THE Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Owoye Azazi, has directed all military formations in the Niger Delta to be on the red alert following renewed threats by militants to unleash mayhem on the region.
Only yesterday, leader of the Niger Delta Vigilante, Ateke Tom, threatened residents of Port Harcourt to remain indoors from 9 p.m. daily with effect from tomorrow, as he is sending his men to attack Ubima, home town of Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State.
This, according to him, is in �retaliation for his (governor�s) �sending JTF (Joint Task Force) to attack my home and causing confusion in Okrika where I spent money to bring peace.�
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) had also in an earlier statement asked the civilian populace in the Niger Delta states to avoid milling around army check points and Armoured Personnel Carriers, saying they are targets for attacks by explosive devices.
The group threatened to completely cripple the oil industry, the mainstay of the nation�s economy.
However, as a precautionary measure, Gen Azazi directed that should the militants carry out their threats, military formations in the region should ensure that maximum causality is inflicted on the attackers.
The Commander of the 73 Battalion of the Joint Task Force in Bayelsa State, Lt. Col. Christopher Musa, in an interview in Yenagoa while reacting to threats by militants said the directive from the Chief of Defence Staff to the military formations was a reminder to the men of the Military Task Force of their mandate to ensure that the peace achieved so far was not breached by criminals hiding under the guise of freedom fighters.
�The CDS has directed that no position should be overrun by these militants and if that is done, we should inflict maximum causality. It is no more business as usual and we are warning that these people don�t have a chance if they try it in the states,� he said, adding: �All these are part of the military action to checkmate those youths not interested in a peaceful resolution of the conflict. We have to checkmate violent crimes. We have discovered that these boys are afraid of peace for fear of losing out of the system. They don�t have any qualification and know that with peace they might not go far.�
Ateke Tom �declares� curfew in P-Harcourt
Meanwhile, Ateke Tom says residents of Port Harcourt should retire to their homes from 9 p.m. everyday with effect from tomorrow. He has also threatened to attack Ubima, home town of Governor Amaechi, in retaliation for �sending JTF (Joint Task Force), to attack my home and causing confusing in Okrika where I have spent money to bring peace.�
He told Vanguard on phone that the allegation that he is being sponsored by a former minister, Dr. Abiye Sekibo, was untrue, saying, Abiye Sekibo has no money or material to offer him. �How much money does he have to be able to sponsor me? I don�t even see the man and I have not seen him for many years,� he said.
According to him, the killing of policemen in the New Year day attack was not intentional but �the police joined with the soldiers on the road on that day, we were actually heading for the army barracks to deal with the JTF.�
Asked why he attacked the Presidential Hotel, he said �the government of Rivers State destroyed my property, so I have to destroy their own property too. I know innocent people died, they should not blame me, they should blame (Governor) Amaechi.�
The interview:
Vanguard: The Rivers State Government has accused a former minister of sponsoring you in your militancy?
Ateke: Look, they are talking about Abiye Sekibo. Let me tell you (raised his voice), do you think Sekibo has money to sponsor someone like me or my group. How much money or property does
Abiye Sekibo have? I have not seen the man for many years. How much money do you think that man has?
Is it because he was a minister? What is the salary of a minister? I should be the person to sponsor Abiye Sekibo in anything at all. I do everything by myself. All I do is because of the struggle for the Niger Delta cause
Vanguard: Are you saying that the man did not give you money to buy arms or so?
Ateke: You think to buy arms is come chop? It involves serious money or do you think I use petty weapons? Why are they accusing the man, is it because we are all from Okrika and he is a big man?
Vanguard: The government has declared you wanted for the various crimes you are alleged to have committed, particularly attacking Port Harcourt.
Ateke: Well, I don�t know why they have declared me wanted. Is it not the governor who declared me wanted?
Vanguard: Yes.
Ateke: Ok, we the militants have also declared him wanted and I General Ateke have declared him wanted. I want to tell everyone that from Friday, this week I have imposed curfew on Port Harcourt and I am warning that only the military should be seen on the streets of Port Harcourt.
Vanguard: How are you going to go about this to make sure that people comply?
Ateke: Everybody should be in his house at the time I have given. If you don�t lock yourself up in your house, anything that happens to you, na you sabi. Actually, the curfew started from the day I attacked Port Harcourt but since I did not announce it then, I want to announce it now for the benefit of everybody, let them enter their house O! The curfew in Okrika is for them to get me, I also want the governor.
Vanguard: The JTF that bombed you, how many of your camps did they bomb?
Ateke: Don�t mind those people, they did not bomb anywhere. They are criminals. They were just throwing explosives about just to get money from government or that governor.
Vanguard: Are you still planning to attack Port Harcourt?
Ateke: Let them (government) replace my property. I did not offend anybody, if they don�t, there will be no peace in that place called Port Harcourt. You know that this recent attack, the governor and his family were not affected but innocent people were. Now, he has taken off to stay in overseas. Let him come back and make peace. I actually want peace.
As a governor, he wants his tenure to be complete in peace not violence. How do you go to somebody�s house and burn down his house and his entire property? Is he my creator to want to terminate my life? Is that why he is governor?
I want peace and I spent millions, over N100 million to make peace in Okrika and this governor just sent JTF to burn my houses. I expected him to say Old Boy, you have tried, please keep it up and how do we sustain the peace. That was what I wanted and not just sudden attack, and wanting to kill me, na him create me?
Vanguard: People are wondering why you chose to attack the police in the last attack?
Ateke: No, no, no, see, as soon as we entered the place (Port Harcourt), the police joined forces with the army, what were they (police) looking for in that hour?
Vanguard: But they are security men permitted to move around anytime.
Ateke: What kind of road block at midnight, doing what? So they fired at me and I fired back. I have imposed curfew and my target is the army. If we still see the police or anyone, we go fire them! If they know that they are not concerned let them go to their houses, we want only the JTF, army to wait for us, make we show them.
Vanguard: So you are facing the JTF now?
Ateke: Is that not Amaechi�s power, are they not the people he sent to attack me?
Vanguard: But you attacked Borokiri and Trans-Amadi police stations.
Ateke: Yes, because they attacked me on the road, so we took the fight to their houses and that is the police station.
Vanguard: Why did you go to the Presidential Hotel?
Ateke: Because they destroyed my property. JTF and government attacked my property. So I have to disrupt many things in Rivers State. Look, Vanguard, this fight is not only me, it is Ijaw fight now. People should tell (Governor) Amaechi that he wants to cause war here and it is coming gradually.
Vanguard: He has told the Okrika people to hand you over to him.
Ateke: That is an insult to Okrika people, and let me tell you, since he has insulted my people, I will face his people too, at least I know that he comes from somewhere. He has made my people uncomfortable and that is what I shall do in Ubima very, very soon.
Vanguard: How do you mean?
Ateke: I shall attack Ubima, well well, and his village people should know that it is not my fault. Since they cannot advise their son, I must enter his village and cause destruction.