Peace remained elusive in the Niger Delta on Tuesday as the Joint Task Force in the area, Operation Restore Hope, resumed shooting and bombing in the coastal Gbaramatu communities in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State.
Tuesday’s attacks, specifically on Okerenkoko community in the area, occurred after 24 hours of respite.
Many persons were reported dead and buildings razed during the invasion of the community by the federal troops.
It was learnt that President Umaru Yar’Adua ordered a ceasefire on Monday due to the pleas by the Vice-President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan and other notable South-South leaders.
The onslaught was triggered by the killing of 12 soldiers by suspected militants last Wednesday.
However, the JTF mobilised two jet bombers, 10 gunboats and a warship, NNS Obula, which was rehabilitated after it was hit by dynamite fired by suspected militants on Saturday, to the Ijaw community in the early hours of Tuesday.
A reliable source told our correspondent that no fewer than 1,000 soldiers carried out Tuesday’s operation in the Ijaw settlement.
The soldiers launched the attacks from the air and water. The jet bombers provided air support and cover for the gunboats and warships for massive shelling of the community.
A source from Okerenkoko war zone said, “The troops of JTF arrived again here (Okerenkoko) on Tuesday morning and launched attacks through the air and sea. So many persons have been killed and maimed. A lot of our people, including the injured, are in the forest as I am talking to you now.”
Tuesday’s development occurred at a time the state Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, was in Abuja to brief Yar’Adua on the security situation in the state and plead with him to stop the military operation in the area.
Yar’Adua, according to our source, asked the helmsmen of the security agency to rely solely on the rules of engagement and orders emanating from the Defence Headquarters, which supervises the security outfit.
Meanwhile, the apparent failure of Jonathan to stop the operation continued to attract condemnation by his Ijaw kinsmen in the region on Tuesday.
The Warri Ijaw Peace Monitoring Group in a statement on Tuesday asked Jonathan to resign from his exalted position since he could not come to the aid of his kinsmen.
The JTF spokesman, Col. Rabe Abubakah, confirmed the operation in Okerenkoko in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Tuesday.
He said that the exercise was in continuation of the ongoing military operation in the Niger Delta.
Abubakah asked community leaders in the areas to isolate and fish out the militants in their midst in order to avert further havoc on their communities.
He stated that the militants would be fished out and the hostages freed at all costs, adding that all prohibited weapons in wrong hands would be recovered.