BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME
It did not come to many as a surprise when General Sarki Yarki Bello was conferred with OON by the federal government for his service to the country. This is largely because of the success of his military operations in the Niger Delta and eastern part of the country.

General Bello led the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta region before he later became the General Officer Commanding 82 Division of the Nigerian army Enugu.

He came in as head of the JTF in Rivers state and Brigade Commander, Port Harcourt barracks otherwise called Bori camp at a time the state had literarily been taken over by hoodlums and thugs that masqueraded as militants. They shot sporadically at will. Most residents of the state slept with their two eyes opened because of the lawless situation in the state.

The riverine part of the state was a no go area because the hoodlums had taken over virtually all the communities around there. Kidnapping was rampant and they led their hostages to most of the interior communities where they had set up militant/kidnap camps. It was so bad in the state that most indigenes for fear of their lives avoided travelling home for functions. Some even interred their loved ones in Port Harcourt cemetery, an act that was before then seen as an uncommon practice.

At a session of the state House of Assembly, the lawmakers noted that over a hundred cult groups existed in the state, they went ahead to proscribe them. But this action still did not help matters. The cultists and hoodlums became law, they called the shots.

Travelling on the waterways was a nightmare because of the frequency in cases of piracy and other related crimes. Passengers were raped at will and dispossessed of valuables. The state was often in the news for the negatives. Crime and lawlessness almost transformed into right in the state because the hoodlums, brigands and criminals were firmly in charge. Bank robbery was almost a weekly occurrence in several parts of Port Harcourt.

Occasionally to entertain themselves the brigands would fire several shots of live bullets into public places like Bus stops, motor parks etc not minding who could be hit. Several times death tolls from such actions rose to twenty and beyond. The situation in the state, particularly, Port Harcourt, the state capital, was really very bad.

Residents lived in fear. Port Harcourt almost earned the reputation of the most unsafe capital city in the country. Security agencies were almost helpless.

It got to the point in several communities that the so called militants decided what kind of programmes should hold. Churches for instance were forced to pay tenement rate to the boys if they had to hold their services. Naming ceremonies, birthday parties etc had their prices. And if you didn’t pay the so called militants would swoop on people at the event, kidnapping those they laid their hands. And later they would demand for ransom for their release, this was the picture. People lived in fear. Some communities were totally deserted. For some it could be fiction but it was real. There was a particular situation in one of the communities when chiefs and community folks were meeting in the town hall before anybody could say Jack; the so called militants were around, fully armed with sophisticated riffles. They shot three of the chiefs dead at the venue of the meeting and fled with their corpses.

A similar story was told of a boy who was part of a group that murdered his own grandfather in one of the forests around their community. He broke out of the group at the scene of the murder when he saw that the militants after the grand father had died were still using horsewhip on his corpse.

He reportedly felt so bitter with the action of his pals that he ran out to alert the community of how his grandfather was murdered. His action again resulted in another bloodletting in the community. Frightening stories were told all over. Thanks to the JTF and governor Amaechi who supported the security body to put an end to the blood bath in the state.

The state government too was worried to the extent that it had no option but to impose dusk to dawn curfew in Port Harcourt. Residents were compelled to raise their hands at check points mounted by stern looking soldiers as a sign of total surrender. The situation required serious military strategy; this was where Sarkin Yarki Bello came in as head of the JTF in the state.

With the support from governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, General Bello unveiled his strategy and went to work. First he dislodged the militants from the state capital. Not finished he took the battle to the creeks and hinterlands of the state where he also recorded victory.

Riverine communities in the state celebrated the victory of the JTF. Like it did in Port Harcourt it also restored normalcy in the communities.

JTF’s presence in communities was celebrated because the people felt their dark days were over. And truly the security body lived up to expectation.

How JTF under his command was able to dislodge Camp 5 in Delta is still a mystery to all.

His feat in the region for those who know the meaning of his name will not see it as a surprise. Sarki Yarki when interpreted means king of war; which literarily translates into defence Minister of the palace.

SYB as he is called in many circles is one of the heroes of the Niger Delta. He achieved a similar success in Abia state when he was GOC 82 Division, Enugu. Abia was also under his command. He was able to dislodge kidnappers and other hoodlums who held the state hostage for several months.

I join many to say congratulations to Gen Bello on the occasion of this national recognition for a worthy service to our father land.