By Samuel Oyadongha

Yenagoa—Operatives of the Joint Task Force, JTF, in the Niger Delta, codenamed Operation Pulo Shield, have destroyed a camp allegedly used as kidnappers’ den in the creek of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State and recovered large cache of arms and ammunition.

Spokesman of the force, Lt. Col Mustapha Anka in a statement in Yenagoa, said the military operation was launched around the Furopa axis of the council, notorious for being the hotbed of kidnappers.
According to him, the raid, code named Operation Grand Slam, was designed to flush out the criminals and restore normalcy in the area. He said no arrest was made.
Recovered from the raid were six fibre boats with 75hp bow out engine, seven pieces 65hp engine, 12 pieces of mattress, two power generating sets, four smoke grenade and five cell phones with 15 SIM cards of different communication companies.

He said: “The Southern Ijaw council of Bayelsa State in recent times has been known for criminals’ activities ranging from kidnapping, piracy, pipeline vandalism and oil theft.
“The activities of hoodlums extend to neighbouring communities of Azuzama and Ekeni in Ekeremor council of the state. These criminals cash in on the difficult terrain in the region to perpetuate crime in the creeks.”