•Ex-MEND Commander, activists join forces with
govt
govt
•Groups, suspects spill the beans on Avengers
•Militant group causes stir, says it’s Ijaw, not N-
Delta struggle
Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, South-South,
Egufe Yafugborhi and Perez Brisibe
THERE is a sense of danger in militant camps in
the Niger Delta region over established report that
some security agencies had broken into militancy
enclave and using some militants as secret agents.
Saturday Vanguard gathered that a former
Commander of the defunct Movement for the
Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, is allegedly
one of the moles recruited to track down fugitive
ex-militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, alias
Tompolo, labeled a sponsor of the crisis despite
his denials. Some Niger Delta activists angry at the
devastation of oil and gas facilities by Niger Delta
Avengers, NDA, were also volunteering information
and spending their resources to trap the Avengers.
Investigation showed that militant groups have
grown panicky over the depth of information the
secret agents might have given out on their modus-
operandi and hideaways. Though Niger Delta
Avengers, last weekend, dismissed the arrest of
Christian Oluba, alias Sensor and Selky Kile
Torughedi, described as its members by the
Department of State Services, DSS, which seized
them, its spokesperson, self-styled Brig Gen
Mudoch Agbinibo, affirmed, “They are sleeper
agents of the DSS sent after the Niger Delta
Avengers.” He said: “The boys has (sic) the right to
demand for their money from DSS, why not pay
them instead of arresting and labeling them as
Niger Delta Avengers members.”
Denying any link with the boys and daring the DSS
to parade them before reporters and allow them tell
their story, the militant group warned: “DSS and
Nigeria Army cannot win the Niger Delta war by
feeding their President with false information about
situation of things in the Region. It is all-good
because as it seems the DSS is now having internal
crisis with most of their sleeper agents and it a
sign that God is on our side.” However, a
dependable source confirmed the claim by DSS that
one of the suspects, Selky Torughedi, also a former
MEND commander in Bayelsa state, is known to
Tompolo, adding: “But I am not saying that
Tompolo sent him, everybody knows that Tompolo
is on the run and Selky can take decisions for
himself.”
“If the DSS said they caught him while he was
finalizing plans to kill a serving military officer after
carrying out reconnaissance on his residence in
Kaduna, his previous relationship or closeness with
Tompolo should not be used to incriminate the
latter. Every man should be responsible for his
action,” he added.
Shocking foray
Information available to Saturday Vanguard indicated
that security agencies have made inroad in their
investigations into the operations of the militant
groups with the aid of volunteers and seized
suspects. Our source said a key suspect arrested
by men of the Nigeria Navy Ship, NNS Delta, Warri,
had let the cat out of the bag on the modus-
operandi of Niger Delta Avengers. “In fact, due to
the critical information he was releasing on the
operations of Avengers and how he led in some of
pipeline blowing escapades, they transferred him
from Warri to Abuja for him to be in safe custody
and there is likelihood of using him as prosecution
witness,” he hinted.
We made a ‘breakthrough arrest’- Commander,
NNS Delta
Contacted on the matter, Commander NNS Delta,
Commodore Raimi Mohammed, was wary of giving
out strategic information to the media: He simply
said: “It is true that following the breakthrough
arrest we made, this particular suspect has been
giving useful information.”
“That has enabled us make more arrest of
collaborators and it has been insightful, but that is
all we can say now. Your inquiry and hunch are
correct.” A Niger Delta leader privy to the arrest of
the suspect, said: “With his confessions so far, I do
not see any reason why the security agencies
should not arrest the sponsor of Niger Delta
Avengers. The boy vowed that he would never go
down alone and he knows that they would kill him if
he comes out, so he is talking as long as
government will not kill him.”
Since the arrest of the suspects, the militant groups
have tightened security around their camps. Some
of the militants involved in the current operations
no longer stay or visit their homes, while many
relocated their families before they ventured into the
creeks.
More deadly revelations
A group, Voice Delta, which acts as counter- force
to the Avengers, has also been critical against the
militant group. The group in a posting on its twitter
handle alleged that the brain behind Avengers
increased the number of his bodyguards in his
hideout as soon as news of arrests broke. It said:
“The news of the arrest of Christian Oluba alias
Sensor, by the DSS did not come to us as a
surprise because our intel (intelligence) saw to
this.” The group had released critical information on
the plan of the Avengers, movement of arms and
ammunition and structure of the militant group.
Although the Avengers denied the killing of two
soldiers and civilians in the houseboat attack, last
month, the Voice Delta insisted it was its handiwork
and named the militant that led the operation. The
activities of the security agencies and informants
collaborating with them have created so much panic
among militants and their sponsors.
Avengers bitter with Oshimohole, Ateke Tom,
Boyloaf, Emami
According to our findings, the Avengers already
know that many of the ex-militant leaders and
activists, including Ateke Tom, Ebikabowei Ben, aka
Boyloaf, were against them. Strangely, on June 18, it
dragged the Edo state governor, Comrade Adams
Oshiomhole into the fray. It said: “The high
command of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA)
condemn in strong term the continuous efforts of
Mr Ebikabowei Ben (Boyloaf), Ayiri Emami, Timipre
Silva, Adams Oshiomhole and their paymasters to
link and catch-in (sic) our activities to promote their
political MEND…”
“The people of the Niger Delta knows (sic) that the
likes of Timipre Silva, Boyloaf and Ayiri Emami are
professional conflict merchants in the region. The
only surprised (sic) entry is the outgoing Governor
of Edo state Adams Oshiomhole, which reason is
not far fetch, as such he wants some assistance
and machineries from the criminal elements of the
defunct MEND,” it said.
Discomforting proclamation
What has given the Avengers and other so-called
militant groups credence was the belief that they
were fighting for the liberation of Niger Delta, which
other ethnic nationalities disagreed with. But, as if
letting the cat out of the bag, one of the Ijaw
militant groups, Reformed Egbesu Boys of Niger-
Delta, during the week, put the speculation beyond
doubt, during the week, when it said: “We wish to
state that the current crisis is purely and truly an
Ijaw self determination quest involving grievous
issues, which predate the current administration.”
General Officer Commanding, GOC of the group,
self-appointed General Tony Alagbakereowei and
others, in a statement, asserted: “As a matter of
fact, we wish to state that the crisis is centered on
Ijaw communities in the western flank and central
axis, including Gbaramatu communities in Warri
South West local government…”
“Parts of Ogbe Ijoh communities Warri South West
local government; parts of Egbema in Warri North
local government; and Ogulagha kingdom (Forcados
Terminal) in Burutu local government. Others are
Brass and Nembe Ijaw communities in Bayelsa
State. These are exclusive Ijaw territorial
communities and boundaries within the Federal
Republic of Nigeria,” the militant group revealed.
It added: “In this connection, we wish to state that
any other group or group of persons outside these
properly identified Ijaw areas masquerading as
negotiators (mediators in the planned negotiation
with government) are only deceiving themselves and
the Federal government.” “In this wise, we wish to
alert the Federal government, particularly the
Minister of Defence, the Secretary to the
Government of the Federation, Minister of State for
Petroleum Resources and the Director General, State
Security Services, that the purported MEND
negotiators are not known to the Ijaw nation and
they do not have our mandate in this subject
matter.
“In fact, the so- called Niger Delta is synonymous
with the Ijaw nation- the historical and traditional
home of the Ijaws in Nigeria and the Diaspora.
This does not exclude the fact that there are other
minor ethnic groupings, but we have always played
the role of big brother to them,” it said. The militant
group declared: “Consequently, we will not allow
meddlesome interlopers and our traditional
antagonists, who have always constituted cogs in
the wheel of progress to the Ijaw nation to take
credit for our sorrow, tears and blood.” The group
asserted: “The Federal Government allowed
miscreants and meddlesome interlopers seeking
relevance in Abuja to gain pipeline contracts and
appointments to deceive key actors of the
government.”
Itsekiri group spits fire
Reacting to the declaration, the Niger Delta
Movement for Socio Economy Inclusion, NDMSEI,
an Itsekiri group, screamed: “You can see that the
Egbesu Boys of Niger Delta have confirmed our
earlier position that the struggle is not meant for
other ethnic nationalities in the state.”
In a joint statement by its president and secretary,
Oki Ajogun and Inama Ejukokoh respectively, it
said: “We call on every other ethnic nationality in
the Niger Delta region, to as a matter of urgency,
come together and discuss this criminal and selfish
struggle by the Ijaw, which has been stated clearly.
That is why other ethnic nationalities are not part of
it”. “We should be able to ask ourselves why the
Ijaw come to bomb pipelines in our areas since the
struggle is for themselves alone. We are also
calling on the Federal government to put up a
structure to guide and protect the lives and
properties of other ethnic nationalities in the region.
