MILITARY crackdown on hostage takers in the Niger Delta region may have begun.
Yesterday, a group of soldiers and policemen were deployed to a Rivers State suburb, Diobu, in an operation believed to be to ferret some militant youths whose series of hostage taking are threatening expatriate workers in the Niger Delta and the country as a whole.
Residents of Diobu told The Guardian on Saturday that the operation, which started in the afternoon and was continuing as at press time, led to the shut down of a timber market and the arrest of several persons.
Two military helicopters were seen dropping soldiers around the Eagle Island, from where they journeyed by speedboats to the community.
Shortly after, scores of other heavily armed soldiers, including anti-riot policemen, stormed Iloabuchi area of the suburb by road and cordoned off a timber market close to a creek.
When The Guardian visited the area, the military men dressed in camouflage were seen conducting a house-to-house search for suspected militants who might have been residing in the area.
It was learnt that the some of the soldiers who stormed the area through the creek ensured that no one was allowed to escape through that route.
The Public Relations Officer of the 2 Amphibious Brigade, Major Musa Sagir, confirmed the operation but declined comments on what led to it.
Sources said the military might be acting on intelligence report that some suspected militants who are still holding about six expatriates might be hiding in the area.
During the operation, which was still on as at press time yesterday, scores of civilians arrested during the raid were seen sitting on bare floor, and surrounded by soldiers who kept a watch over them while the search continued.
Vehicles and motorbikes were barred from driving through part of Iloabuchi Street leading to the Timber Market. A source disclosed that several persons arrested were dragged into empty buses and taken to an unknown destination.
Militants had in the past two weeks abducted 16 expatriates in the Niger Delta, most of them in
Rivers State. The situation prompted President Obasanjo to order a full-scale military offensive against hostage takers in the region.
An American oil services company, Willbros, recently announced plans to quit operations in Nigeria, a path that construction giant, Julius Berger, was yesterday reported to be toeing.
Some unknown persons on Thursday abducted a Lebanese worker, an employee of Homan Engineering in Bayelsa State. Homan is an oilfield and steel construction service firm based in Port Harcourt.
The past weeks have seen 15 foreign oil workers taken prisoner in the country, but nine of them were released this week.
Four workers – an American, a Briton, a German and an Irishman – were abducted from a popular bar in the centre of Port Harcourt on Monday. Another German worker was seized in the city on August 3.
The previously unknown Movement for the Niger Delta People (MONDP) claimed responsibility for the earlier kidnapping, demanding the release of two local leaders standing trial for corruption in exchange for his freedom. No claims of responsibility have been made for Monday’s abductions.
The German Foreign Ministry on Tuesday published a travel warning for its nationals planning to go to the Niger Delta.