TROOPS of the Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Restore Hope, yesterday announced intensified efforts towards the arrest of a notorious militant leader, Mr. Woki Godswill Ibralayu, alias Kitikata, accusing him of leading an armed attack on a commercial boat along Nembe Waterways in Bayelsa State.
The attack took place last Friday at about 11.00 a.m.
Kitikata, described as “notorious and ruthless”, is one of the top field commanders of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND).
The JTF had on February 26 raided the militants’ camp run by Kitikata in Daroama enclave of Bayelsa State.
Six of the militants under the control of the militant leader were reported killed during the raid.
Co-ordinator, Joint Media Campaign Centre (JMCC) of the JTF, Col. Rabe Abubakar, said that Kitikata is the alleged mastermind of the murder of the three soldiers along the Nembe Creek in July last year.
The said Kitikata is also being blamed for the gunshot attack on an Aero Contractors helicopter last Wednesday near the Tebidaba Flow Station in Southern Ijaw Local Council of Bayelsa State.
In addition, Kitikata and his men are being blamed for masterminding the spate of armed robbery attacks along the Port Harcourt-Yenagoa axis road and another attack on the Brass terminal operations.
In a statement yesterday, Col. Abubakar said: “The passengers of the boat were heading to Port Harcourt, Rivers State, before they were intercepted and robbed of all their personal effects. The commuters had since abandoned their trip and returned to Nembe. But the boat driver is still nursing the injuries he sustained during the attack.”
The JTF spokesman noted that Kitikata “is the leader of the militants’ camp terrorising the waterways in Bayelsa and Rivers states in recent times. The men of JTF have been attacked by the same militant leader recently while conducting cordon and search, which in the process of defending ourselves led to destruction of his camp.”
Col. Abubakar called on the citizens in the region to “be rest assured that the so-called militant leader would soon be arrested. It is just a matter of time.”
He also called on the general public to assist the security outfit with information towards achieving peace in the region.
Abubakar also announced the arrest of one Mr. Wisdom Ozu. The suspect, who was arrested with two Berretta pistols alongside eight 9mm ammunition with 83 packets of knock-out and one sword in Utuogidi Community, is currently in the custody of the JTF, pending investigation.