Emma Amaize
21 September 2008
analysis
Movement for Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the fear-provoking militia in the Niger-Delta, has countered the announcement of the Defence Headquarters, DHQ, that the "oil war,"christened, "Hurricane Barborossa", which it declared, Sunday, September 14, was a sheer propaganda, saying "the military is deluding itself" by playing down the current cataclysm in the region.
The DHQ had, on Monday, 24 hours after the group declared fresh hostilities in the region, dismissed the "oil war" as half truths. However, barely 48 hours after the tough-talk by the military, the chief of the defence staff, Air Chief Marshal Paul Dike, whose visit to military formations in the region was originally postponed due to the "exigency" of duty, hurried to the theatre of war, Rivers State, to see things for himself and hold strategy-planning meetings with senior military officers. He left for Warri on Thursday to meet with the commander of the Joint Task Force, JTF, Brigadier-General Nanven Rimtip, and heads of military commands.
Ironically, the day the director of defense information, Brigadier-General Mohammed Yusuf, issued a statement in Abuja, saying the "oil war" suggested by the MEND, was a smokescreen, the militants, who started Hurricane Barborossa with sequential attacks on the Soku Gas Plant, Chevron Platform in Kula and bombing of a major crude trunk pipeline at Nembe Creek, September 14, continued with more cruel attack on the Alakiri Flow Station, operated by the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), freely throwing explosives like dynamites and bombs on day two of the "oil war".
MEND's spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, in a reply via electronic mail to an inquiry by Sunday Vanguard said, "The minister of defence is trying to downplay an obvious calamity the same way they did when one of our camps was attacked by the Joint Task Fraud (Joint Task Force (JTF) on the Niger-Delta. By the way, this is how we refer to them. Anyone who continues to tell himself that this is still propaganda is greatly deluded."
"The NNPC", he said, "has finally revealed that in just five days of the Hurricane, a total of 600,000 bpd has been shut-in, bringing our export down to 1.5m bpd, and this is just in Rivers alone. Anyone who continues to deceive themselves that this is still propaganda is greatly deluded."
By the time the CDS arrived Rivers State on Wednesday, his men were able to repel an attack by militants on the Chevron Flow Station in the state but the Orubiri Flow Station and a major oil pipeline at Rumuekpe, both also in Rivers State, were blown some hours before he touched ground. Besides, the daring militants attacked the naval houseboat located near a flow station, which is operated under joint venture between the SPDC and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
"If what the military authorities meant was that the MEND is skilled in encoding information to the media on its activities or outstanding in media propagation/propaganda of its activities, that is comprehensible, but, to say that the destruction the militants have wreaked since, last Sunday, is a sheer propaganda is to stand the truth on the head", a senior citizen who preferred anonymity told Sunday Vanguard, adding, "Even if the military wants to tell us a lie, it should not be a black lie, they should at least tell us a white lie so that we can sympathize with them for their inadequacy to fence in the militants."
In fact, in spite of the statement by the military that "the oil war propaganda is just a gimmick by the militants to create fear in every law-abiding citizen, both local and foreign alike, and to provoke tension in the polity", oil companies were massively evacuating their workers from the region. The CDS' choice of Rivers State as the first port of call was strategic because the place had been on fire since he assumed office but, from information pieced together by Sunday Vanguard during his visit to Warri, it was also a morale-boosting session for the officers and men on ground. The military had maintained that it was not at war with the militants but it was learnt that the troops were, in actual fact, ill-equipped to face the militants in the kind of war they were waging in the region, particularly when it comes to battles in the swampy creeks.
Dike received on-the-spot briefing from the JTF commanders in the region on their handicaps and gave promises on the ones that he could immediately tackle and plans for the future. A dependable military source, however, said the visit of the CDS to the region was not because the military was threatened by the so-called "oil war" but, was on a familiarization and working tour for him and the service chiefs, who were all newly appointed. "You will agree with me that they need to know the military formations and their operations given their new status to be able to plan well. That was the purpose of the visit. It has nothing to do with the dexterity of the militants in their assumed oil war", the source explained.
Militants alliance: But as the JTF retooled, the militants were regrouping to fight the military, which they now regard as a common enemy. Jomo Gbomo confirmed to Sunday Vanguard that the MEND had struck a new alliance with the Niger-Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, NDPVF. "Every group in the region has dropped their differences and come together to fight a common enemy who has used the instrument of state and the tactics of divide and rule to oppress the region for five decades. Soldiers and oil workers are advised to abandon all oil facilities, including the off -shore rigs of Bonga and Agbami, as we want to minimize casualties before Hurricane Barbarossa arrives.
"Those who choose unwisely to remain will face the consequences of their decisions and should learn from their colleagues in the United States who evacuated ahead of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. A word is enough for the wise.If the Nigerian military is confident of its capabilities, let them be bold to take journalists and photographers to Orubiri to assess by themselves the aftermath of Barbarossa. We will, henceforth, begin documenting our raids by providing digital cameras and camcorders for each fighting unit", it said.
Oil war may escalate: As at Thursday, the fear was very rife in the region that the "oil war" would spread to the other states of the region. And indeed, the MEND confirmed that. It said: "After Rivers, the hurricane will be heading to the neighboring states in the Niger Delta. The people of Rivers State should hold the governor, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, accountable for allowing the state to be the first to be visited. He should resign and a state of emergency declared in Rivers State."
Continued rampage: The militant group continued with its almost roller-coaster rampage, on Thursday while the CDS was apparently in Benin City, Edo State in continuation of his Niger-Delta visit. "At 1830 hours today (Thursday), September 18, 2008, fighters from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), using high explosives, have destroyed a major pipeline belonging to Shell Development Company at the Elem-Kalabari Cawthorne Channel axis in Rivers State of Nigeria", Jomo Gbomo stated in a statement sent some hours after the attack. According to him, "A gunboat patrol (team) who (that) happened to bump into the MEND fighters begged for their lives and showed their magazines to prove that they had not fired from their guns. They were spared and allowed to go but not after they had pledged loyalty to the struggle and denounced the criminality of the oil companies and the government. One of the soldiers actually defecated in his trousers. The men have returned safely to base as another team was getting set to return two South African hostages to a drop off zone. The MEND spokesman raised hopes that the rescued hostages who were caught in the crossfire would regain their freedom in due course .
Bayelsa strengthens security: The Bayelsa State governor, Chief Timipre Sylva, was said to have contacted some Niger-Delta activists to help him in stopping the militants from Rivers State from invading his state. Already, security has been beefed up around oil facilities in the creek of the state. "As you are aware, security has been reinforced around major oil facilities in the creeks and upland locations in Bayelsa state due to the escalating tension in the creek of Rivers. Our mandate is to maintain security in the waterways and ensure the safe passage for all law-abiding citizens to go about their legitimate duties effectively policing the border area so that the fleeing militants will not infiltrate the creek of Bayelsa state, which is our area of operation", a military source hinted.
Uduaghan's survival strategy: In Delta State, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, whose security strategy has paid off since he assumed office, was said to have activated various security machinery to pick up information on the next move of the rampaging Rivers militants in the state. The Delta Waterways Security Committee (DWSC), which the governor set up, last year, has helped the government in making the waterways safe for users.
The Warri port is gradually bouncing back to life as a result of the measures put in place by the government while investors fleeing Rivers State are relocating to Warri.
The DWSC has thwarted some planned strikes in the state by militants since it was inaugurated and, in alliance with some leading Niger-Delta youth activists from the state, the government has been able to make the state militant-free for some time. Uduaghan has a one-on-one rapport with the key Ijaw youth leaders in the state and used to call them up at crucial moments to take care of security breaches in their area. It is this mutual accord that led to the use of a militant group in the state to arrest and confiscate the cache of arms that were recently acquired by another militant group to fortify its position and jurisdiction in the state.
The JTF is also on ground in the state and, since he took over, Rimtip has launched a determined war against militants and oil thieves in both Delta and Bayelsa states. But, unlike some other states, Delta State is not a safe area to operate for militants from outside the state because there is a structure on ground, headed by a key Niger-Delta activist who is partnering with the state government to rein in criminal gangs and make the waterways safe.
It took the governor some ingenuity and political craftsmanship to get the activist to lay down his arms and work with the government and Vice president Goodluck Jonathan met with the activist when he visited the state, last year, before jetting out to South Africa to meet with the now incarcerated Henry Okah. Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, recently at a news conference in Kiagbodo, commended the activist for his contribution to peace in the state. It is difficult for the oil war to spread to Delta State in the manner it is going in Rivers State at the moment because the MEND is not likely to get assistance from the leadership that is in-charge there, and which is recognized by the Presidency and security agencies. Some of the activists in the group are members of some of the Federal Government peace groups on the Niger-Delta.
What has even baffled many in the state is how Uduaghan was able to contain the militants in the Egbema axis who were threatening fire and brimstone over the election of Mr. Godwin Ebosa, a member of DWSC, as the chairman of Warri North Local Government Area. The governor, who stood behind Ebosa's election, gave him useful tips to handle the situation and today, both the Ijaws and Itsekiris in the local government are proud of the decision to make Ebosa the chairman of the area. Perhaps, other governors in the region should borrow from the Uduaghan strategy.
Amaechi's approach: Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa-Ibom, Ondo and Edo states have enjoyed relative peace since Yar'Adua took over government but Rivers State has been very highly volatile. The governor, had stated, on several occasions, that he was not ready to negotiate with the militants, and his position has not helped the situation, as the militants keep wreaking havoc. Some Niger-Delta governors were understood to have counselled Amaechi to reverse his hard stance on the militants but the governor refused, maintaining that those he was being asked to seek peace with were criminals and he would not capitulate to the intimidation of criminals.
Finger pointing and counter-accusations: With the MEND bent on continuing with its "oil war", questions have been asked as to why the situation was allowed to degenerate to such a level when the same MEND was helping government in the past few months rescuing hostages that were kidnapped by other criminal gangs in the state.
IYLF accuses JTF: Not a few persons are wondering why tension escalated in Rivers State just after the Federal Government announced the creation of the Ministry of Niger-Delta. The military believes its hands are clean, as its troops repel an attack on its troop by militants and thus ignited the "oil war" but the Ijaw Youth Leadership Forum (IYLF) rose from a strategic session at Oporoza in Delta State, hosted by Chief Government Ekpemupolo, with the leader of the NDPVF, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, Comrade T.K Ogoriba, Comrade Oyeinfie Jonjon, among others, in attendance, accusing the JTF of invading and razing not less than 14 Ijaw communities and killing over 20 persons, including children, women and aged in cold blood.
Clark angry: Clark also berated the JTF for the same reason. The Ijaw leader told newsmen at his country home, Kiagbodo in Delta State, on Tuesday: "Each time it appears that peace will return to the Niger-Delta, the JTF will always launch an attack without any reason in order to give reason for their continued stay in the Niger-Delta where most of them engage in illegal bunkering, benefiting from security funds from some state governors who will like to fortify their authority in their state by crying wolf when there is no wolf". He said that information at his disposal indicated that the Nigeria Army launched a ferocious attack on the militants in Rivers State, Saturday, September 13, at about 6.00 a.m., using about 14 gun boats and bombing their camp with the use of military helicopter.
"The attack was reported to me at about 10.00 a.m. and every attempt to get the commander and the Presidency failed and the attack continued till 6.00 p.m. resulting into many casualties. The militants said it was an unexpected and unprovoked attack, which took them by surprise while the military maintained that the militants attacked their patrol boat in the Bonny area. The militants denied the military accusation of attacking their boat midstream", he said. Recalling some previous uncalled-for attacks by the JTF, Clark asserted, "The same JTF in Rivers State recently attacked members of the negotiating team with the Federal Government, headed by Chief T.K. Ogoriba on their way to Ateke Tom's camp to negotiate peace with the militants, unprovoked and, in the process, they killed four of the negotiating team members who cannot in any way be classified as militants because the leader of the team, Chief Ogoriba, is over 50 years and was recently appointed by the Federal Government into one of the boards in recognition of his activities to bring peace to the Niger-Delta.
"In that boat, there were other four members of the negotiating team, including Engr. Kime, Mr. Jonjon, and Dan Ekpebide of the Federated Niger-Delta Ijaw Communities (FNDIC) and they managed to escape into the bush where they were stung by bees and other dangerous reptiles. They all almost lost their lives. Again, the military gave as an excuse that they were attacked first whereas these men of peace had no guns or ammunition, including the four that were killed. Also recently, the JTF in Delta State attacked an innocent community, Agge, and burnt over 150 houses. I have the video cassette available for anyone to see. In fact, they were shown in different television stations. Bayelsa State government came to their rescue. Yet, the same JTF lied that they did not attack Agge, that all they were looking for were their guns that were snatched when they were attacked on a Saturday in Bomadi, which is on the lower Niger and is very far away from Agge on the shore of the Atlantic.
"I had to appeal to General Rimtip not to extend the attack to the neighboring villages of Letugbene and Bilabiri. Another attack in recent times was few months ago when I was contacted in Abuja that villages in Egbema in Warri North Local Government were being attacked.
I had to contact the minister of defence, Yayale, now and the secretary to the Government of the Federation, the then chief of the defence staff, Gen. Owoye Azazi (retd.) and the Vice president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. I finally got the JTF commander and he told met that he sent his boys to get their ammunition, which were withheld when the boys returned their guns."
Clark, however, sympathized with the army over the attack on the JTF base in Bomadi, adding, "It must be admitted that the activities of some of the militants who are criminals have been very disturbing and should be flushed out".
Oil war continues - JRC: The Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC), an amalgam of some militant groups in the region, in a statement by its spokesperson, Cynthia Whyte, also blamed the military for what it called "unprovoked attacks" on some Ijaw communities in Rivers State, saying that the JTF would regret the action. In an online statement, the group said, "The boys (militants) are too excited to stop now."
It explained that the warfare could only come to an end after they (soldiers) had been brought to their knees. It described as funny the JTF's "rapid media response plan aimed at undermining every action we take", alleging that the council was aware that the military had begun to threaten media houses, which refuse to tilt the story to the side of the armed forces, stressing: "We have decided to start taking photographs of dead soldiers and attacked facilities."
JTF is being faultily crucified, says Commander: Commander of the JTF in Delta and Bayelsa States, Rimtip, maintained, in an interview with Sunday Vanguard, that his troop did not attack Agge community, but went there in search of its arms and ammunition stolen by militants following an intelligence information. He said the JTF was not at war with militants in Delta and Bayelsa states and the Niger-Delta at large, "because we are all Nigerians." Rimtip, however, said that dislodging the militants from the creeks would not be a difficult task for the military if it wanted to do so, but there was no instruction from the military high command to attack militants.
His words: "We only respond when we are attacked and you know there is no way you will attack a soldier and he will be looking at you. Our brief is to protect the oil installations in the region and that is what we are doing." He said some people were wrongfully giving the JTF a bad name in order to hang it, pointing out that the task force would not allow itself to be derailed by those who do not want peace in the region. Rimtip called on elders of the region to talk to their youths to lay down their arms and embrace dialogue with the Federal Government.
Dike okays task force: From the CDS, weekend, came a warning to trouble makers in the Niger Delta: "The military won't be intimidated." Speaking after a tour of the operational bases of the JTF in Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta States, Dike said nobody could make the military shy away from its constitutional responsibility, saying: "I am okay with the operations of the JTF." Accompanied by the chief of the army staff, Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau and other top military officers, the Defence chief visited Amaechi, Sylva and Uduaghan. At the Government House, Port Harcourt , he commended the JTF's efforts in combatting crime, though he said there were still areas to be improved upon.
He praised the Rivers governor for providing an environment conducive for the JTF operation, and the people for their cooperation and understanding. On his part, Amaechi congratulated him and the Service Chiefs on their appointments. He noted that there was improvement in security since he became governor, saying the JTF had shown that those perpetrating crisis in the state were criminals masquerading as freedom fighters. In Bayelsa, Sylva was said to have demanded the establishment of a military command rather than the reinforcement of JTF. Currently, the Elele command of the Nigerian Army in Rivers State oversees Bayelsa.
Dike said the army was considering establishing a Brigade headquarters in the state, and assured that when the arrangements were completed, the government would be briefed. In demanding a military command, Sylva said besides being a border state, Bayelsa is also one of the highest producers of oil in the Niger Delta. "A military base in the state will help to curtail the activities of militants and other crimes", said the governor, stressing that the government had always dealt with the excesses of militants in consonance with the law. Other measures adopted to check the activities of militants, according to him, included the Triple E strategy of "engagement, empowerment and enforcement".
Sunday Vanguard, however, learnt that the CDS was not happy with the number of soldiers that had been killed by militants in the various encounters in the creek and want the heads of the military formations to plan more effectively to minimize military casualties in their operations. In Warri, Delta State, Dike said the military had the constitutional responsibility to maintain the territorial integrity of the country, adding: "We cannot shy away from it and nobody can make us to shy away from it".
The CDS stressed that the military under him would not condone indiscipline and other acts that are not expected of officers and men of the armed forces. Specifically, he warned that the military high command would not accept acts capable of casting it in bad light before the public. "I want to say that, henceforth, we are not going to tolerate any act of indiscipline from members of the task force operation here. It is important that I make this point clear, that, in as much as you have a mandate here, no matter your achievement, you cannot treat the people with brutality and that is why I am challenging you to improve on you discipline."
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