THE Joint Task Force (JTF) yesterday declared wanted leader of the “Camp 5” militant group in Delta State, Chief Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, whose men on Wednesday, May 13, allegedly killed a Lieutenant Colonel, a Major and five others.
In its reaction to the war in the creeks, global human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, accused the Joint Task Force of “unlawful killing of people in the area,” just as Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency, AVM Mohammed Audu-Bida (rtd) directed the movement of more relief materials from its Enugu Zonal offices to Warri to cater for the displaced people.
Though, the Task Force Commander, Major-General Sarkin Bello who had spent three nights in the creeks searching for the militant leader did not admit that seven soldiers were killed, when he spoke to newsmen, yesterday, he however admitted that 12 soldiers were missing. This had been announced by the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Michael Aondoakaa (SAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
Tompolo declared wanted
According to the JTF commander, Tompolo who is already on the run was also declared wanted for the kidnap of some foreigners, some of whom were still missing as at yesterday, hijack of vessels and illegal possession of arms and ammunition.
He warned Tompolo to give himself up, as the task force would smoke him out wherever he was hiding; pointing out that he was required, among other things, to tell the task force of the whereabouts of the missing soldiers.
Major-General Bello said the families of the soldiers have been calling him wanting to know about the whereabouts Leader of Joint Task Force (JTF), Major-Gen Sarkin Bello, JTF Coordinator, addressing pressmen on war in Niger Delta.—BELOW: Weapons recovered from the militants. Photos by Barnabas Uzosike.of their loved ones and he needed to search and find out where they were to be able to give them reliable answer.
The JTF commander confirmed that the home of the militant leader at Oporoza in Gbaramatu South-West Local Government Area of Delta State was razed down by the task force and he listed the arms discovered in his house.
He accused the press of over-hyping the capability of Tompolo over the years, saying that, “what I saw was a rag-tag army, pure rag-tag army. The armed forces of Nigeria are capable of dislodging any militant camp in the Niger-Delta.
“Give me two days”, he boasted, “I will dislodge any militant camp in Niger-Delta, and they are just bloody rag-tag”.
Operation not targeted at Ijaw
He said the cordon and search operation by the JTF was not targeted at Ijaw communities but at militants who were hiding in some of the communities, adding that the operation was being carried out in a most professional manner and that no civilian has been shot by the task force, though, there could be collateral damage in terms of the inconvenience of the operation to the people.
Major-General Bello, however, said he was not aware that soldiers went to the Ogbe-Ijoh General Hospital, to in search of militants and harass the medical personnel, saying he had just discussed with the Red Cross and another humanitarian organisation on how they would carry out their activities.
He declared that the waterways of the state were not where anybody should venture into at this stage without permission and that the operation by the task force continues.
His words, “In the last three days, I was in Camp 5, I was in Oporoza, I was in Okerenkoko, I just came back last night, I think we dispatched from here around 3.00am this morning and I believe when you finish from this press conference, we will show you what we returned with from Camp 5, Okerenkoko, Camp Iroko and many others.
What I want gentlemen of the press to know is that this operation is still on-going.
“We still have our military colleagues who have been attacked unprovoked, some of them are missing and we owe it a duty to find out where they are, dead or alive, at least to be able to be able properly present the true situation to their loved ones.
“Now, I also want to say that I was told, because I have not been reading the papers for the past three days that there were reports that we are attacking Ijaws, no, I want to make it categorically clear, we are not targeting Ijaw people. All we are targeting are people who have been responsible for the attack and killing and possibly kidnap of members of the armed forces of Nigeria.
“And gentlemen, last time I was here, I said that war is not good for anybody and I offered an olive branch to the militants, those who have taken up arms against the Nigerian state, those who are attacking innocent people to please give peace a chance and apparently, Mr. Tompolo did not heed my advice that time and as I am talking to you right now, he is on the run.
“And I want to say that Tompolo if you are looking at me in the face, please give yourself up, you can’t win this war, you can run but you cannot hide, wherever he is, we will track him and we will get him”, he said.
“You must be answerable for the attack on Nigerian soldiers. Like I said, a lot of discoveries were made from Camp 5, his own personal house, a camp in Kunukunuma, a lot of discoveries were made in a shrine in Okerenkoko and like I said, the operation is on-going, it is not an attack on Ijaw people, it is targeted on people who need to be checked and justice will definitely be at the corner”.
He said he would be the last military officer that would attack civilians who are not part of the war whatsoever, saying, “That will be irresponsible”, adding, “I am proud of the conduct and professional conduct of the troops”.
Why we burnt Camp 5 —JTF
“Camp 5 was burnt, yes, it deserved to be burnt, you will see the arsenal that was recovered from Camp 5, it was more or less like a training camp and I don’t think that kind of place should be allowed to exist in any country”, he said.
On what he would do if he arrested Tompolo, he said, “If I arrest Tompolo, I will get intelligence information from him as to where the people were being kept and I will pursue that course of action”.
On the reported plan by the task force to raid a militant camp belonging to Boyloaf in Bayelsa State, he asked where the press got the information from but when the reporter said he was not obliged to disclose his source, Major-General Bello said he was not also obliged to disclose his intention.
On the conflicting report over the real cause of the JTF/militants’ face-off in the state, he said it was an unprovoked attack by the militants on soldiers who were passing the area with only three gunboats.
He said he would be a poor military planner, which he is not, if he were to attack a militant den like Camp 5 and he went there with only three gunboats. He stated that it was just a routine military presence in the region and another source of anger was the attack of two gunboats escorting a vessel with some Filipinos on board.
The Commander said maybe the militants were after the fuel the vessel was carrying but the fact remains that his men were maintaining routine military presence in the region and three gunboats were found and attacked.
Col. R. Abubakar, JTF Coordinator, addressing pressmen on war in Niger DeltaHe said the JTF has been in the region since 2003 and know about the existence of Gbaramatu kingdom and so, if the people were celebrating their festival at that time, should it be on the waterways with guns as was the case when the militants attacked the soldiers?
On the waterways, “As the operation is still going on, it may not safe for one to assume normalcy has returned. Without you being told, as a reasonable person, one should think twice before you embark on a trip to the creeks at this time”.
He was taken to task by newsmen on his comments that he had instructed his men to kill as many people as possible, the atmosphere became hot at the press conference, as he flared up, saying he never told journalists such.
The press insisted that he said so, but, he said his position is that if anybody attacked his men, they should reply one bullet for 10 bullets.
On the number of persons killed so far by soldiers, he said many have been killed. Pressed on the exact figure, he asked whether the newsmen expected to be counting the number of people that were killed when he was fighting a battle and was supposed to be moving on to his next location.
His words, “It is not my job to be counting the number of people that are dead”.
Refuting media reports that some persons were killed in Okerenkoko, he said nobody was killed.
Amnesty accuses JTF
Amnesty International also accused the task force of displacing innocent people and denying them access to Medicare.
In a statement Amnesty said “Since 13 May 2009, thousands of villagers have been displaced and thousands more are trapped in the crossfire between the Joint Task Force (JTF), which is composed from troops of the army, navy, air force and the mobile police set up in 2004 to restore order in the Niger Delta and armed groups in Delta State, South West Nigeria.
The JTF attacks on the communities in the area, including the Okerenkoko and Oporoza communities, are continuing on a daily basis, reportedly because they believe the armed groups are hiding in the communities.”