By Emma Amaize
WARRI—A new militia organization, under the aegis of Niger Delta Liberation Force, NDLF, yesterday, dared the Joint Task Force, JTF, on the Niger Delta  over its plan to level down all militant camps in the Niger Delta.

The group, led by an ex-militant leader, ‘General’ John Togo declared a fresh oil war with a vow to cripple oil facilities. It also said its fighters would operate on both land and sea.

General' John Togo

For the avoidance of doubt, the group, which has nine former leaders of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, in its fold, in a statement by its spokesman, ‘Captain’ Mark Anthony, said its activities had nothing to do with MEND, adding that it was   inaugurated to reposition the Niger Delta struggle for justice, equity and fairness.

It described the post-amnesty programme as a sham, saying the good intention of late President Umaru Yar’Adua has been hijacked by fellow Niger Deltans for selfish interests.

Its  words, “We therefore, declare that we are no longer part of the fraudulent amnesty which is full of deceit and betrayal. We have recruited and trained fresh able-bodied fighters across the Niger Delta States to execute our mission.

This time, we will operate on both land and sea and we urge all foreign diplomatic missions to call their nationals in Niger Delta multinationals to vacate the Niger Delta region immediately as we cannot guarantee their safety.

“Our fight is not about security personnel. It is primarily tagged second phase of an oil war with oil installations as our targets. Soldiers of the JTF should stay away from oil well heads and our operations as we may appear more violent than our earlier first phase of oil war.”

According to the group, “Precisely 4th October 2009 was the deadline from Federal Government for Niger Delta armed agitators to surrender arms to enable them develop the over 50 years neglected and marginalized Niger Delta oil bearing communities. We accepted Federal Government’s amnesty under duress.”