THE Joint Military Task Force yesterday invaded Okochiri community in Okrika Local Council of Rivers State and arrested some suspected militants loyal to Mr. Tom Ateke, the wanted leader of the Niger Delta Vigilante group.
The military offensive, which began in the early hours of yesterday, led to the recovery of several guns, bullets, sledge hammers and bullet-proof vests from the militants’ hideout described by the troops as an “Evil Forest” in Okochiri.
A source in Okrika told The Guardian that about two military helicopters were seen hovering around Okochiri in the early hours of yesterday, apparently on a surveillance mission before men of the task force stormed an area regarded as Ateke’s stronghold.
The Guardian learnt that the military operation, which caught the militants unawares, led to the arrest of an undisclosed number of the armed youths. However, the military authorities and other independent sources could not confirm if Ateke, who had been declared wanted by the Police, was among those arrested.
The Brigade Commander of the 2nd Amphibious Brigade, Brig.-Gen. Samuel Salihu, explained that the military offensive was prompted by the recent spate of bank robberies and kidnappings in the Niger Delta, particularly in Rivers State.
“In the early hours of this morning (yesterday) we carried out a cordon and search operation in Okochiri around the Evil Forest area. We recovered weapons. You are aware that that enclave is controlled by Ateke Tom who has been linked with activities like armed robbery, killing of security agents and some related kidnappings,” he said.
Salihu confirmed that some people were arrested but declined to give details, especially the number of those picked by his men.
He said that no casualty was recorded during the raid, which was still on-going at press time.
Among the lethal weapons reportedly recovered by the joint task force were 12 AK-47 rifles with 10 magazines, eight sub-machine guns with six magazines, one locally made pistol, 315 cartridges, 6700 (7.62) Nato bullets, one axe, two sledge hammers, five police and one army bullet-proof vests.
The raid was the second this year by the military in Okochiri. Several of Akete’s men were feared killed and his property razed in the previous attack.
The first military incursion into the area was a result of the Police indictment of the militia as being the mastermind of the bank robberies in Port Harcourt and its environs.
Ateke, who survived the attack and immediately went into hiding, had denied any involvement in bank robberies or the kidnapping of foreign oil workers.
According to him, some politicians in the state were bent on roping him in because he had vowed not to work for them in 2007.