Top security agents in the Niger Delta region have been summoned to Abuja for briefing over the unending criminality in the region, especially in Rivers State.
The security session, coordinated by the office of the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Owoye Azazi, was also initiated to work out strategies to curtail the security challenges arising from the trial of the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, Mr. Henry Okah, for alleged treason by the Federal Government.
Sunday Punch gathered that the Commander of the Joint Task Force, Operation Flush Out 111, Brig.-Gen. Sarkin-yari Bello, and his counterpart in the Joint Task Force, Operation Restore Hope, Brig.-Gen. Wuyep Rintip, departed their stations for Abuja on Thursday to honour the invitation by the CDS.
The JTF led by Sarkin-yaki Bello supervises the operations of JTF in Rivers State while Rintip oversees the security situation in Delta and Bayelsa States.
Findings by our correspondent showed that other security big shots in the region, particularly service commanders of the Army, Navy and Air Force were also in Abuja for the briefing.
Similarly, it was learnt that some police top brass serving in the region, especially those attached to JTF, Op FO 111 and JTF Op RH, were summoned to the forum by the CDS, who supervises the JTFs.
A reliable source at JTF Op RH headquarters at 93 Batallion, Effurun, Delta State, said that other stakeholders in the region, including the managements of the oil majors and notable community as well as youth leaders were also invited to the meeting.
Our source said the meeting opened on Friday with some service chiefs in attendance.
Findings by Sunday Punch further showed that Azazi ordered the meeting following the renewed crises in the region, especially in Rivers State and the fate of Okah.
It was gathered that the CDS was not impressed by the inability of JTF Op FO 111, to curtail the rising criminality as manifested in the recent abductions of toddlers and other innocent persons in the Rivers state axis of the region.
Also, Sunday Punch gathered that the forum was meant to fashion out proactive measures to deal with the security breaches that may arise from the trial of Okah.
Our source, who is a senior Army officer in JTF Op RH, said the DHQ was not prepared to treat the threat by MEND to cause fresh crisis in the region due to the fate of its leader with levity.
It was further gathered that the summons for the meeting from DHQ came on Wednesday.
Our source said, �The meeting was principally designed to enable all stakeholders to brainstorm and fashion out enduring solutions to the lingering crises in the area.
�The Federal Government is worried that the Niger Delta struggle has been hijacked by criminals and hoodlums and that is why the CDS summoned the stakeholders, including top security chiefs in the region to Abuja for briefing.
�The CDS rightly observed that the struggle for better living conditions in the region had no bearing with kidnapping of children and oil workers and the meeting initiated by the CDS was aimed at working out security and political solutions to restore the region on the path of a lasting peace.
�The security challenges posed by the arrest of Okah and the decision of the Federal Government to prosecute him for treason are also on the agenda of the meeting, which started in Abuja on Friday.
�The MEND has threatened violence in reaction to the fate of its leader and the government was not ready to treat the position of the group as empty boast. The forum will likely work out collaborative efforts among the stakeholders to nip any nefarious plan by MEND in the bud,� added our source who craved anonymity.
Rintip could not be reached for comment by our correspondent on Saturday. Calls placed by Sunday Punch to his cell phone did not go through.
However, a senior navy officer in JTF Op RH, confirmed the report.
The officer, who craved anonymity, said Rintip had left for Abuja for the meeting, adding that the meeting was expected to work out measures to deal with the security exigencies in the region.