By Samuel Oyadongha
Yenagoa—The Federal Government may have ordered the deployment of security around Patani and Kaiama Bridges in Delta and Bayelsa States, following alleged plot to blow up the two federal structures by some unscrupulous elements.

The structures are the two longest bridges on the Delta and Bayelsa stretch of the East-West, straddling the South South states, which is currently being dualised by the Federal Government after years of public outcry over its deplorable state.

Vanguard learnt that deployment of soldiers to safeguard the two bridges might not be unconnected with last Friday surprised attack on Nigerian Agip Oil Company, NAOC, pipelines in the deep swamp of Bayelsa State by armed gunmen after nearly one year lull in violent crimes in the Delta.

Tension has been building up in the region since Friday’s attack in the state in which intelligence reports from the operatives of the Joint Task Force, code named Operation Restore Hope, yesterday, indicted two prominent former militant leaders from the state as culprits in the dynamite attack on the Agip facility at Osiama area of the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state.

Residents of the ancient settlements of Patani and Kaiama along the East-West, were Tuesday, morning taken aback when they woke up to see the internal roads in their communities that passes under the structures condoned off by heavily armed soldiers.

The soldiers, it was learnt, were deployed from the Sector Command of the JTF, Yenagoa, to Patani and Kaiama, Monday, night under the cover of darkness.

It was gathered that the soldiers were deployed at the instance of the Federal Government in the wake of the of the alleged text messages being circulated by some unknown persons threatening to up blow up the two major bridges on the ailing East_West road.

Though the soldiers were civil in their conduct some residents of Patani who spoke to Vanguard said it was a difficult exercise for them to pass through the road Tuesday morning when they noticed the presence of the military in the community as the area under the bridge head was completely condoned off.

The natives, it was learnt had to make a detour that Tuesday morning on approach the ‘no go’ zone until the security was later relaxed yesterday for the school children to pass through as against the risk of passing through the highway.

A security operative who spoke anonymously told Vanguard at Kaiama town where the soldiers are also stationed around the bridge said the move was to forestall any act of sabotage against the federal government structure especially with the recent text messages being circulated of an allege plan to blow up the structures.

Governor Timipre Sylva had during a surprised visit to a gathering of media practitioners, artisans and professionals under the aegis of ‘Yenagoa Parliament Tuesday evening confirmed the security alert.

“Even this morning (Tuesday) I got a security alert that some persons were planning to blow up the Patani Bridge,” he lamented.

Meanwhile, intelligence reports from the Joint Task Force yesterday indicted two prominent ex_militant leaders from the state as culprits in the last Friday attack on Agip pipelines at Osiama in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.

The intelligent report, revealed to the thirty five ex_militant leaders in the state by the Sector Commander of the JTF, Col. Victor Ezugwu and State Director of the State Security Service (SSS), Mr. Baba Musa, at a meeting in Yenagoa Vanguard learnt indicated that the action of the ex_militant leaders may have been influenced by some external and political influence outside the region.