By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, South-South, Egufe Yafugborshi, Akpokona Omafuaire & Perez Brisibe

ON Thursday, May 5, militants bragged about how their strike team 4, at 22.00 hours,    blew up the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC crude line, which feeds Warri and Kaduna Refineries and the gas line that supplies electricity to Lagos and Abuja in Delta state, among others.

Evidently mocking the Joint Task Force, JTF in the Niger Delta, spokesperson of Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, a militant group that devastated the oil installations, Col Mudoch Agbinibo, said: “Located some 100meters away from the blast of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipeline is a military houseboat stationed there, to protect the oil pipelines.”

“But we want you public to know that despite the heavy presence of military operatives,    our activities can’t be stopped and it is just waste of fund and time to let the Nigeria military protect oil installations,” the militants added. The big-headed statement noticeably irked the authorities as a miffed President Muhammadu Buhari gave orders to the security agencies to crush the rampaging militants barely 24 hours after.

It was not, therefore, surprising when JTF operatives arrested five ‘suspects” found lurking around after a pipeline belonging to Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL, was blown afresh by suspected militants at Makaraba community, Gbaramatu clan, Warri South-West local government area, last Friday, May 13.

Three days after, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) in a statement by Spokesperson of the Army, Brigadier-General Rabe Abubakar, confirmed the arrest of suspected members of the resurgent militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) who were allegedly responsible for the attacks on oil pipelines. It was like a celebration for the military.

However, the joy was short-lived, as enraged Gbaramatu leaders and groups punctured the claim and modus operandi of JTF personnel, who previously invaded Oporoza, the traditional headquarters of the kingdom and later Kokodiagbene.

Emergence of Red Egbesu Water Lions

Indeed, the unease between the communities and the military, as well as the materialization of a new militant group, Red Egbesu Water Lions, which, Wednesday, vowed to join forces with the Niger Delta Avengers, has increased tension in the region. The new militant group in a statement by its Creek Network Coordinator, “General” Torunanawei Latei, said it was teaming up with the Niger Delta Avengers and Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.

“It issued the Federal Government a seven-day ultimatum to release Nnamdi Kanu, former National Security Adviser, NSA, Sambo Dasuki and direct EFCC to defreeze the bank accounts of ex-militant leader, Government Ekpemupol, alias Tompolo, Threatening to shut down all oil exploration activities in the Niger Delta at the expiration of the ultimatum, the group also demanded “unconditional immediate payment to victims of the Bonga Oil Spill and Chevron gas explosion in Koluama, Bayelsa state.”

“It is extremely important to note that the engine room of the national interest is the executive obedience to court orders, protection and preservation of citizens’ constitutional liberties. Justification of executive disobedience to court orders as a protection of national interest is abominable.

“This is a deliberate ploy to bend the law and suspend the 1999 Constitution. We ask, does President Muhammadu Buhari have any legal capacity to declare anyone a criminal? Disobedience to court orders is an act of executive rascality in the country,” the group added.

Gbenekama’ s fury 

First to fly into a rage was the Bebemowei (Chief Mobilizer) of Gbaramatu kingdom, Chief Godspower Gbenkama, who decried the invasion of Oporoza twice in seven days by armed soldiers, who he accused of preparing the stage to raze the community, maim and kill people like they did in 2009 under the pretext of looking for militants.

He insisted that Oporoza and Gbaramatu people had nothing to do with Niger Delta Avengers and urged the military to verify its sources of information before using such information to hunt innocent people. Querying how the Niger Delta Avengers  gained access to vandalize pipelines, which were  a distance of about 100 metres from where    Army, Navy, Police    had their locations, he said, “I think the military may  have compromised.”

Calling for the release of the five workers, who he gave their names as Samuel Emiko, Alfred Timedi, Itsekiri and Isaac Edinde, Henry Arogboritse and Kelvin Mordi (Ijaw), saying they were on surveillance patrol when the soldiers picked them up.

Gbenekama asserted that the Itsekiri Regional Development Council and Ijaw Regional Development Council, both community development platforms set up by Chevron should take up the matter as the workers were working under a pipeline surveillance arrangement known to them and the Chevron contractor, who hired them.

The Ijaw leader, who condemned the activities of the Niger Delta Avengers, said: “We  don’t know them and we don’t know where they come from,” adding: “The military should leave Oporoza and Gbaramatu alone, they should take their search elsewhere because we know they are looking for excuse to attack our people at the slightest provocation.”

He accused a Niger Delta activist and Itsekiri leader, Chief Ayiri Emami, who fingered ex-militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo of sponsoring the bombings by Niger Delta Avengers of feeding the military with misleading information about Tompolo and Gbaramatu kingdom.

Tompolo sneers at Ayiri Emami

Tompolo himself, in an open advertorial few days ago, asserted: “I am greatly touched and disappointed with the manner the Nigerian Government and the military are being arm-twisted by the unfounded claims of Ayiri Emami and others that I am behind the Niger Delta Avengers group when there is no single proof to back the claim.”

However, Chief Emami, who also spoke to Saturday Vanguard, said he was not deterred by Tompolo’s outburst, saying” “What I am saying is right and I mean it when I say that I am ready to support the government to stop those bombing pipelines in my area.”

‘Masked men led JTF to Kokodiagbene’

While Oporoza people are enraged over the invasion of their community by soldiers, who discovered nothing implicating, JTF operatives, according to the chairman of Kokodiabene community, Comrade Sheriff Mulade, stormed the community, last weekend, molesting villagers and breaking doors.

He said:    “Information at our disposal is that the JTF was led to the community by two masked men from Koko, an Itsekiri enclave, who are non-indigenes of the area. We want to warn that the military should not try to rekindle the Warri inter-ethnic conflagration as the wound of the carnage was still fresh in the memories of the people.”

Mulade asserted: “We condemn strongly the invasion of Kokodiagbene on Saturday by the JTF.  They beat up some villagers, while others were harassed. This is uncalled for, at the end of the day, they found nothing incriminating in the community. They entered people’s houses by force, destroyed their properties and yet no single arm was recovered. We advise the military to do its homework thoroughly before invading any community.”

‘’We believe that the military should rely more on intelligence to do its work rather than resorting to the brute force, which they have been adopting over the years. We are law-abiding people. Now, we are living under terror. Fear of attacks from the Avengers and harassment, and intimidation from the army,” he added.

“We therefore call on the federal government to call the army to order. Our fundamental human rights have been infringed upon,” he said.

Host communities issue Cheveron ultimatum

Four days ago, seven Gbaramatu-Ijaw  host communities to  Chevron, gave the multinational oil company a 72-hour to ensure the release of five pipeline surveillance workers branded as militants by soldiers, accusing it of lethargy over the matter.

Spokesperson of the aggrieved communities, Comrade Mulade, said: “It is pertinent to state that we are no longer safe in the hands of security agents going by the constant harassment of our people.   We have handed a 72-hour ultimatum to Chevron to ensure the release of those arrested oil workers and if they fail to do this, we will withdraw all our services from all the oil companies including, Shell, Chevron, NPDC and Neconde.”

‘’We are not Niger Delta Avengers, we are law abiding citizens of Nigeria and those workers were doing their legitimate work when the JTF pounced on them and arrested them, thereafter proclaiming to the world that they have arrested Avengers. They should adopt more of intelligence in doing their work otherwise, they would end up killing innocent people in the communities,” he said.

Mulade continued: “Contrary to the reports, the five alleged militants were actually contract workers for the American oil giants, inspecting earlier bombed pipelines ahead of the visit of the Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) team to inspect the extent of damage when the military troops swooped on them”.

“The workers were with their identification cards and were ferried to the site in Chevron’s boat, adding that their explanations that they were sent for inspection fell on deaf ears as they were taken to the military base at Koko and locked up,” he added.

Security expert faults FG

There is outrage in the kingdom, particularly over the invasion of Gbaramatu communities and arrest of the five workers by soldiers in search of militants. While Tompolo said from his hiding that the siege to Gbaramatu and hunt for him would not yield the desired result, a security expert and managing director of FBI Securities, Shola Mese, advised government to suspend the manhunt for Tompolo and ask those claiming to know the whereabouts of Niger Delta Avengers to keep quiet.

“It is shame that the federal government is treating the challenge in the creeks as a war situation. Those blowing up facilities are probably not more than 20, at most 30. From their utterances and actions, they are not in any mood to do any battle with the army, they are not Boko Haram whose clear mandate is to waste human lives, including fighting the military.”

“Their claimed objective matched against their modus operandi is to destroy the facilities to gain government attention for some covert economic benefit. It is a familiar script and the answer to that cannot be the drafting in of the military to create a war situation, which will come with untold collateral damage.

Practical solution

According to Mese, “A workable solution would be to employ dialogue for genuine disarmament of this group of persons, disabuse their minds from the violence and gainfully engage them in lawful economic activities for a living.”

“That would take some planning, skills and resources to achieve, but by far more cost effective and absolutely not destructive like the option of war against the insurgents. More importantly, executing this task must not be another opportunity to appease politicians.

“Neither should the military be the lead facilitator. Core professions in security and conflict management should be engaged to run the project in partnership with security operatives. Besides Mese, several groups, including the Ijaw People Development Initiative, IPDI, National Association of Gbaramatu Students, Gbaramatu Political Forum and Kunukunuma community have criticized the siege to the kingdom by soldiers.

Chevron moves to avert repercussion

On its part, top management officials of Chevron met with the families of the surveillance workers on Wednesday in Warri to avert a backlash following the 72-hour ultimatum given it by seven Gbaramatu host communities to secure their release from the army.

Speaking to Saturday    Vanguard on phone immediately after the meeting, a relative of one of the arrested persons allegedly harassed by soldiers when he went to the 19th  Battalion, Nigerian Army, Koko, to visit his brother, said Chevron assured that it was handling the matter at a high level.

“They told us not to worry that the company was handling the matter. I had earlier tried visiting my brother at 19th  Battalion, Koko, where I was molested and detained for some hours at the military guard room on allegation of conspiring with my brother to attack oil installations.

“Though I was later released, I could not see my brother and was reliably informed that they have been transferred from Koko to Asaba for further interrogation,” he said. He    asserted: “We threatened to take up the matter legally, but Chevron appealed to us not to, as they are on top of the situation, hence today’s (yesterday) meeting.”

‘Suspects’ seized while on lawful duty= Contractor   

Meanwhile, the Chevron contractor, who the ‘suspects’ work for, Gabriel Emiko, has given account of how soldiers arrested the workers. He told Saturday Vanguard on phone, “Following the explosion on the pipeline, the Chevron Single Sign-On, SSO under Utunana sent the boys to identify the spot on the platform that was attacked.”

“The boys went there in a boat with a Chevron flag and logo, when they were apprehended by a team of JTF officials in a gunboat, who accused them of being the brains behind the attack,” he added.

Volte-face

Spokesperson of JTF, Col Isa Ado, has not been forthcoming on inquiries on the latest operations of the task force in the creeks of Delta state despite calls to his cell phone.

However, the army appeared to have made a u-turn, as our sources said the military quietly handed over the five ‘suspects’ to the police , during the week, ostensibly to deflate the  outburst. However, there was confusion, as one source said they handed then over to the police in Asaba, another said they handed over to the police in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state. Yet, other informants said they took them to the headquarters of the task force in Yenagoa.

However, the five ‘suspects’ were released on Wednesday night and asked to report back  next Wednesday. The military had moved them from the creeks to the 19th  Battalion, Nigerian Army, Koko, last Saturday, and continued grilling them until public opinion against the arrest forced it to beat a calculated retreat. Chief Gbenekama confirmed to Saturday Vanguard on Thursday that they had been released and thanked the press for the battle.