MEN of the State Security Service (SSS) in Delta State, yesterday, raided the Warri and its environs of a supposed militant, suspected to have been involved in the January 20 kidnap of the 24 Filipinos by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger-Delta (MEND).
The swoop by the SSS, on the residence marked the beginning of a new onslaught by the Delta SSS on MEND following the resumption of hostilities by the group after what appeared to be an understanding between the government and security agents in the state, last year, that there should be cessation of warfare.
�This is the beginning of war with them since they do not want to embrace peace�, a senior official of the SSS in the state told Sunday Vanguard on phone.
It was authoritatively gathered that men of the SSS were armed with the names and photographs of some militants they believed to have participated in the abduction, and the order given to them is to pick them up.
However, the director of Delta SSS, Mr. Adebayo Babalola who ripped open some profit-making kidnap syndicates in Rivers and Bayelsa states, last year, could not be reached for comments, yesterday.
According to our source: �Some of these militants were to gather in Warri today (yesterday) for the wedding of one of their colleagues but we are looking for them, and the bridegroom in particular, because we have information concerning him and the kidnap of the 24 Filipinos. The wedding was to take place today but they ran away and cancelled the wedding.
�Our men are there waiting for them. We have told them before that if they want peace, we will give them peace, but since they want war, we will give them war and there will be no peace for them in this state. Our agreement is that they should behave themselves and that we don�t want any nonsense again in Delta state but now, they have broken our accord�, he said.
Contacted yesterday, a top official of MEND confirmed to Sunday Vanguard that men of the SSS, indeed, stormed the venue of the wedding ceremony, prompting them to cancel the ceremony. He, however, said that the bridegroom had nothing to do with the kidnap of the 24 hostages and that the SSS operatives were acting on wrong information.
Our SSS source: �You (Sunday Vanguard) got it right in one of your reports, last year, quoting a source close to our director in the state that we have a dossier on the militants, we know them and how to get them, except they choose to remain in the creeks because we will not go there to meet them. We know how they operate. We have contacts and they know that they cannot fool us�.
�I don�t think you should bother yourself with your bid to clarify whether we are not hunting for a wrong person. We know our ropes. Before you called me, they had made efforts in the last 48 hours to get our men not to arrest their member but of course, they should know that they are playing with the lion�, he added.