Presidential Research & Communications Unit - National Security & Intelligence

The Nigerian Armed Forces has said it will henceforth respond promptly to any criminal acts by militants in the Niger Delta.

The Director of Defence Information, Colonel Christopher Jemitola announced on Monday May 18 at a news briefing on the recent loss of lives in the region explained that the decision to go after the militant groups in the area was to safeguard the lives and properties of people living in the region.

“What we have observed is the deliberate and repeated unprovoked attacks on members of the Joint Task Force [JTF], the sabotage of oil and gas facilities, the kidnapping for ransom of people and the killing of innocent members of society including children, clergymen and old citizens.

“We have also seen the kidnapping and harassment of site workers and contractors. These are all acts of criminality that cannot be condoned by any government and no responsible military leadership will fold its arms and watch its personnel attacked and killed while on official assignment by any criminal gangs.

“Hence the military was left with no choice than to go after these criminals in order to bring them to book.

“No community was razed down in this process and collateral damage was kept to the barest minimum. Law-abiding citizens have nothing to fear and only these criminal gangs are being hunted down”.

Colonel Jemitola assured that the operations will not affect law-abiding citizens.

Last week, the JTF recovered a large cache of illegal arms and ammunition from the gangs terrorizing the Niger Delta region.

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has done much to promote the legitimate interests of the long-neglected Niger Delta region from where the country’s oil resources are tapped but the activities of bandits and criminal gangs have prevented a peaceful resolution of the crisis and prevented contractors from mobilizing to site to develop the region.