Niger Delta militants threaten missile attack

· Kill 3 soldiers, 4 oil workers in Delta

· They came in 5 speedboats – Army

 

 Fresh threats of killings and missile attacks have come from an en­tirely new Niger Delta militant group: the Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force (NDLF).

The group specifically gave June 7, that is Tuesday next week, as the day it will test six missiles in the Niger Delta re­gion. It also threatened to bring down any aircraft that the Fed­eral Government may deploy to check the growing militancy in the region.

NDLF, which claimed af­filiation with the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), also warned against the deployment of mil­itary helicopters in the South-South zone, threatening to shoot them down.

Its threats came a day after militants attacked a military point in Delta State, killing three sol­diers and four civilians. The mil­itary authorities which confirmed the attack, said it took place on Wednesday evening.

NDLF said that once the mis­sile launch begins, all flight opera­tions must cease within the coun­try’s airspace and cautioned that it will bring down any aircraft flout­ing the order, no matter its size.

In a press statement made available to The AUTHORITY yesterday, the group said it was considering shutting down the nation’s satellite orbit during the launch.

The statement was signed by General Akotebe Darikoro, Com­mander, General Duties; Gener­al Torunnanaowei Latei, Creeks Network Coordinator; General Agbakakuro Owei-Tauro, Pipe­lines Bleeding Expert and Gener­al Pulokiri Ebiladei (Intelligence Bureau).

The statement reads: “The Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) which is the highest organ of all the freedom fighting body has finally endorsed the follow­ing:

“After extensive and exhaus­tive deliberation by all Com­manders of various groups in Yenagoa, the heart of the Niger Delta struggle, we met last night (Wednesday) and as part of our mission, we are going to test six of our missiles in the region. This is to show the Federal Government of our readiness of the American prediction.

“There should be NO form of helicopter flying around in the re­gion as we will not guarantee the safety of such object. The people of the Niger Delta region should not panic in the course of test-running the six missiles.

“We may also decide with­in the week to shut down the Ni­gerian satellite orbit, so that there will be no communication in the country if the need arises. With­in our three days’ operations, NO airplane should fly out of the country because it can target such object no matter how small or big it may be.

“Our fighter expert team shall be positioned in the six Niger Del­ta States who have arrived in the region from training through our country’s porous borders with our foreign partners who are going to showcase what they have learnt in the past one year.

“Our struggle is not for any human blood, but we have been pushed to the wall for justice be­cause our patience is running out on daily basis as Nigerian uni­formed men continue killing in­nocent people.

 

“Nigerian military should in the next 48 hours, as a matter of urgency, leave peacefully the Ijaw communities they are at present under the guise of searching for the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) or else we should not be blamed for whatever catastrophe that be­falls; such officers and the likely affected families of the officers should not blame us.

“We have consulted our war gods (deities) that enough is enough and that the time has come...

“Henceforth, any attack on Ijaw communities or person(s) by the military or paramilitary body in the region, we will not hesitate to order our shoot-on-sight squad of any uniform personnel in the region.

“We ask all Service Chiefs in­cluding the Minister of Defence to resign their positions because Nigeria has no security in whatev­er form. Bravo to our Foreign Ma­rine Crack Team for its ability to shut down the Nigerian obsolete surveillance equipment.

“For the records, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) are not in Delta State; we only go there to strike and return safely to the struggle base, Bayelsa State.

“We further warn, especially the Information Commissioner, Mr. Jonathan Obuebite, in Bayelsa State not to criticise our activities any longer or else he has a choice of leaving the planet earth any­time he makes such statement(s).

“All oil and gas operations should shut down immediate­ly as our missiles testing will af­fect their equipment. We shall commence missiles testing on Tuesday, June 7, 2016 which co­incides with the date of our train­ing abroad. Since Buhari has failed to meet our demands, we promise Nigerians and the entire world that we are going to sur­prise them.”

Militants kill 3 soldiers, 4 oil workers in Delta

Meanwhile, the Niger Delta militants on Wednesday evening renewed their hostilities against security agents, killing seven per­sons, including three soldiers and four oil workers in Delta State.

The incident occurred in the creeks of Efe-Ugbokodo in War­ri South Local Government Area providing security for workers of the Nigerian Petroleum Develop­ment Company (NPDC).

 

The gunmen also ensured that the houseboat was sunk be­fore leaving.

A relative of one of the civil­ian victims, Richard Ebiayaidou, identified his late sibling as Tom­bra Iwoboibi, a caterer attached to the NPDC.

Richard, a student of the Del­ta State Polytechnic, Oghara, who was at the Warri Central Hospi­tal, to identify the deceased, wept profusely.

The Public Relations Officer (PRO), Warri Central Hospital, Mrs. Success Obere, confirmed that the hospital received seven corpses on Wednesday midnight.

According to Obere, dead bodies received by the hospital management include three sol­diers and four civilians of which two are males.

Although no militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack, sources said it was carried out by members of the Niger Del­ta Avengers.

They came in 5 speedboats, says Army

In a reaction the attack, the Nigerian Army has said that at about 5:50pm on June 1, 2016, an NPDC Houseboat deployed at Ejere Junction in Warri South Local Government Area was at­tacked by suspected militants.

The Assistant Director of Army Public Relations, Captain Jonah Unuakhalu, in a statement, said: “The militants approached the houseboat in five speedboats mounted with 250 horse pow­er engines and disguised as nor­mal commuters. During the de­liberate attack, two soldiers were killed, one wounded, one sol­dier missing while four civilian members of staff attached to the houseboat were shot dead. The at­tack occurred when other mem­bers of the troops were on pipe­line patrol.

“The Brigade condemns the attack on our personnel carrying out their constitutional duties and other innocent workers. The Bri­gade will not be deterred by such dastardly acts, but will remain resolute in discharging its con­stitutional duties. Furthermore, those who carried out the crimi­nal acts will surely be apprehend­ed and brought to justice.

“The Brigade, therefore, im­plores all law-abiding citizens to go about their normal business­es,” Unuakhalu said.

 

 “We are telling the people of Ekiti State that they have a son in whom the Biafrans and IPOB and other pro-Biafra ag­itators are well pleased. This is not because he condemned the Federal Government for killing IPOB, other Biafra and non-Bi­afra agitators, but because he equally condemned the killing by Fulani herdsmen in Agatu in Benue and Nimbo in Enugu States and other states.

“He has equally stood tall in singlehandedly and con­structively criticising the All Progressives Congress (APC) government in all their irre­sponsible and anti-Nigeria’s policies when his party mem­bers and other politicians are afraid and become intimidat­ed for fear of being arrested for one alleged corrupt act or the other,” he said.

Reps to investigate killing of agitators

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has mandat­ed its Committees on Human Rights, National Security and Intelligence to investigate the killing of pro-Biafra agitators in the South East.

The resolution to investigate the killing followed a motion moved under matters of urgent public importance by the Depu­ty Minority Leader, Hon. Chuk­wuma Onyema, and was unan­imously adopted by the House.

The House also urged the Executive arm of government to review and formulate a more efficient mechanism for engag­ing with aggrieved Nigerians on matters that threaten the coun­try’s security and territorial in­tegrity.

Leading the debate on the motion, Onyema expressed worry over the increasing spate of extrajudicial killings by secu­rity agencies in the country.

He noted that the rights to freedom of association, expres­sion and peaceful assembly are enshrined in the 1999 Consti­tution (as amended), adding that the country’s dismal hu­man rights records are large­ly predicated on unprovoked and forceful engagements by security agencies on unarmed civilians.

The House adopted the mo­tion when the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, put it on a voice vote and mandated the relevant committees to investi­gate the matter and report back to it within two weeks.