As the Joint Task Force on peace in the Niger Delta moves into local communities in Rivers State to flush out potential troublemakers, the cultists have started targeting persons suspected to be supplying information to the troops on their whereabouts.
The Secretary of the Rivers State Peace and Rehabilitation Committee, Mr. Jerry Needam, made this known in Port Harcourt on Tuesday while addressing newsmen.
Needam said that some of the cultists, who were chased out of Port Harcourt and its environs, had relocated to villages in a bid to continue their heinous crimes.
He, therefore, urged the media to help the government to expose the activities of the criminals in the state.
He added that Governor Celestine Omehia required genuine support of the media in the current efforts to rid the state and the Niger Delta region of criminals.
The government, too, he said, would continue to appreciate and assist the media in its duty as the watchdog of the society.
He, however, appealed to newsmen to always cross-check information before going to the press.
Whenever in doubt over government�s actions and intentions regarding the on-going offensive against the cultists, Needam said that his committee was ready to offer explanation to erase such doubt.
�The dissemination of genuine information is the only way through which the government can get to the root of the barbaric activities of the militants and the cultists in the Niger Delta region,� he said.