By Samuel Oyadongha
An alleged renegade militant leader operating on the Atlantic fringe of Foropa in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Keiti  Sese alias ‘Commander’ Noumukeme (madman), has surrendered to the Joint Task Force, JTF.

Sese had been on the run since November 12, 2010 when the special security forces raided his camp and launched a man hunt for him and members of his gang.

The embattled  militant leader, it will be recalled, was reported to the JTF by his Foropa community, which listed his criminal activities to include sea piracy, kidnapping and sexual abuse of their girls, which prompted the raid on his camp.

Though he escaped through the mangrove swamp, the JTF spread its dragnet for his arrest.

SURRENDER: Keiti Sese, militant leader who surrendered himself to JTF (2nd left), being handed over to the SSS Director, Musa Baba, at the JTF headquarters in Yenagoa.

Noumukeme (literarily meaning madman) was said to have sacked the community health centre and dislodged NYSC members from their lodge at Foropa and occupied same, which he turned to  his camp when he held sway in the coastal community.

Arms and ammunition as well as amnesty programme identity cards were reportedly recovered from his camp during the raid, an indication that some members of his gang had earlier accepted the Federal Government’s amnesty programme before picking up arms again.

Briefing newsmen, yesterday, in Yenagoa, the Maritime Component Commander of JTF, Commodore Olasunkanmi Shekoni, who spoke on behalf of the JTF Commander, Major General Charles Omoregie, said the militant leader turned himself in voluntarily.

The embattled militant leader, he said, surrendered himself to the task force on realizing that the game was up.

He said, “we are happy to inform you that following about one month of unrelenting psychological operations conducted by Sector 2, Keiti Sese voluntarily turned himself in to the JTF on Saturday 8, January 2011.

“With the surrendering of Keiti Sese alias Commander Noumukeme and the dismantling of his criminal structure, the JTF has again successfully closed another chapter on insecurity in Bayelsa State,” he added.

The JTF however called on other criminals who are still hiding in the creeks or wherever they may be, to emulate Keiti Sese and turn themselves in to avoid unpleasant consequences.

Items reportedly recovered from the militant leader who was later handed over to the state Director of SSS, Musa Baba include 5 AK 47 assault rifles, seismic tracking machine for pipelines conveying crude, one machine gun, one pump action and rounds of ammunition among others.

The JTF also paraded one Charles Amadi over alleged impersonation of its personnel.

The suspect was reportedly apprehended at Emoha local government in Rivers State last Saturday.

According to the task force, the suspect clad in military fatigue was involved in extortion, illegal escort duties and other criminal activities purporting to be a JTF personnel.

The security outfit therefore warned members of the public to be mindful of such criminal elements and report all suspicious persons to law enforcement agencies for immediate arrest and prosecution were necessary