Emma Arubi
10 October 2008
THE Commander of the Joint Task Force, JTF, code-named Operation Restore Hope, Brig-General Wuyep Rimtip yesterday said there was no truth in the rumour making the rounds that Northern soldiers had been deployed to kill Southerners in the Niger Delta region.
He noted that the rumour was a grand design by militants to further blackmail the JTF to enable them continued with their criminal and nefarious activities in the region.
"There is no iota of truth in the rumour that Northern soldiers were being brought here to kill Southerners. It is not true at all", Brig-General Rimtip who spoke through his Coordinator, Joint Media Campaign Centre (JMCC) declared.
He said anybody who is intellectually sound would not believe such propaganda by the militants considering the federal character adopted in the recruitment of officers and soldiers.
The JTF Boss disclosed that the "rule of engagement" has not changed explaining that the special security outfit's mandate has not changed adding that it remains internal security where minimal use of force were applied.
"We are 100 percent capable of dealing with the situation in the region within days but we are not at war with them (militants) hence the application of minimal force. People should understand our problems. The mandate is clear and rule of engagement still stands, that is using minimum force when necessary, still maintaining internal security. We are here to restore hope.
"We are not at war with anybody because they are our brothers and sisters. We are here to enhance the security and ensure peace in the region. It is only when there is security and peace that there can be development of the Niger Delta", he added.
Brig- General Rimtip therefore solicited for the cooperation of the media in ensuring that correct information were given to the public noting that ensuring security of the region was a collective responsibility of all.
He declared "it is high time we stop this propaganda by the criminal elements that are making life difficult for the majority of the people of the Niger Delta".
It will not help us rather it will increase the problem we are all trying to resolve".
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2008 Vanguard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
Here we go again - Govt lies. Are we to say that northerners are not part of the JTF harassing & killing the residents of the Niger Delta for their wealth when in fact northerners dominate the population of the Nigerian Army. Perhaps JTF consists of only southerners killing and maiming their own kind. What is glaring in all this misplaced approach to solving the ND crisis is the fact that the North are using wealth stolen from the Niger Delta to develop Abuja, conduct research for oil reserves all over the north, used 70 million Naira for fast breaking during the month of Ramadan alone. While the ND residents wallow in abject poverty, their land despoiled by uncaring MNE and marginalized to the fringes by the northern rulers (7 out of 9 rulers we've had so far) who stole billions of dollars from the Delta & stashed them in foreign banks accounts. Even King Tarry's medical bills (from his junkets to Germany and Saudi Arabia) are paid for by wealth coming from the South. King Tarry-A-Doer preferred to show his gratitude to the Deltans by buying guns from his British task masters, used by the northern JTF (commanded by a titular Dike & Rimtip) to kill and maim innocent residents of the Niger Delta. Oh well, whatever. In the absence of the FoI bill, that ought to guarantee verifiable information for public consumption, I guess we can say anything including passing rumors as sensational facts.