Emma Amaize
14 January 2009
A suspected 14-year-old female militant and her four male colleagues, one of them a 48-year-old traditional chief, who recently established a militant camp at Apoi Village in Bayelsa State, have been rounded up by the Joint Task Force (JTF) on the Niger-Delta following a swoop on the militant den.
Found with them are: one General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG), one Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG 7), one G3 rifle and some quantity of dynamites.
Coordinator of the Joint Media Campaign Centre (JMCC), Operation Restore Hope, Colonel Rabe Abubakar confirmed the arrest, yesterday, saying the task force carried out a cordon and search operation on the newly established militant camp acting on credible intelligence information.
The chief and another 23 years old suspect hail from Ondo State, two others, aged 43 and 19 years hail from Apoi village while the female militant is from Warri.
Colonel Abubakar disclosed that the suspects were arrested in connection to the attack on the Agip Flow Station in Tebidaba recently.
His words: "The operation was to separate the innocent citizens from the criminals with a view of bringing them to order."
He further stated that as professionals, the JTF did not want to cause havoc to the generality of the community, hence the cordon and search to discover arms and ammunition used by the militants, adding, "The JTF is a civilized institution that carries out its operations with the people it is providing security for at heart.
"In order to achieve peace and security, for the overall well being of the communities and the region in general and to avert further attacks in our locations in Bayelsa State in particular and Niger Delta in general, the JTF will continue to search for weapons from wherever they are hidden during the Cordon and Search Operation," he said.
The JTF spokesman assured the public of their safety, saying the security outfit would continue to vigorously pursue its mandate despite attempts to sabotage its efforts by some unscrupulous elements that were bent on milking the country dry of its oil assets for their selfish interest.
Colonel Rabe urged well meaning Niger Deltans to provide useful information on suspected individuals and groups in their communities to the JTF for necessary action. He said the responsibility of restoring peace in the oil rich region lies not only with the security outfit but also on well meaning people living in the communities as peace and security are fundamentals in achieving development.
"The JTF is calling for the patience and understanding of communities involved to enable us get rid of hoodlums in their midst, and the operation is ongoing depending on when we achieved peace and security in the areas concerned as it is not targeted at innocent citizens but criminals", Abubakar added.
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