NIGER DELTA CRISIS: Military now in firm
control - Service chiefs, As Navy kills 7 militants

From Idowu Samuel and Bolaji Ogundele - 03.06.2009

THE military authorities on Tuesday allayed fears over the activities of militants in the Niger Delta, expressing satisfaction with the military operation in the area which it said had put the military in full command of the oil-producing areas, having dislodged the militants from the core areas of their control.

The military, through the service chiefs, made this known during a closed-door interactive session they had with the House of Representatives Committee on Defence with a vow that the Joint Task Force set up by the Federal Government to address the problem of militancy in the Niger Delta would continue the onslaughts against the militants until they finally surrender.

The House, however, asked the military to be cautious in their operations in the Niger Delta in order to avoid aggravating the humanitarian problems already caused by the activities of the JTF in the area.

The Chairman, House Committee on Defence, Honourable Wole Oke, who briefed the media after the closed-door session with the service chiefs, said his committee had instructed the JTF to handle its operations in the Niger Delta with strict professional approach in order to avoid further damage to lives and properties in the area.

Oke said the service chiefs were strictly instructed to only deploy minimum force in fighting the militants, mindful of the reality that Nigeria was never at war with the Niger Delta and its people.

He said the House was in support of the military expedition in the Niger Delta area on the condition that no nation would sit back and watch any of its youths destroy its assets.

He said recent experiences had shown that the agitations by the militants in the Niger Delta were not based on non-attention to the plight of the people, adding that the government had in recent times allowed no fewer than five windows of funding of the oil-producing areas.

Members of the House who were in attendance at the closed door meeting confided in the Nigerian Tribune that the committee was full of praises for the Nigerian Army on its ability to dislodge the militants after it was briefed properly on the latest situation of things in the area after the military intervention.

Present at the closed-door session were the Minister of State for Defence, Chief Ademola Seriki, the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Paul Dike, Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Iko Ibrahim, among others.

In another development, men of the marine component of the JTF on Tuesday killed seven suspected militants after a clash which lasted for several hours around the Isaka/Bakana waterways in Rivers State.

Troops from the NNS Pathfinder Nigerian Navy were reportedly on routine marine patrol around the troubled area when some militants in speedboats attacked them.

Spokesman for the NNS Pathfinder, Nigerian Navy, Lieutenant Ed Yeibo, who confirmed the clash, disclosed that the militants had earlier attacked three passenger-boats travelling to Bayelsa State.

He said the militants dispossessed the passengers of their valuables and also detained the captain of the boats.

According to him, the militants took the captains and managers of the waylaid boats to their camp near Bakana as hostages.

He said that the detained captains had been released and had headed back to Bayelsa State, emphasising that the Navy was poised to ensure safer waterways.

Items reportedly recovered from the militants included three AK-47 rifles, one falcon pump action rifle, one double barrelled gun, one axe and 65 rounds of ammunition.