing defeat for the sect.

    Said the source: ”You know we have been interrogating captured Boko Haram suspects in Giwa barracks in the last few weeks. But Boko Haram leadership got intelligence report on where their members were detained.

    “So, at dawn on Friday, they invaded the barracks and attempted to break through the gate of the detention facility. In the attempt to repel the insurgents, vigilant troops engaged them in bloody encounters for more than five hours.

    “In annoyance, the rampaging Boko Haram members threw explosives at the detention centre, which led to the death of many of their detained members.

    “We have recorded more than 60 deaths, but we are still taking stock as at 3pm on Friday.”

    The source said that once the attack failed, the terrorists took to their heels but were given a chase by troops on land and from the sky.

    The source added that the population of Boko Haram fighters had been depleted significantly since “ we started the bombardment of their camps” hence yesterday’s attack to get their detained colleagues to rejoin them. Asked why the military kept the captured Boko Haram members in detention in Maiduguri, the source added: “We had planned to relocate the captured insurgents to Cross River but the state rejected the the move because it does not want security challenges.

    “All the states in the southern part have also turned down plans to establish detention centres in their areas. They say they do not want Boko Haram harboured or interrogated on their soil.”

    The Defence Headquarters through its spokesman, Maj-Gen. Chris Olukolade, said four soldiers were wounded during yesterday’s encounter.

    He said: “Pockets of terrorists apparently in a move to boost their depleted stock of fighters this morning attacked a military location in Maiduguri with a view to freeing their colleagues who are being held in detention.

    “The attack has been successfully repelled with heavy human casualty on the terrorists. Some of the victims of the terrorists’ fire in their efforts to break into the detention facility, included those they came to rescue.

    “Many of the terrorists and their weapons have been captured. Four soldiers were wounded and are being treated.

    “Hot pursuits by land and air operations are ongoing along with cordon and search of surrounding localities.

    “No institution has been reported attacked, although the effect of firing from the encounter could be noticed in surrounding facilities in Maiduguri. Details will be given

    “It is believed that this terrorists’ attempt is in response to the intensity of attacks on their strongholds in camps at Talala, Monguzum, Sambisa forests, Gwoza, Mandara mountains as well as the general area of Lake Chad. The camps have been destroyed and many insurgents killed.”

    At the end of the battle, civilian JTF members were said to have carried out a search for fleeing members of the sect in Maiduguri, arresting scores of them and turning them over to soldiers.

    Meanwhile the curfew in the city has been reviewed. It will now run from 2pm to 6am as against 9pm to 6am previously.

  • JTF foils kidnap attempt on Jonathan’s relation

    JTF foils kidnap attempt on Jonathan’s relation

    THE Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield, has foiled an attempt to kidnap a relative of President Goodluck Jonathan, Madam Patience Agbani.

    Madam Agbani is said to be related to the President’s mother.

    She was reportedly trailed by six assailants at 11 p.m. on Wednesday on her way from a business outing.

    Sighting them from a distance, the woman was said to have ran, with the bandits in pursuit.

    JTF’s Media Coordinator Col. Onyema Nwachukwu said Madam Agbani ran into an uncompleted building and called a JTF operative.

    He said: “We foiled the kidnap attempt on the woman at Akimpli at 11 p.m. She was returning from a business outing. But she was being trailed by a group of about six men.

    “They chased her, but thank goodness she had the phone number of one of our men deployed in SETRACO at Ogbia. Our patrol team responded and it prevented the kidnap.

    “We foiled the attempt from the would-be victim because of the information we got. People should assist JTF with information,” he said.

    Madam Agbani, it was learnt, was taken to the JTF headquarters in Yenagoa, for debriefing.

  • Atewe…JTF’s new kid on the block

    “YOU can’t be here and people are being kidnapped. This is the headquarters and we must portray the real essence and values of our military profession”.

    With the above words, the new Commander, Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield, Maj.-Gen. Emmanuel Atewe, summoned in an unusual fashion, officers and men of JTF for an emergency meeting.

    Though it was 2.30am, the soldiers scrambled on their feet and trudged down to their commander at the conference hall of JTF’s headquarters, Yenagoa. Men and women of the command and even persons accommodated in hotels outside the headquarters heeded the order.

    When they got there, they met an angry and restless commander. Atewe was jolted by the news of kidnapping which filtered into the command. The news got to him at about 9pm.

    Mrs. Joyce Ebua, a sister to the Commissioner for Sports, Mr. Maitama Obodo, was kidnapped. Five gunmen struck at Oloibiri, a community where oil was found in commercial quantity in 1956, and abducted Ebua.

    Ebua was relaxing outside her house close to the Oloibiri waterfront when the hoodlums arrived. Abducting her was an easy task as the hoodlums simply forced her into a waiting speedboat and sped off. Though people were around and could have stopped them, the daredevil criminals shot sporadically into the air to scare them. They escaped after what looked like a smooth operation.

    Indeed, it was one kidnapping too many. Ebue’s abduction occurred at a time security outfits in the state were trying to locate the whereabouts of President Jonathan’s cousin, Chief Inengite Nitabai.

    Nitabai was abducted on February 23, by 10 gunmen at his compound in Otuoke, Ogbia local government area. Nobody including security operatives knows the whereabouts of Nitabai and his assailants. In fact, rumours of his death have been circulating in Yenagoa and its environs.

    While 10 gunmen were involved in Nitabai’s case, five armed men carried the operation that took Ebue away to an unknown place. The abduction of Ebue was the first criminal incident to have occurred in the state since Atewe assumed the command of JTF.

    He took over from Maj-Gen. Iliyasu Abbah, who has now been appointed a Military Secretary. Atewe was the Commander of Guards Brigade, Army Headquarters, Abuja before he assumed responsibility of JTF. He was in charge of security at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.

    As a gallant and action officer, Atewe, an infantry soldier, was not comfortable that somebody was kidnapped in his domain. He murdered sleep and forced his soldiers out of their beds to fashion out ways of freeing the victim.

    “We cannot allow kidnappers to take over our domain. We cannot be here and somebody is kidnapped. We are soldiers and our responsibility is to tackle criminality. We can only sleep when the people are sleeping. If they are not sleeping we, won’t sleep”, he said.

    A senior officer who was part of the emergency meeting said Atewe showed a common zeal as he spoke to them. He said the commander banged the table many times while he spoke to them.

    “We were surprised. We have seen many commanders before, but this new one is different. None of us slept. We were awake till 5am. At a point he said we should move to the crime scene that night.

    “But after many discussions, he now concluded that the Commanding Officer, 5 Battalion at Otakeme, Ogbia should be moved to the area. He immediately called the commander and ordered him to go to the crime scene”, he said.

    He added: “This is a new regime in JTF. It is either you shape in or shape out”. He later said the commander assembled the soldiers on Tuesday and led them to the crime scene.

    Before departing the command, Abbah had described Atewe as a committed soldier. He said: “Atewe is a very committed military officer. He is going to do the work according to the mandate of the JTF. He is so good to handle the task. I have confidence in his abilities”.

    Atewe vowed to tackle piracy, kidnapping, pipeline vandalism and illegal oil bunkering in the region. He said he would study the situation in the Niger Delta and formulate strategies to tackle economic saboteurs in the region.

    “I have to study the situation. It is my intention to professionally follow the mandate of the JTF to address the menace of piracy, pipeline vandalism, illegal oil bunkering and other illegalities in the Niger Delta,” he said .

    Confirming the abduction of Ebue, the Media Coordinator, JTF, Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, said all the soldiers were working hard to locate the kidnappers and free their victim.

    He said: “The command has activated the security network on both land and waterways in conjunction with other security agencies to locate and track down the kidnappers.”

  • Borno: Civilian JTF solicits FG’s support

    Mr. Iliasu Saidu, spokesperson for the Borno Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF), has solicited the Federal Government’s logistics support in the fight against Boko Haram in the North East.

    Saidu said this while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

    He also solicited for support for the JTF by providing vehicles and allowances for the youth.

    This, according to him, will serve as motivation to fight the Boko Haram.

    According to him, what the entire JTF do is to give information to the military so that it can help them in their job.

    Saidu said that no fewer than 2,500 youths made up the organisation.

    He added that the state government was planning to recruit additional 1,500 to make up to 4,000, to further assist the military in their operation.

    He said that the activities of the civilian JTF had helped to secure lives and property in the troubled state, adding that all that was needed currently was the Federal Government’s assistance.

    “Borno is Nigeria and the people fermenting violence and the killings are Nigerians; if we can have assistance from the Federal Government, it will help us to achieve peace.”

    He called on the Nigerian youth to join hands with the JTF to bring peace to the North East.

    “ Borno is a beautiful state which must not be taken over by hoodlums,’’ he added

     

  • JTF destroys 308 illegal refineries

    The Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield, has destroyed 308 illegal refineries in the Niger Delta this year.

    The outfit impounded and destroyed 30 barges, 155 smuggling boats, 20 tanker trucks and 566 surface tanks.

    This success was achieved by the outgoing Commander, Maj-Gen Iliyasu Abbah, who is bowing out after a month.

    Abbah assumed control on January 10 and was posted to the Army Headquarters, Abuja, as the Military Secretary on February 10.

    The commander listed his achievements within the short period when he handed over to the new commander, Maj.-Gen. Emmanuel Atewe.

    Gen. Abbah said the outfit destroyed 275 drums of illegally refined products, 273 pumping machines and two outboard engines.

    He said two vessels used for illegal bunkering were impounded.

    Abbah said illegal oil bunkering would soon be eradicated with the cooperation of every stakeholder in the region.

    He said: “During my stay as the commander, I have studied the situation in the region and have mapped out strategies to that effect but the exigency of service demands otherwise. I have been transferred to the headquarters as the military secretary.

    “I will hand over those strategies to my successor. I believe with the cooperation of stakeholders in the region, illegal oil bunkering, pipeline vandalism, piracy and other illegalities will be eradicated soon.”

    “Atewe is a committed military officer. He is going to do the work according to the mandate of the JTF. He is so good to handle the task. I have confidence in his abilities.”

    Gen Atewe, a former commander of the Brigade of Guards vowed to tackle piracy, pipeline vandalism and illegal oil bunkering in the region.

    He said he would study the situation in the Niger Delta and formulate strategies to tackle economic saboteurs in the region.

    “I have to study the situation. It is my intention to professionally follow the mandate of the JTF to address the menace of piracy, pipeline vandalism, illegal oil bunkering and other illegalities in the Niger Delta,” he said.

  • Atiku’s flight of fancy

    Atiku’s flight of fancy

    A FORMER Vice President Atiku Abubakar has suggested that in fighting Boko Haram, the Nigerian military should “actively engage the civilian JTF, train and support them to be its eyes and ears in the battle against (terrorism). “No doubt, the military is operating in very unfamiliar terrain and needs all the local support it can get,” he adds. “There’s a lot that both parties the military and the civilian JTF can gain from collaborating.” Alhaji Atiku omits a small but important point: What happens after the war against terror is won and lost? Would the civilian combatants simply disarm and go home?

  • JTF destroys 17 illegal refineries

    THE Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield, has destroyed 17 illegal refineries in four states in the Niger Delta.

    The security outfit arrested eight suspected oil thieves during its patrols in Edo, Delta, Rivers and Bayelsa states.

    JTF’s Media Coordinator Col. Onyema Nwachukwu said five of the illegal refineries were demolished in Edo and Delta states by the 3 and 19 battalions as well as JTF’s NNS Delta of Sector 1 Area of Responsibility (AoR).

    He said the troops also impounded 40 Cotonou boats used in conveying stolen products.

    Col. Nwachukwu said the oil thieves and owners of the illegal refineries operated with 300 metal tanks, 64 plastic storage tanks, 72 drums, 68 cooking ovens, four pumping machines and one Lister generator.

    The media coordinator said the illegal refineries were destroyed at Takular, Otegele 1, Okpogbene and Ovulaiye area of Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State.

    He said the troops also impounded a tug boat with 30 drums of stolen petroleum at Ajide on Benin River in Edo State.

    “The Cotonou boats and other apparatus were destroyed, while the six suspects nabbed have been moved to the Tactical Headquarters”, Col. Nwachukwu said.

    In Rivers State, the JTF spokesman said operatives of 29 Battalion and Gun Boat Detachment patrolling the waterways and creeks of Soku–Ofumakiri, Bolo, Oloma and Isaka destroyed four illegal refineries.

    He said the owners operated with 40 cooking ovens, 30 plastic storage tanks, 50 drums, one welding machine, two pumping machines and a 45 KVA generator.

    Col Nwachukwu said the troops impounded a Cotonou boat with 86 drums of illegally refined Automated Gas Oil (AGO).

    He said the illegal refineries and their equipment were scuttled in situ while two suspects arrested were taken to the Sector 2 Headquarters.

    In Bayelsa State, he said troops of 343 Regiment patrolling the waterways shut down eight illegal refineries and destroyed six Cotonou boats in Tebidaba and Igbematoru communities of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.

    “The operatives also scuttled 69 metal drums and two pumping machines used by the oil thieves to operate the illegal refineries,” the JTF spokesman said.

    He said the suspects were being investigated and would be handed over to relevant prosecuting agencies.