Three naval ratings were on Saturday night killed by militants who attacked a houseboat stationed at the Shell Petroleum Development Company�s Tora Manifold in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
Some of the militants, naval personnel and officials of the SPDC were also injured in the attack which occured shortly before it was learnt that members of the House of Representatives from the South-South would this week meet in Bayelsa State over the crisis in the Niger Delta.
A security source in Yenagoa said on Sunday that the militants, who arrived at the Manifold in many speed boats, shot sporadically into the air.
He said that in the ensuing gun battle, the three naval ratings on guard lost their lives while some of the militants escaped with varying degrees of injuries.
The deceased, the injured naval personnel and officials of the SPDC were said to have been evacuated from the area with choppers belonging to the Anglo-Dutch oil giant.
It was also learnt that three gunboats have been deployed by the Maj.-Gen. Lawrence Ngubane-led Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta, to prevent further attacks.
When contacted, the Commanding Officer of the JTF in Bayelsa State, Lt. Col. Chris Musa said, �I just heard the information. I am trying to confirm from the Navy in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. I will give you update as appropriate.�
A former President of the Ijaw Youth Council, Mr. Nengi James, described the incident as unfortunate.
He told one of our correspondents on Sunday that the attack came barely a month after the state governor, Mr. Timipre Sylva, and the militants signed a peace agreement on December 6, 2007.
President Umaru Yar�Adua had last week directed the Chief of Defence Staff, General Owoye Azazi, who hails from Bayelsa State, to dislodge militants in the Niger Delta.
On Sunday, our correspondents gathered that the caucus of the South-South in the House of Representatives would meet between Thursday and Saturday in Yenagoa on ways to halt the lingering crisis in the region.
A source said, �A summit by the 55 lawmakers in the House from the South-South will take place at the Gloryland Cultural Centre in Yenagoa.�
A member of the caucus, Mr. Warman Ogoriba, confirmed that the summit was organised because the members were worried by the situation in the region.
Ogoriba, who is the publicity secretary of the caucus said, �We have been planning this meeting for some months now.
�There is the need for us to find the best way out of it (the crisis). We can no longer fold our arms and pretend that things are going the right way.
�Together, as the lawmakers from this area, we can sit and tell ourselves the truth and proffer solutions.
�It is not a true statement that we are not interested in the problems of the Niger Delta. After the meeting, we will get back and reach out to the relevant stakeholders in the region.
�If the people of the area can vote for us and take us into confidence, then they will listen to the people they have voted for. It is a problem that demands political solution.
�We have capable men and women that can take the problems as they come and thrash them out.�
Another member of the caucus, Mr. Daniel Reyenieju, said the summit would take a holistic look at the crisis in the region and suggest solutions.
He said, �We can handle the problems; we have been trying to find the best way to resolve the problems.
�We want to restore investors� confidence in the Niger Delta. And once we have achieved that, the region will be peaceful again.�
Meanwhile, the United Nations Development Programme will this month introduce cummunity-based development programmes in the Niger Delta.
The programme known as Local Government Development Programme was packaged by the UNDP to assist the communities in the Niger Delta understand the planning and execution of development projects.
According to a report by Empowered Newswire, the programme will promote accountability and transparency in governance and the management of public funds in the oil producing states.
The programme which was first introduced in Ondo State, will take off in Niger Delta from Bayelsa State.
The agency quoted the UNDP Resident Representative in Nigeria, Alberic Kacou, as saying that the programme will reduce the lack of trust in public office holders in the region.
Kacou noted that UNDP identified lack of trust among the communities, the local councils and the state governments in the Niger Delta as a major obstacle to development.
The UNDP, he said, decided to encourage and help �put in place a system to see where the huge sums of money that accrue to the region go to.�