The face-off between the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta and militants entered its fifth day on Sunday with an unspecified number of persons, including a pregnant woman killed.
Also killed in the fighting, in which about 20,000 people are said to be trapped, was another Filipino hostage and a nine-year-old child.
Three more Filippino were, however, freed from the militants and one helicopter recovered by the JTF operatives during the attacks in Kurutie, Kokodiagbene, Kunulunuma, Oporoza and Okerenkoko in Gbaramatu clan, all in Warri South- West Local Government Area of Delta State.
It was learnt that the JTF had mobilised two Nigerian Air Force bombers and 15 gunboats in continuation of the onslaught against suspected militants operating in these areas.
A source told one of our correspondents that the task force launched the attacks following an intelligence report that the much-wanted militant leader, Chief Government Ekpomukpolo, alias Tompolo, and his lieutenants, were hiding in some of the communities.
The Presidency had ordered that Ekpomukpolo and his lieutenants be apprehended dead or alive following Wednesday’s alleged killing of 12 soldiers, including a Lieutenant, by militants suspected to be operating from Camp 5. The camp was, however, taken over by the JTF on Friday.
One of the displaced persons, Mrs. Esther Eneh, claimed that she saw over 50 dead bodies on the streets of Okerenkoko before her escape. Eneh said she was worried because she could not ascertain the whereabouts of her husband and four children as at 4pm on Sunday.
She said that many residents of the communities had managed to escape into Warri and other neighbouring towns. Another resident who escaped said not less 30,000 people were trapped in the fighting.
But an official of the Delta State Government, who craved anonymity, put the figure at 20,000. “It is true that about 5,000 people have been displaced, but the people trapped are just about 20,000,” he said.
The official craved anonymity because the state government was yet to comment officially.
When one of our correspondents visited the Ogbe-Ijoh General Hospital in Warri South- West LGA, about 5,000 displaced persons were seen weeping as efforts were being made by the council officials to rehabilitate them.
Some of the displaced persons, including seven youth corps members, gave horrifying accounts of their escape from the scenes of the fighting.
The spokesman of the corps members, Mr. Lanre Abayomi, said they were in a library in Oporoza when the JTF operatives invaded the community in jet fighters and gunboats.
Abayomi, who attributed their escape into Warri to divine intervention, claimed that many buildings were attacked from the air by the troops.
The other corps members were Onukwue Ebere, Okoye Chinonyelum, Izegbune Kenneth, Olaseinde Olufemi, Ogundele Ayodeji and Omodara Tayo.
The Chairman of Warri South West LGA , Mr. George Ekpomukpolo, donated relief materials, especially food items, to the embattled refugees.
Ekpomukpolo described the development as devastating, adding that it was premature to ascertain the casualty rate. He said the effects of the fighting were felt more by women and children.
He said, “The number of displaced persons here show the extent of damage to lives and property. We have over 5,000 refugees here and more persons are trapped in the bush and in the communities. So many persons have been killed and injured.
“To this end, I am pleading with the militants to drop their arms because no individual can fight the government. I am also pleading with the Federal Government to stop this bombardment and opt for dialogue.”
The Leader, Niger Delta Investigation Bureau, Mr. Felix Maku, condemned the action of the JTF, saying it was “unimaginable” that the Federal Government could mobilise maximum force against defenceless citizens, especially women and children.
The Media Coordinator, Joint Investiation Centre, JTF, Col. Rabe Abubakar, defended the military operations, saying they were targeted only at criminals and not at law-abiding citizens.
Abubakar, who said that that Camp 5 had been captured by troops, confirmed to the Agence France Presse that an aircraft as well as ammunition were also recovered.
Abubakar said, “The continuous search and rescue operations being carried out were aimed at criminals who made those areas their abode and made it impossible to rescue the remaining expatriates on board MT Spirit earlier hijacked by them.
“It is gladdening however, to inform the public that three more expatriates were again rescued, thus bringing the number of expatriates so far rescued to nine.
“ It is pertinent to state that Camp 5 has become history and all the equipment inside it has been reduced to rubble and we are on the ground, we are controlling the place, it ceases to be camp 5 for good.
“Against the purported release by MEND that camp 5 has become JTF’s cemetery, we are saying that such statement is hilarious and a show to the public that some of them still exist despite the fact that their bones have been broken.
“As we are talking to you, MEND is lifeless and homeless. We are also advising the general public, especially the media, not to take them seriously because they are unpatriotic and criminals.
“In the same vein, JTF troops were attacked this afternoon while carrying out rescue mission at Kunukunuma Village . In the process, heavy gun-battle ensued and majority of the militants were killed while two soldiers sustained minor injuries.
“The JTF is asking all Niger Deltans, especially those in the villages where rescue missions are going on, not to be afraid, but go about their legitimate businesses because military actions can not deprive them of their freedom since doing so will not speak well of the military’s image at home and abroad.”
But MEND, in an e-mail to one of our correspondents on Sunday, said that the bodies of two of the Filippino killed on Sunday and another killed when the fracas broke off would soon be handed over to the Red Cross.
Part of the mail reads, “We regret to announce that two hostages have been killed by the indiscriminate shelling and two more are still in our custody. We are happy that all of them were not killed by the army.
“As promised, we have begun nibbling again at the oil infrastructure. Already, two major trunk pipe and gas lines which were recently repaired have been blown up. This is just the tip of the series of attacks we plan to carry out.
“For the Nigerian government to declare victory, troops must be able to secure every inch of pipelines and eliminate the over 500 camps stretching from Ondo to Akwa Ibom.”
He said that a British hostage, Mr. Mathew Maguire, who was part of a group of 27 oil workers, including five expatriates and 22 Nigerians, kidnapped in last September, had been relocated to Delta State.
Although the Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, was yet to react formally to the mayhem, sources said he continued his mediatory role in the crisis in Warri on Sunday.
Uduaghan reportedly held closed doors with top retired military officers from the state and some Ijaw traditional rulers. A source revealed that those who attended the two- hour meeting were Generals E.O . Obada , Patrick Aziza , Dominic Oneya and Alexander Ogomudia.
The governor reportedly appealed to the retired generals to use their contacts to prevail on the Federal Government to end the “terror” on the citizens.