About 2,500 fresh troops have been deployed in the Niger Delta from the western and northern parts of the country, the Commander of the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta, Operation Restore Hope, Brig.-Gen. Wuyep Rimtip, has said.
Rimtip, in an interview with Sunday Punch on Saturday, said the troops were deployed from three units in Lagos , Kano and Takun in Taraba State.
Specifically, Rimtip said the troops were deployed from 174 Battalion, Ikorodu, Lagos State , 5 battalion in Kano , Capital of Kano State and 3 Battalion, Takun in Taraba State .
The new troops, according to him, replaced their colleagues in 81 Battalion, Koko, Delta State , 93 Battalion, Effurun, Delta State and 73 Battalion, Elele, in Bayelsa State.
Rimtip said the troops from 174 Battalion and their counterparts from 3 Battalion, Takun had arrived in the region, adding that the movement of the troops from 5 Battalion, Kano into the creeks of Bayelsa State was nearing completion.
“We are rotating our troops and three units are involved. We have completed two units and their troops have successfully exchanged locations. The last unit would be completed in the next few days. They would say we are beefing up security in the creeks whenever they see our men along the waterways, but what we are doing is to replace our men who have served at a particular location for a long time.
“About 2,500 troops were being rotated in all, with those from 174 Battalion, Ikorodu, 5 Battalion, Kano and 3 Battalion, Takun, coming into the Niger Delta while those from 81 Battalion, Koko, 93 Battalion, Effurun and 73 Battalion, in Bayelsa State, moving elsewhere in the country.
“We are pulling out the troops who have served for a long time in the creeks of the Niger Delta to enable them to re-unite with their families. Then new ones are being sent into the creeks and oil locations to replace them. We have finished the units around Koko and Warri. That of Bayelsa would be completed soon. We are just rotating the troops, that is exactly what we have been doing.”
Rimtip said that the JTF, Op RH had been repositioned to execute its mandate in the region, adding that the new troops had taken charge in the creeks and offshore oil locations to keep the militants at bay and prevent attacks on oil installations.
To this end, he stated that the federal troops prevented the destruction of Torugbene Manifold of the Anglo-Dutch oil firm, Shell Petroleum Development Company located in Nembe in Bayelsa State on Thursday.
He said the troops repelled the recalcitrant militants, adding that they fled the location in the face of the superior firepower of the federal troops.
Similarly, Rimtip said another set of militants who besieged a unit of JTF in Clough Creeks in Bayelsa State were resisted, adding that some of them escaped with bullet wounds.