Tag Archives: Militant

Suspected Militant who planned to bomb 3rd Mainland Bridge arrested.

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While residents across Lagos were celebrating the festive season, little did they know that militants in the Lagos and Ogun creeks were plotting to bomb Third Mainland Bridge – one of the longest bridges in Africa.

Security operatives arrested one of the leaders of a notorious militant group operating in Ikorodu and Arepo areas of Lagos and Ogun states on November, 2, 2016. The suspect, Abiodun Amos also known by his moniker as Senti was arrested by operatives of the Inspector General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team, IRT, at a river bank in Majidun, Ikorodu.

Upon his arrest, the suspect confessed that his group planned to bomb the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos on Boxing Day, December 26, 2016, because the Federal Government failed to consider its members for amnesty.

What was also shocking during his confession was that he claimed his militant group had planned to bomb the bridge towards end of November 2016 before the Special Intelligence Response Team of the Police frustrated the group’s efforts.

One of the items found with the suspect
One of the items found with the suspect

Speaking when paraded by security operatives, the suspect said “if we don’t blow up the Third Mainland Bridge, government will not listen to us. We had concluded plans to carry out the attack by November ending. ‘’I am the group’s explosives expert and before I was arrested we were going into the creeks to conclude plans on how to carry out the attack.”

He added that “we went into bank robberies and kidnapping because we wanted to get government’s attention and all we wanted was for them to grant us amnesty and also offer us pipeline protection contract. We have made several appeals but government is not listening to us.”

The Police said that two AK-47 rifles hidden inside a bag, detonators, and two additional cartons of explosives with the words Gelatine Dynamite inscribed on them were found in a saloon car driven by a member of the gang who escaped upon sighting the Police on his trail.

Confirming the development, Force Public Relations Officer, Don Awunah, a Deputy Commissioner of Police said “on sighting the policemen, the second suspect jumped out of his car and escaped into the bush, abandoning the operational vehicle. After searching the vehicle, two cartons of Gelatine dynamite explosives and hundreds of detonators were recovered in the boot of the car. Efforts to arrest the remaining gang members are in progress.”

Rivers election: Former militant leader, Ateke Tom, preaches peace.

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An ex-militant leader in Rivers, Chief Ateke Tom, has called on the people of the state to be peaceful during the December 10 re-run elections in some parts of the state.

Tom, who made the call in Port Harcourt on Monday while fielding questions from newsmen, said that peace remained crucial for a successful re-run elections in the state.

He said that it was undemocratic for political parties to promote issues capable of igniting crisis, adding, “politics should not be a do or die affair”.

Tom, a former leader of the Niger Delta Vigilante, called on youth in the state not to be lured into indulging in violence for whatever reason.

He said that it was more beneficial to encourage peace because violence was capable of making people to shy away from exercising their franchise.

He said, “Parties should be free to hold their campaigns anywhere in the state without fear or favour.

“I am ready to support the holding of party campaigns even in my bedroom, in my village too, every party is welcome.”

Tom further called on the security agencies to be very thorough in their responsibilities so that criminals would have no hiding place in the state.

It would be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission fixed December 10 for re-run elections into some State and National Assembly positions in the state.

‘You Cannot Win Oil War,’ Militants Tell Buhari

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Militant group, Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to embrace peace as a means of solving the crisis in the volatile region.

 

The group also accused the Federal Government of plotting a predetermined genocide against the people of the Niger Delta through the recently launched “Operation Crocodile Smile”.

 

NDA made the comments via a statement released by spokesman, Mudoch Agbinibo on Monday, August 29, 2016.

 

The statement reads:

“We call on President Muhammadu Buhari to put away the garb of a stooge to the imperialists, whenever he speaks outside Nigeria. We have listened carefully and halted hostilities in the Niger Delta.

 

We expect a genuine and positive attitude to restructuring and self-determination for every component unit of Nigeria. Dear president, what makes those countries (Japan, Germany, France, USA, Britain etc.) great is the ability of their governments to accommodate internal protestations and conflicts for the greater good of their nations over the years.

 

Nigeria is not a one-man personal property. We must have these talks every time if this union must continue to work as one. The people of the Niger Delta have been living here from time immemorial, so we have the secret of the terrain and survival of amphibious operations.

 

No amount of troop surge and simulation exercises will make you win the oil war; you can only win battles. You cannot apply the might of the state to restore the people’s confidence in your leadership when you cannot differentiate between genuine demands and being mismanaged by disorganised characters and tribal lords around you in your government that are playing the court jesters’ role as well as counting the days that is left in your four years term.

 

You can deceive the whole world but we cannot be deceived by the so glamorized ongoing military operations in the creeks of Ijaw communities in the Delta coded “ Operation Crocodile Smiles”… the world should know that with your pronouncement in Kenya and your attitude to the military build-up in the Niger Delta, it is crystal clear that the military has nothing less than a pre-determined genocide in Niger Delta and burn more already scared national resources to the pockets of those that have failed to locate the missing Chibok School Girls.

 

“Please also tell those foreign nations that your troops are about carrying out extrajudicial killings in the Niger Delta in violation of Article Four of the Geneva Convention with “OPERATION CROCODILE SMILE”. All sane minds know the meaning of “CROCRODILE TEARS” so by code-naming your military operation CROCODILE SMILES only betrays your motives and attitude to the whole world about the Niger Delta question.”

The militant group had earlier distanced itself from supposed negotiations led by Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka.

Troops Raid Bunkerer, Militant Camps In Delta

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Troops of 4 Brigade of the Nigerian Army have raided a suspected oil bunker and militant camps at Afiagbene in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta but nobody was found.

Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, said in a statement on Tuesday that the troops carried the raid in collaboration with the Navy.

Usman said the raid was part of the field training exercise on the day 4 of the ongoing operation nicknamed: “Operation Crocodile Smile” in the Niger Delta.He said the troops, however, recovered two generators, one locally made double barrel gun, one dane gun, three live cartridges and two pumping machines.

Others, he said, were one 32 inches LG television, one Kenwood amplifier and 4 X 50 litres of a liquid suspected to be crude oil at Ayakoromo junction.

Credit: NAN

New Niger Delta Militant Group Emerges, Issues 7-day Ultimatum

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The Federal Government now has a new group of militants to contend with, following the emergence of the Red Egbesu Water Lions, which has vowed to team up with the Niger Delta Avengers in ensuring zero production of oil and gas in the region.

But it wasn’t clear as at Wednesday whether it was a resurrection of the Egbesu Mightier Fraternity Of Izon (Ijaw) Land and The Water Lion, a group which became prominent five years ago when its members threatened to eject people of northern origin from the region when the Boko Haram sect started attacking Christians in the North-East.

In a statement by its Creek Network Coordinator, “General” Torunanawei Latei, on Wednesday, the new militant group vowed to work with the Niger Delta Avengers and Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, to ensure that all their demands were met in the next seven days.

Among others, the group demanded the immediate release of Nnamdi Kanu, the IPOB leader and the discharge of former National Security Adviser, NSA, Sambo Dasuki from prison custody.

It also urged President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately direct the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to defreeze the bank accounts of ex-militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo.

The Red Egbesu Water Lions, said to be an Ijaw group, threatened to shut down all oil exploration activities in the Niger Delta at the expiration of the ultimatum if the president ignores the group’s demands.

As part of its requests which must be met in the next one week, the group called for the “unconditional and immediate payment to victims of the Bonga Oil Spill and Chevron gas explosion in Koluama, Bayelsa state”.

While decrying the alleged lawlessness of the Buhari-led federal government, the Ijaw group argued that the government was becoming notorious for deliberate disobedience to court orders.

Credit: Thisday

ISIS Militant Reportedly Executed His Own Mother

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An Islamic State militant executed his mother in public in the Syrian city of Raqqa because she had encouraged him to leave the group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Friday.

The woman in her 40s had warned her son that a U.S.-backed alliance would wipe out Islamic State and had encouraged him to leave the city with her.

She was detained after he informed the group of her comments, according to the British-based Observatory, which monitors the war through a network of sources on the ground.

Citing local sources, the Observatory said the 20-year-old man executed his mother on Wednesday near the post office building where she worked in front of hundreds of people in Raqqa, a main base of operations for the group in Syria.

Credit: HuffingtonPost