Piqued by barrels of criticisms against operations in the Niger Delta, the Joint Military Taskforce, JTF, says it will not be provoked to declare war in the oil and gas rich region.

Making this known in a statement released yesterday, the head of media operation, Lt. Col. Timothy Antigha said it was disheartening to listen to the comments of those masquerading as stakeholders and initiators of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) on the activities of the JTF, especially by those he described as charlatans.

Commending the efforts of the likes of the Ex-militant leader, Boy loaf at ensuring peace in the region, the JTF said it remains resolute in its efforts to put an end to criminality in the region.

The statement reads in part, “the charlatans behind this campaign to discredit the JTF are those currently masquerading as “stakeholders” and “initiators of NGOs” to help Niger Deltans.

They have over the years hijacked an otherwise genuine struggle to feather their own nest. Consequently, the prospect of a quick end to the stand-off in the Niger Delta, employing a combination of military operation and dialogue where necessary, has opened a spectre of loss of revenue, relevance and reckoning, hence, the desperate attempt by these sponsors to sustain the militancy, even at the expense of the Niger Deltans that they claim to be “emancipating.

The JTF is aware that the current spate of denial of its achievement is part of larger plot to provoke a brutal crackdown which could lead to subversion of its personnel, especially those from the Niger Delta and ultimately undermine its cohesion as a fighting force.

The JTF will not fall victim of this cheap blackmail aimed at making it spill the blood of innocent Nigerians, just to prove any point. The JTF is aware that a handful of criminals and their sponsors are the ones hiding under anonymity of the cyber space to spread fear and falsehood. These few are the real enemies of the Niger Delta, not the JTF.

Meanwhile, JTF yesterday handed over to the Police nine suspects it said were arrested on different dates and days while committing crimes bordering on economic sabotage.

Speaking while handing over the suspects, the Bayelsa Sector Two Commander, Col. Victor Ezeugwu said some of the suspects were involved in bombing of Agip Flow Stations, while another group was arrested when a militant camp was invaded in Bayelsa State.

He said the hand over was for proper investigation and prosecutions by the police.

Responding, the State Commissioner of police, Aliyu Musa advised criminals to avoid the state as every machinery had been in place to checkmate them, saying that law-abiding citizens had nothing to fear as police and other law enforcement agents were capable of safeguarding their lives.