The Nigerian military on
Wednesday announced it will
launch a series of tactical
drills in Enugu from weekend,
days after threatening the use
of force in neighbouring Niger
Delta where militants have
attacked oil and gas
installations for monthin
Wednesday announced it will
launch a series of tactical
drills in Enugu from weekend,
days after threatening the use
of force in neighbouring Niger
Delta where militants have
attacked oil and gas
installations for monthin
The announcement for the
drills, codenamed “Operation
Crocodile Tears”, came about
48 hours after the Chief of
Army Staff, Tukur Buratai,
warned that the military
would resort to force if talks
with the militants failed.
Mr. Buratai’s warning in Port
Harcourt on Monday was
denounced by a bloc of
militant groups in the region:
the Movement for the
Emancipation of the Niger
Delta, MEND.
Governor Seriake Dickson of
Bayelsa State also deplored
the threat of military action,
saying it would not resolve the
crisis. He urged sustained
dialogue.
“The Nigerian Army will from
this weekend commence
another training exercise code
named ‘EXERCISE CROCODILE
SMILE’ in 82 Division and part
of 2 Division areas of
responsibility traversing the
South-South geo-political
region,” the army announced
on Facebook and Twitter on
Wednesday.
“The aim of the exercise is to
practice our Special Forces
and other units of the
Nigerian Army in Amphibious
and Internal Security
Operations in riverine
environment and also check
criminal activities like
kidnapping, militancy and
piracy and other forms of
criminal activities in support
of the civil authority.
“The general public is please
requested not to panic on the
sight of unusual movement of
large number of troops, heavy
military weapons and
equipment in these areas.”
A source in Makurdi, the
Benue State capital, told PREMIUM TIMES
on Wednesday of massive movement of
troops and equipment towards the south
east and south south region.
The source, who pleaded not to be named
because he was not authorized to speak
on the issue, said troops and equipment
were moved through Benue State to
Enugu on the way to the oil-rich region.
“We have seen several trucks conveying
soldiers and military hardware through
Makurdi towards Enugu State and we
suspect that they are being deployed to
the Niger Delta region,” the source told
this newspaper.
“It was not possible to count the number
of truck that passed through Makurdi but
we are afraid of what could happen if
they are unleashed on harmless villages
and settlements in the Niger Delta region.
“We don’t want what happened in Odi
and Zaki Biam during President Olusegun
Obasanjo to happen again because most
of those who were killed were innocent
people.”
The director of Defence Information, Rabe
Abubarkar, and his counterpart for the
army, Sani Usman, did not respond to
PREMIUM TIMES’ request for comments.
President Muhammadu Buhari had last
week said his administration was talking
with Niger Delta militants through oil
companies and law-enforcement agencies
to find a lasting solution to insecurity in
the region.
But while speaking through the General
Officer Commanding 82 Division of the
Nigerian Army Enugu, Ibrahim Atahiru,
the army chief, Mr. Buratai, said the
government was still committed to
dialogue but could resort to other means
if dialogue failed.
“Government is still committed to
dialogue and whereby this cannot go on,
then, there could be resort to other
means. The non-kinetic (force) means has
always been the source first before
government can make recourse to the
kinetic means.
“So, there is need for the Niger Delta
Avengers to see reason and engage in
dialogue with government,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment