MEND Claims Killing 12 Policemen In Bayelsa …As Defence Hqtrs Reacts

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the main rebel group in the area, has claimed responsibility for the killing of 12 security personnel in an attack in the southern oil-producing Bayelsa State.

Two rebels also died in last Saturday’s gunfight, which lasted for more than 40 minutes at a river in the Azuzuama area in  Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, MEND spokesman Jomo Gbomo said in an e-mailed statement last Saturday.

The attack comes after the  Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta warned on April 3 they would resume their operations on April 5 after its suspected leader, Henry Okah, was sentenced to 24 years in prison in South Africa.

“All oil companies and the public are advised to ignore the false sense of security,” portrayed by the security agencies, Gbomo said. “We remain resolute in our resumption of hostilities.”

The rebel group will start to carry out “a plague of attacks,” Gbomo said last week. “The attacks will be sustained until an unreserved apology is offered to MEND and the Nigerian government shows their willingness for dialogue.”

Meanwhile, the Defence Headquarters in Abuja has put all the five sectors of the Joint Task Force operating in the nine states of the Niger Delta on the alert following last Friday night’s attack on a convoy to Azuzuama in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State for a funeral service of an ex-militant leader’s mother.

The Director of Defence Information, Brig. Chris Olukolade, said the DHQ was monitoring developments and had issued directives to security forces to maintain the peace in the area.

He said, “The DHQ is keenly monitoring and directing the activities of forces operating there to forestall any breach to security in that region.

“At the moment, the five sectors of the JTF covering the nine states in the region are on high alert.

“Maritime and air assets of the force have also been  mobilised and  patrols intensified both on land and water ways. The area is being effectively dominated to checkmate    any assailant.

“No form of lawlessness will be allowed to jeopardise the peace in the region. All peace loving citizens in Niger Delta are encouraged to dissociate themselves, their communities and leadership from any gang intending to disturb peace.”

The Bayelsa State  Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kingsley Omire has described the slain policemen as soft targets.

Omire, who was in a pensive mood yesterday while addressing journalists at the command’s headquarters, Yenagoa, said the boat conveying the policemen to the venue of the burial developed a fault midway into the journey.

Describing the incident as unfortunate, he said the attack had nothing to do with the threats issued by MEND.

According to him, intelligence reports showed that disgruntled elements within the fold of the ex-militant leader were the brains behind the dastardly act.

He confirmed armed attacks on police convoy by gunmen that led to the death of 12 police officers.

Omire said the corpses of the victims were yet to be recovered, and could be regarded as missing pending the outcome of ongoing search and rescue operation in the area where the incident occurred.

He admitted that the attack was launched by aggrieved ex-militants.

He named those who were missing as two inspectors, four non-commission officers, and six constables adding that a search-and-rescue operation had been intensified by divers.

According to him, “15 policemen set out on the assignment to Azuzuama; on their way, one of the boats developed engine problems. A Joint Military Task Force gun boat was moving ahead of them

“They were isolated and became soft target. Intelligence report have shown that those involved in the armed attack were hoodlums within an ex-militant group that were supposed to be enjoying amnesty”.

He stressed that the 12 declared missing were among the 15 policemen deployed to Azuzuama community, saying that high-powered investigation team headed by an Assistant Commissioner of Police, Tuesday Asayamor has been constituted to investigate the incident.

A South African court sentenced Okah to 24 years in jail after he was found guilty of 13 counts of terrorism, including a bombing that killed 12 people in the capital, Abuja, on Oct. 1, 2010. MEND claimed the attack. While Okah denies he leads the group, he has said he commands the support of many armed factions in Nigeria’s oil region.

Attacks including kidnappings and bombing of oil installations by groups including MEND cut more than 28 percent of Nigeria’s oil output between 2006 and 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The violence declined after thousands of fighters accepted a government amnesty offer in 2009 and disarmed.

Hague-based Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA), Irving, Texas-based ExxonMobil Corporatio, Chevron Corporation of San Ramon, California, Total SA of France and Eni SpA of Italy run joint ventures with state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation that pump most of the country’s oil.

The West African nation was the eighth-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries last month, with output at about 1.8 million barrels a day, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, fear has enveloped the Niger Delta region after unknown gunmen killed at least 12 policemen in Bayelsa State on Friday night, the day the Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta threatened to resume hostilities in the country.

Our correspondent gathered that the victims were deployed by the state police command to provide security for the funeral of the late mother of an ex-militant leader, Mr. Kile Torughedi, popularly known as Young Shall Grow.

It was learnt that Torughedi who was the commander of the South Wing of MEND from 2002 till 2009 when he embraced the amnesty for repentant militants is currently serving as the Senior Special Adviser to Governor Seriake Dickson on Marine Waterways Security.

The policemen were said to be escorting dignitaries to the wake of the deceased when gunmen attacked them.

It was learnt that 15 policemen were hired to lead the convoy of boats heading for Azuzuama in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state for the wake when the gunmen suspected to be militants reportedly ambushed them.

They were said to have been thrown off balance when the bandits opened fire on them around 9pm. A senior police officer told our correspondent that 12 of the policemen who were travelling on the same boat were killed while three dived into the water to escape the attack.

The police officer who pleaded anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter insisted that only 12 policemen died in the attack.

Another security source gave a different version of how the policemen were killed saying that their boat developed a fault at the point where the gunmen attacked them.

Our correspondent gathered that the shooting that killed the policemen lasted for over 20 minutes forcing panic-stricken guests to suspend the journey.

Rivers State Governor, Rt Hon Chibuike Amaechi (middle) receiving the Vanguard Personality of the Year Award, 2012 from former Military President, Gen Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) (left)in Lagos ast Saturday. With them is publisher of Vanguard Newspaper, Chief Sam Amuka.