Joint Task Force (JTF) Media Co-ordinator, Colonel Rabe Abubakar, disclosed on Tuesday that one of the bases militant leader Tompolo used as a second Observation Camp in Warri has been destroyed.
He said Camp 2 was discovered with a house boat hidden inside a dredged creek in between Okerenkoko and Jones creek village.
“It was glaring, judging from spots of blood stains dotted all over everything found in the camp, that it must have been used as emergency treatment area for wounded militants,” Abubakar noted.
He denied claims that the JTF killed and burnt civilian houses. “We challenge Obodo Bello and his MEND’s collaborators to justify (such) claims.”
But the Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities (FNDIC) countered that “Gbaramatu might have been destroyed out of jealousy of the recent government development efforts there.”
FNDIC President, Bello Oboko, insisted that “in the Gbaramatu carnage, the reason for killing defenceless Ijaw cannot be issues of one man’s wealth. Please stop the killings and Save Our Souls (SOS).”
He, however, implored “the Ijaw to maintain the ceasefire despite the provocation. The world is watching.”
Police high command would meet in Abuja today on curbing terrorist attack in Nigeria as being rumoured, just as it emerged on Tuesday that Bayelsa Police Commissioner, Onuoha Udeka, was nearly assassinated by militants led by Ken Niweigha in Odi.
The militants’ Honda Civic car accosted the convoy of Udeka and fired shots as the car ran into a ditch.
Udeka said his officers over powered the militants, among whom were Etete Diepreye, Lucky Ogun, and Kurotimi Gbariel.
One of the assailants died and three were arrested.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) claimed on Tuesday to have hit another flow station in Amena in Rivers State belonging to Total, 24 hours after it destroyed that of Chevron in Abiteye in the neighbouring Delta.
Chevron confirmed that the first incident led to it shutting in 100,000 barrels of oil per day.
However, Abubakar explained that the Total flow station had been abandoned for years, and troops are in total control of the area.
Some militants attempted to steal things from the facility but were repelled by troops on guard duty, he added, insisting that “such claims by the MEND and the Federation of Niger Delta Ijaw Communities (FNDIC) are propaganda to oil their ego.”
Officials of the Red Cross and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) who have visited the creeks commended the JTF for allowing humanitarian groups to take relief materials to the communities.
Delta Red Cross Society Secretary, Ovocity Egboworo, said the trip was a very successful one, and “the relief materials were distributed to communities like Azama, Igoba, Ugborode, Opuedebubo, Kunukunuma, et cetera. There are still people remaining in the communities.”
In Asaba, Delta State Governor, Emmenaul Uduaghan, denied appeasing militants and gave an assurance that his administration is on top of the crisis.
Security has been beefed up at Government House, Asaba. Police ask motorists driving into and out of the premises to open their booths.
Uduaghan said through Information Commissioner, Oma Djebah, that “the administration has no policy of appeasement. Perhaps, maybe people misconstrued the strategic policy of constructive engagement for that of appeasement.
“There is no appeasement. But the government believes in constructive engagement. Not appeasement. That is in line with the peace and security strategy of this administration.”
The state government is fully on top of the situation and assures all indigenes of Delta State, wherever they are, that it is committed to their wellbeing, he said.
He urged them to go about their normal business, because what is happening is in the creeks, and the government has taken steps, one of which is to set up a committee to cater for displaced persons and provide medical attention for all victims.
Uduaghan noted that he has held consultations with stakeholders, including retired military chiefs from the state, monarchs, and members of civil society.