JOINT Task Force (JTF) on the Niger-Delta and the Movement for Emancipation of the Niger-Delta (MEND) were embroiled in a war of words yesterday, over a claim by the militant that it has ordered the blockade of key waterway channels used by oil industry vessels for the export of crude oil, gas and importation of refined petroleum products.
According to the militant group in an online statement, yesterday, the blockade of the channels means that no vessel should dare the routes, as anyone doing so would be at his peril.
The JTF in a counter reaction by its spokesman, Colonel Rabe Abubakar, dismissed the purported order by MEND, saying, “It is a malicious propaganda that MEND will block the waterways to stop oil tankers from loading and departing the shores of the country”.
“The Joint Task Force, Operation Restore Hope wishes to inform the general public, particularly our foreign friends working in the region that the security outfit is on top of the situation and ready to defend every inch of Nigerian waterways, including lives and property of innocent citizenry against any group or individual.
“The JTF wants also to reiterate that the ongoing search and rescue operation being carried out in the creeks is in the best interest of the Niger Delta region in particular and Nigerian State in general”, he sated.
“The security outfit is in the process of getting rid of the militants/criminals who unleashed terror on innocent citizens and expatriates in the region over a long period of time and this must stop. The MEND and its collaborators who viewed JTF action as impediment to their nefarious activities is rather unfortunate; however, this will not stop the security outfit from carrying out its statutory duties and mandate.
“We have put in place all necessary machineries that will checkmate the activities of this toothless group or any other group for that matter, as the JTF is combat ready to discharge its mandate in the region, no matter where the threat is coming from”, the task force said.
MEND had earlier in its statement, stated, “ Sunday, May 17, 2009 revealed the desperation of the Nigerian armed forces in a war it has no way of winning when the world witnessed indiscriminate use of missiles and bombs on several defenceless Ijaw communities in Delta state. This is the height of cowardice”.
”At one point we began wondering if the pilots had problems with the calibration of their weapons. It is now evident that sheer resentment of a people waking up to claim what has been stolen for five decades was the cause.
“ To make matters worse, the Nigerian government, aware of the consequences of its actions and with an existing National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), had no contingency plans for the displaced persons; yet that same agency is very quick to respond in the North over a minor rain storm.
“ If massive bombing can guarantee an early victory, then the United States “shock and awe” bombings in the opening Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns would have resulted in early victories, yet today after over five years they are still grappling with an unfinished war.
“We anticipate the same thing here but worse for the Nigerian State. Our fighters have started playing cat and mouse with the army and the frustration is becoming evident in their pattern of attack. They bomb non-combatant women, children and the elderly and we come out at night to kill more soldiers. As long as the government cannot eradicate mosquitoes and malaria, they will not be able to eliminate freedom fighters and the struggle.
“There is low morale and division amongst the soldiers from the Middle Belt and South who are not in support of an unjust war. We salute them.
“Meanwhile, we have ordered the blockade of key waterway channels to oil industry vessels both for the export of crude and gas and importation of refined petroleum products. This means vessels now ply such routes at their risk”, it asserted.