Tony Ita Etim and Chinedu Wosu
21 August 2008
Port Harcourt — The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has accused the Joint Task Force (JTF) of extra-judicial killings.
A statement signed by MEND spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, accused the Rivers State Joint Task Force, Operation Flush Out 111 of killing 20 persons that were arrested Tuesday, during a shootout between cult groups in the Abuja waterfront area of Port Harcourt.
Gbomo said: "The Joint task Force (JTF) of the military carried out summary executions of all the cultists captured Tuesday in Port Harcourt, Rivers state of Nigeria without following the due legal process as required by the law.
"Regardless of the perceived offenses of the men, it is not for the military but for the law courts to decide on the penalty for each of the individuals. This action again demonstrates the indiscipline and frustration of the Nigerian military.
"In spite of the obvious fate that may befall any of its captured fighters, MEND has given the directives to its fighters to restrain from taking the lives of any captured military personnel so that we do not stoop to their level."
However, JTF has denied reports that the command carried out an extra-judiciary killings of 20 arrested militants in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
Spokesman of JTF, Lt Col Sagir Musa in an interview with journalists said none of the 20 arrested suspects in the shot out in the city have faced any acts of killings by the soldiers.
He described the allegation by MEND as false saying that the JTF are trained professional soldiers who obey the law of the society.
According to Musa, the falsehood by MEND was circulated on the internet.
Hear him: "The soldiers can not carry out an extra judiciary killings on the suspected militants, we are highly trained professionals and we do not killed persons unnecessarily".
Parading the suspects Lt Col Sagir Musa, said the 20 arrested suspects would be interrogated and if found wanting would face the law.
He further disclosed that any arrested suspects would be brought to the command headquarters for proper interrogations, saying that the 20 suspects are all alive and in good health condition.
The army spokesman also debunked rumors that innocent persons were also arrested by the soldiers during the raid were four militants were killed during a shot out with the soldiers, 20 others arrested.
Lt Col Sagir Musa gave the graphic history on places were the hoodlums were apprehended, which according to him includes, 11 persons arrested at Abuja waterfront, while 9 nabbed at NPA dockyard of the city.
He disclosed further that documents incriminating the suspects were in the army possessions, as most of the suspect's claims innocent of the acts.
Our correspondent who spoke with some of the suspects reports that, a father and two of his sons said they were also arrested by the soldiers.
Mr. Peter Okeh, a suspect among the 20 said he is a medicine dealer in Port Harcourt and do not know anything about militancy, even as the soldiers broke into his store and arrested him, just two others said they students on Industrial Training in the city when the soldiers apprehended them and tagged them militants.
Daily Champion also reports that, the suspects eyes were covered with cloths to denied them from seeing the public.
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