THE guns boomed once again in Okrika, Rivers State on Wednesday night in fresh fighting between security operatives and suspected Niger Delta militants.
By the time the dust settled, a man believed to be the deputy of wanted Ateke Tom lay dead. His name was, however, not given by the security operatives who have also cordoned off the riverine community to prevent the escape of the militants.
Yesterday, another group of militants, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) announced the release of two Italian hostages who are on the staff of the Nigerian Agip Oil company.
Their names were given as Cosma Russo and Franio Arena. The two were abducted 98 days ago.
Ateke Tom’s group, the Niger Delta Vigilantes, has been lined with several violent attacks on oil installations in the Niger Delta region.
In the Wednesday clash with officers of the Joint Task Force (JTF), which comprises men of the Army, Navy, Police and State Security Services (SSS), several other members of the militant group were reportedly arrested.
Okrika is considered a major flash point in the strife-torn creeks and villages of Rivers State.
The Information Officer of the 2nd Amphibious Brigade, Major Musa Sajir, told The Guardian in Port Harcourt that some militants had without provocation launched a fierce attack against men of the JTF stationed in Okrika.
In the heat of the gun duel, the men of the JTF called for reinforcement to enable them aggressively counter the militants whose leader has been on the run since the JTF declared him wanted last year in connection with the series of kidnappings and bank robberies in the state.
Sajir explained: “Okrika is one of the flash-points in Rivers State and the stronghold of Ateke Tom. So we have a permanent patrol team inside Okrika and its environs. They were attacked and they called for reinforcement. More men were deployed swiftly and they were able to repel the militants.”
He said Tom’s second in command was killed during a gun duel with the JTF. This fact was corroborated by Tom who has been in hiding since September 2006.
The 2nd Amphibious Brigade spokesperson said the whole of Okrika and its environs had been cordoned off by soldiers whose exact number he declined to reveal. According to him, “the JTF is carrying out what we call ‘cordon and search operation’. Having attacked our men deliberately, we are resolved to rid the community of these hoodlums once and for all.”
He explained that the operation was aimed at riding Okrika of Tom’s boys, and lethal weapons being used by the militias.
A source in the Rivers State Police Command, yesterday disclosed to The Guardian that intelligence report indicated that Tom’s men were behind Monday’s attack on a Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) boat traveling from Port Harcourt to Bonny, during which two policemen were killed.
Yesterday’s incursion into Okrika by the JTF is the second in six months. Last September, the JTF raided the community in search of Tom, but he escaped. Four of his men were arrested while an undisclosed number of his aides were reportedly killed.
On September 12, the JTF declared Tom wanted in connection with various breaches of internal security including “murder, robbery and illegal oil bunkering.”
The JTF suspecting that he might have been injured during the raid warned the public, particularly doctors, nurses and anyone with requisite medical knowledge, not to provide him with any medical support.
The items recovered during the September raid included: 12 AK 47 rifles and 10 magazines, eight submachine guns and six magazines, one locally made pistol, 315 cartridges, 6,700 (7.62) NATO bullets, one axe, two sledge hammers, five police and one army bullet-proof vests. Tom has however blamed his present ordeal on his refusal to work with some politicians in the state who allegedly wanted to use his group for the April election.
The MEND yesterday said it released the two Italian workers of the Nigeria Agip Oil Company.
Russo, Franco and a Lebanese, Imad Saliba, were captured on December 7, 2006 at NAOC’s oil terminal at Brass, Bayelsa State during a raid by the militants. The Lebanese later escaped on February 22, prompting MEND to threaten that it would not release the Italians until after next month’s general elections.
The spokesperson of the militants, Jomo Gbomo, in a statement posted on the Internet said that the expatriates were handed over to an Italian journalist visiting the Niger Delta, Massimo Alberizzi.
Alberizzi, who confirmed this to The Guardian on telephone yesterday, said he had handed them over to officials of Saipem, a subsidiary of Agip in Port Harcourt, at about 1.00 a.m.
Gbomo said: “The Italians were taken, to bring to the attention of the people of Italy, the crimes being committed by Agip in the Niger Delta. This has clearly been achieved.”
MEND said it understood “that these hostages are not wholly responsible for the injustice in the Delta and their continued detention will not bring a solution to the overall problems of the Niger Delta.”
Despite this, MEND said the released hostages would soon be replaced by others who would again be taken off oil installations thought to be secure.
The group spokesperson said: “We will attack such installations perceived to be secure to dispel the false sense of well-being gradually building up in the oil industry.”
According to Gbomo, the militant group would step up its attacks against creek and land-based installations around the Delta as a mark of farewell for the present administration.
He threatened: “Car bombs will also be freely utilised within and outside the Niger Delta. We will share our pain with all Nigerians.”
He said the release of the two Italians was in response to pleas from their fellow comrades who had helped the Niger Delta cause on several occasions in the past.
MEND said that all talks with the government had broken down. It explained that the last indirect talks with the Bayelsa State government was on February 5, through the Secretary to that state’s government.
MEND had accused officials of the Bayelsa State government and Agip of bribing the guards in charge of the hostages with more than $1 million to secure the release of the only Lebanese who broke free.
The group had warned that “Agip and the Bayelsa State government will pay a hefty price for this slight,” details of how Isliba escaped the vast region of creeks and mangrove swamps were not given by the militants.