JTF hands over nine suspected pipeline vandals to Bayelsa Police
By Samuel Oyadongha
Yenagoa—The Joint Task Force, has handed over to the Police in Bayelsa State, nine suspected pipeline vandals, arrested in the wake of its recent operation in the creek for further investigation and prosecution.
The task force also reiterated its commitment to its mandate of restoring peace to the Niger Delta and stemming the resurgence of militancy in the region.
Sector 2 Commander of the JTF, Col Victor Ezugwu, said the suspects were nabbed at different locations in the state in connection with the attack on Nigerian Agip Oil Company facilities in Yenagoa, Southern Ijaw and Brass Local Government Areas of the state.
The suspects, whose identities were given as Olukoga Ezekiel, Kenneth Dike Don, Godknows Oruma, were alleged among other things to be responsible for the blast of the Tebidaba-Brass flow station, NAOC pipeline at Gbarain and Foropa.
While admitting responsibilities for the various allegations brought against them, the suspects, according to the JTF Commander, said their action was hinged on what they described as breach of contractual agreement.
However, one of the suspects, Don, said he was under duress and that was why he claimed responsibility for the action.
Don said he was not the actual culprit but that his boys, who are now at large carried out the dastardly act.
He claimed he was employed as pipeline surveillance officer by NAOC, but that the company later revoked the contract and gave it out to the same set of people, who vandalized its facilities and was surprised that his name was mentioned.
Faulting the argument of the suspected vandals, the JTF commander said they have owned up to the various crimes committed, prompting the security outfit to hand them over to the police for prosecution.
The JTF Sector Commander noted that during their arrests 2 AK47, GT rifles and other ammunition were recovered from them.
He commended the efforts of the community vigilante group and pipeline contractors in ensuring the arrest of Gbarain_Ubie pipeline vandals.
Receiving the suspects, the State Commissioner of Police, Aliyu Musa declared the state as no go area for criminals and called on the community youths to desist from criminality.
“Bayelsa is a little bit crime free for now. We are working towards achieving zero tolerance for crime. Amnesty is already over. Anyone caught indulging in any form of criminality will be dealt with in accordance with the law,” he warned.
