Juliana Taiwo And Segun James in Yenagoa
23 September 2008
Abuja — The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has described the announcement by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) that it was observing a ceasefire over attacks on oil facilities as giving the wrong impression that Nigeria is at war.
Director of Defence Information Brigadier-General M. D. Yusuf said in a statement last night that the Nigerian Armed Forces was not at war with any individual or group hence there was no need for ceasefire declaration.
He said the only way to show seriousness about returning peace to the area was for those involved in the crisis to lay down their arms for the sake of national interest.
Meanwhile, the tide in the supremacy battle between men of the Nigerian Army and militants operating in the Niger Delta creeks swung in the direction of soldiers on Sunday, when a startling raid on Bolou-Orua Community in Sagbama Local Government area of Bayelsa State led to the destruction of a militant base, leaving one dead and the arrest two others.
The two arrested were later identified as the kidnappers of the father of the state Accountant-General, Pa. Anderson Zida-famor, allegedly carried out last December.
According to the DHQ statement: "The attention of Defence Headquarters has been drawn to the claim by a militant group going by the name 'MEND' to the effect that they have declared a ceasefire in their so called 'oil war' in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
"We want to categorically and emphatically state that the Nigerian Armed Forces is not at war with any individual or group and as such the issue of a cessation of fire or cessation of war as is being portrayed certainly does not arise.
"However, if the restive youths in the region are actually serious about stopping their acts of brigandage, they should show it by laying down their arms for the sake of national interest."
MEND had said in a statement on Sunday that, "After one week of intense lopsided fighting and an unprecedented sabotage on the oil industry prompted by an unprovoked attack on one of our positions including indiscriminate attacks on civilian communities, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) will downgrade the oil war code named 'Hurricane Barbarossa' to a state of alert code named 'Tropical Storm Vigilant'.
"We decided to 'stop outside Baghdad' even at a time of victory over the military and utter helplessness of the oil companies. This is again due to the passionate plea made by Chief Edwin K. Clark, Chief Government Ekpemupolo, Senator David Brigidi and others.
"We hope that the military has learnt a bitter lesson. The next unprovoked attack will start another oil war that will be so ferocious that it will dim the pleas of the elders. That bloody oil war will come in the form of another hurricane and its devastation and mode of operation will be different from what was seen with Barbarossa.
"Effective 0100 hrs, September 21, 2008, exactly one week we launched our reprisal, MEND will begin a unilateral cease-fire till further notice. During this time, the International Red Cross alone will be allowed access to retrieve the bloated floating bodies of several soldiers to avoid an epidemic.
"MEND can only speak for itself and will not vouch for the other angry groups that aligned with the operation".
However, yesterday's unexpected attack on militants' camp caught the men napping, as most of them jumped into the river in their bid to escape, leaving behind their weapons.
The raid on the community followed intelligence reports that some youths from the community aided and participated in the abduction of Pa Zidafamor while also being members of a militant group with operational headquarters in the area.
The situation took a dramatic turn when the 84-year-old man sighted some of his alleged captors in the community and alerted security agencies.
Following this, undercover operative were sent in to monitor the movements of the boys before the raid on Sunday.
According to the Commander of Joint Task Force in the state, Lt. Col. Chris Musa, this led to the movement of soldiers into the area and the arrest of the two suspected kidnappers.
One of the suspects was reportedly shot while trying to evade arrest during the raid.
A source said JTF invaded the community around 3 am in a war-like manner, throwing the whole community into a state of confusion as people began to run helter-skelter for dear life and for fear of arrest.
During the raid, which lasted several hours, two people were arrested while one Ayakeme Miebakedo, 45, was shot dead.
As at the time of filing this report, the remains of the deceased were still lying in the community, while the people were yet to come to term with the killing.
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We have heard this before during the Nigeria civil war as millions of Igbos was massacred by the Federal troops the world was told that it was a police action whereas a full scale war was going on. The problem here is that the people of Niger Delta are still naive to think that the Igbos are part of their problem instead of wanting to learn from the Igbo experience. From were I came from it is called guilty conscience because the Niger delta lacks the audacity to look at the Igbos. You go figure.