Niger Delta - Armed Struggle, Last Resort, Says Dokubo-Asari

Head of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, Tuesday warned that his group may be forced back into the trenches and that armed struggle would be a last resort for his group if President Goodluck Jonathan did not take action to address the issue of impoverishment of the people of the Niger Delta within one year.

"We are on sabbatical," Dokubo-Asari said during a march he led in Port Harcourt, the River State capital, Tuesday to commemorate the life of Niger Delta activist, Isaac Boro, who died in 1968 , stressing "We are giving Goodluck (Jonathan) a chance to make a difference to bring about change ... Goodluck does not have four years. He has one year."

He also called for a conference to look at whether communities in the Niger Delta should be given some type of sovereignty.

Dokubo-Asari's call is however coming as the Security Joint Task Force (JTF), otherwise known as "Operation Restore Hope" in the Niger-Delta rejected the reported decision of the backslidden self-styled 'General' John Togo-led militia to give up its armed struggle against military forces in the oil-rich region.

A statement by the security agency's spokesman, Lt-Col Timothy Antigha, Tuesday said that neither Togo, who was allegedly killed in a bloody encounter with JTF troops at the weekend, nor his Niger Delta Liberation Force (NDLF) could determine the mode of their surrender.

He noted the JTF regard members of the Togo group that abandoned the ride with the federal amnesty mid-stream to return to the creeks last year as outlaws who merely attempted to hold the country's authorities to ransom with the arms they illegally possessed.

Nigeria loses N.7bn, as Chevron shuts down stations •JTF arrests Togo’s son, sister

NIGERIA is losing about N700 million, as American oil giant, Chevron , has shut in 50,000 barrels of crude oil per day in Delta State, following the damage done to its facilities on Saturday by the militants.
The pipeline services some oil production platforms in the swamp operations of the company in the oil-rich state, before it was breached by some militants on Saturday.

Findings revealed that some oil flow stations producing about 50,000 barrels of crude oil per day were affected by the action.

The ill-fated pipeline had been ruptured more than five times within two years, a development which led to epileptic operations by the oil major in the area.

The General Manager, Government and Public Affairs of the company, Mr Femi Odumabo, told the Nigerian Tribune in a telephone interview on Sunday night that the pipeline was breached by some faceless persons.

Odumabo stated that the pipeline had been isolated while investigation into the incident had begun.

He, however, declined to confirm the number of the production platforms affected by the action and their production strength.

But an independent source in the oil company, who craved anonymity, said “I can confirm to you that about three flow stations were shut down and we are currently recording a production shut-in of about 50,000 barrel per day (bpd) due to the unfortunate incident.

“This is, no doubt, another setback to the operations of Chevron in the Niger Delta and we hope that the security challenges in the region would be seriously addressed by the authorities and relevant stakeholders.”

Odumabo, in the interview, added that the company’s management decided to suspend operation through the pipeline to prevent damage to the environment.

Meanwhile, the fragile security situation in the Niger Delta region was, again, threatened, as the nine-year-old son of the wanted militant in the region, John Togo, Peres and the his elder sister, Mrs Patie Otoruna, were arrested by the Joint Task Force (JTF), on Sunday.

As of press time time, it could not be confirmed if the action was a bait to force the wanted militant leader to surrender to the authorities.

The Togos were being detained at the Third Battalion, Effurun, the headquarters of Delta sector of JTF.
Togo’s lawyer, Mr Carsley Omo-Irabor, who confirmed the arrest of the duo in a telephone interview with the Nigerian Tribune, asked the authorities of the JTF to release them with immediate effect.

Togo had, last week, asked the JTF to guarantee his safety and restrict the activities of the troops in the creeks as conditions for him to surrender to the security agency.

The spokesman of JTF, Lieutenant-Colonel Anthony Antigha, however, denied knowledge of the arrest of the duo.

Force admits losing eight officers in face-off with militants

The Joint Military Task Force, code-named "Operation Restore Hope", on Wednesday admitted losing eight of its officers in the recent face-off with militants in the Niger Delta. The JTF, however, denied embarking on indiscriminate shooting in the Ayakoromor community in the area. The commander of the task force, Charles Omoregie, a major general made the clarification in Yenagoa during a solidarity visit by some Ijaw elders led by a former minister of police affairs, Alaowei Broderick Bozimo.

Mr. Omoregie, however, said the loss of the military personnel would not deter the task force from achieving its goal of apprehending and bringing self-styled "Gen" John Togo, a militant leader, to justice. The commander, who listed the fatalities in the gunfight in the waterways of the Niger Delta with Togo's men as seven soldiers and a mobile policeman, said the decision to downplay the casualties was to douse any tension in the region. The victims were part of the JTF personnel that were injured during an ambush by men of the camp belonging to Togo and amongst whom some died as a result of the lack of immediate medical attention.

False alarm

Mr. Omoregie described as mischievous the purported destruction of Ayakoromor community as peddled by some individuals in the Delta and also denied that the JTF had embarked on indiscriminate killings.

According to him, "We did not carry out a massacre in Ayakoromor as widely and mischievously reported. I tell you my elders without any fear of contradiction that the entire Ayakoromor incident has been politicised. The latest figure is that we killed 50. People are just mentioning numbers for selfish reasons. Let those with the facts on the massacre prove it. We are still focused on apprehending and bringing John Togo to justice. The immediate goal of the JTF is to assist the indigenes of Ayakoromor to return to their community."

Mr. Omoregie also informed the Ijaw leaders of the receipt of relief assistance from the Defence Headquarters in Abuja for the rehabilitation and restoration efforts needed for peace in Ayakoromor.

Earlier, Mr. Bozimo had said that though they had heard various accounts of the incident at Ayakoromor, they decided to get the version of the JTF in order to take a position on the issue.

"We don't think all we have heard is true and we have decided to get your own side of the story," he said.

He said the Ijaw leaders had refrained from talking on the Ayakoromor incident because of the uncertainties surrounding it. The residents of Ayakoromor had, at a news briefing in Yenagoa last Monday, alleged that men of the JTF killed 51 natives during the December 1 attack on the community, a claim the military had denied.

Nigerian militants deny army raid in oil delta

Nigeria's main militant group said on Monday that one of its commanders arrested over the weekend had surrendered in return for the promise of a financial reward and denied that the army had raided his camp.

The emailed statement from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) is the latest salvo in a propaganda war with the military which risks tarnishing President Goodluck Jonathan in the run-up to elections next April.

Nigeria's army paraded a militant commander known as Obese and 60 of his followers before the media on Saturday, saying they had been arrested and five AK-47 rifles, 12 machine guns, ammunition and bullet-proof vests seized.

"There was no exchange of gunfire and these individuals handed themselves over to the military in expectance of a reward, as promised by Jonathan," MEND said in the statement, describing the president as a "spineless stooge".

"Weapons surrendered by these persons were less than 30 in number. Items displayed by the Nigerian military did not come from that camp. This was staged."

Obese, 25, whose real name is Tamunotonye Kuna, was believed to be responsible for the kidnapping of 19 oil and construction workers freed last week, including two Americans, two Frenchmen, two Indonesians, one Canadian and 12 Nigerians.

The authorities have described the freeing of the hostages and the arrest of Obese as a key victory in the Niger Delta.

Analysts said the weapons seizure did appear small for what was said to have been a major camp.

Resurgent unrest in the Niger Delta risks undermining the credibility of Jonathan, who is the first head of state from the oil region and who brokered an amnesty last year which led thousands of gunmen to lay down their weapons.

Nigerian army arrests militant gang behind kidnaps

The Nigerian army has arrested a militant gang leader and more than 50 of his followers believed to be behind the kidnapping of 19 people in the oil-producing Niger Delta, a spokesman said on Saturday.

The hostages, including two Americans, two Frenchmen, two Indonesians, one Canadian and 12 Nigerians, were freed late on Wednesday after being held by a gang leader known as Obese at a camp in Rivers state.

"We have arrested Obese and some of his boys, more than 50 of them," Timothy Antigha, a spokesman for the military taskforce which polices the Niger Delta, told Reuters. He would not elaborate, pending a statement to be issued later.

A security source said Obese had been detained with 51 of his followers after a shootout near Bonny in Rivers.

"The military has him and 51 of his boys and is presently transferring the criminals to Port Harcourt in military-escorted gunboats," said the source, who asked not to be named.

Nigerian militants warn of more kidnappings

Militants in Nigeria's southern Niger Delta warned on Friday that they would carry out more kidnappings from oil installations after the military rescued 19 hostages from one of their camps this week. "Our fighters have being instructed to carry out more raids on oil installations from where fresh hostages will be taken," the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said in a statement emailed to media.