The Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta, otherwise known as Operation Restore Hope, has deployed a helicopter, eight additional gunboats and patrol crafts in the waterways of the region.
Our correspondent gathered that the helicopter, which was brought from the Air Force Base in Benin, Edo State, has since being conducting regular aerial surveillance on the region. Saturday Punch gathered that the security initiative was meant to check the activities of the region�s militants and secure the nation�s economic assets.
The helicopter, which has being flying over some hot spots in the region since Monday, is also said to be monitoring the activities of the militants.
Also, Saturday Punch gathered that the deployment was to assure oil workers of their safety and induce them to remain in the field. On Monday, The Punch had exclusively reported that the Nigerian Navy had deployed two warships, NNS Nwanba and NNS Ologbo, in the region, particularly in the marine area of Bayelsa and Delta states.
A reliable source at the headquarters of the JTF at the 93 Battalion, Effurun, Delta State, told Saturday Punch that the reinforcement was directed by the Presidency through the Defence Headquarters. The source further stated that the Presidency had ordered the measures to prevent fresh attacks on the oil platforms in the region.
The action was in response to President Umaru Yar�Adua�s order penultimate Friday that the militants should be checked, following the attacks on the Bonga oil fields of the Dutch oil multinational, Shell Petroleum Development Company, which is located 60 nautical miles off the nation�s coast.
The Escravos/Abiteye flow lines belonging to the American oil giant, Chevron Nigeria Limited, in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State was later blown up, less than 24 hours after the fate of the SPDC�s facility.
Another reliable source told Saturday Punch that, �The Presidency has directed our (JTF), Commander, Brig.-Gen. Wuyep Rimtip, not to treat the threat by the militants, especially those in the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta that they would attack more facilities, with levity. The commander was directed to intensify air and water patrol to keep the militants at bay.
�That was why one helicopter was seconded to us from the Air Force base in Benin. The helicopter ventures into the air regularly, apparently to send a message to the militants that the military is on red alert. These efforts are geared towards ensuring normalcy and unhindered operations by the oil majors and service companies in the region.�
When contacted, Rimtip said the JTF would spare no effort to protect Nigerians and foreign nationals on legitimate duties in the region. The JTF commander, in a telephone conversation with Saturday Punch on Friday, stated that the security of oil equipment and facilities in the region was paramount to the task force, adding that his outfit would not tolerate criminal acts under the guise of a Niger Delta struggle.
Rimtip, however, declined comment on the fresh deployment of troops and military equipment in the waterways and creeks of the region.