Posted by By ONYEDI OJIABOR and SOLA ADEBAYO on
TO further tighten the noose on Niger Delta militants, more sophisticated weapons ordered by the authorities are soon to arrive the country to complement existing security network in the oil-rich area.
TO further tighten the noose on Niger Delta militants, more sophisticated weapons ordered by the authorities are soon to arrive the country to complement existing security network in the oil-rich area.
Specifically, the Navy has ordered more warships from abroad in its renewed bid to fortify the area against the activities of militants.
Already, two warships, NNS Ologbo and NNS Nwamba, are on surveillance in the area following the recent acts of sabotage by the militants, leading to a loss of huge oil revenues by the country.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta claimed responsibility for the attack on Bonga, an offshore oil facility, with the attendant loss of about 200,000 bpd.
The importation of the warships is among the fresh security measures of the Navy to complement the entire military operations under the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta.
The Navy is articulating new security measures aimed at flushing out militants from the region, especially on the high sea.
A competent source told our correspondent on Friday that part of the measure included the immediate acquisition of 31-metre Seaward Defence boat and 17 metre mantra Class Patrol boat.
Apart from other unique features, a seaward boat has the complements of anti-aircraft guns.
The source told our correspondent that the warships would be deployed in improving security in the Niger Delta region as soon as they arrived.
The Director of Naval Information, Capt. Henry Babalola, confirmed the order for the importation of the military hard wares.
He said the 31 metre defence boat would be acquired from Australia, while the 17 metre mantra class boat would be imported from Malaysia.
He said that the navy had also sealed arrangements to procure some weapons from Singapore.
Babalola said the defence boats would arrive in the country before the end of August and immediately be in the inventory of the Nigerian Navy.
He said that a navy delegation was currently in Malaysia as a follow up to the visit of the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ganiyu Adekeye, earlier in the year.
The naval spokesman also said that talks had reached an advanced stage for the acquisition of Off-shore Patrol Vessels (OPVs).
Babalola, however, noted that despite the weapon acquisition, 'no sane government will let loose its military on the citizens."
He said, 'We have rules of engagement. We are not fighting full scale war in the Niger Delta region. So it has always been a no win situation for us because no sane government would let loose its military on the citizens."
Babalola, who insisted that militants' activities in the high sea were on the decrease, said the high profile attack on Shell Petroleum Development Company Bonga oilfield, gave a wrong impression about the true situation.
He, however, said that it was not the responsibility of the Navy to provide security for Bonga oilfield.
He noted that SPDC whose duty it was to secure Bonga contracted the function to a private body.
The navy, he said, maintained presence around the Bonga just like at other oil installations in the high sea as a pre-emptive action.
On the day of the attack, he said a naval ship was at another location.
He said that more attention should be paid to the protection of the sea since the life of the nation depended on it.
He asked, 'If we say we are a maritime nation, what kind of attention are we paying to the sea? Nigerian Government and stakeholders should pay more attention to the sea in the interest of the country."
Residents, who feared that they might be entangled in the crossfire between the federal troops and the militias, have opted for a safe haven in the cities.
The panic-gripped people of the coastal communities in Bayelsa, Delta and Ondo States trooped into Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State, the oil community of Warri and Akure, the capital of Ondo State, in speed boats on a daily basis.
A tension-gripped resident of a riverside community, Mr. Patrick Temewei, who arrived at McIver Jetty, Warri on Friday morning, gave a brief account of the public fears in the coastal areas of the region shortly after President Umaru Yar'Adua, ordered a military operation to deal with militancy and criminality in the region.
He said, "Gunboats are everywhere in the river and nobody is sure about the plans of the military. The people in the riverside communities are living in fears and a lot of them have fled the area. The few of them remaining there are eager to come to the cities.
'The people are afraid that the military may launch attacks on the militants anytime from now and there is apprehension that innocent persons may suffer from such attacks."
Meanwhile, tension has heightened in the region following sudden increased presence of security operatives under, Operation Restore Hope, along the waterways and creeks in the region.
The anxiety stems from the saturation of the coastal communities, hosting strategic oil platforms in the region with the federal troops and military equipment.
Worst hit by the anxiety are the camps of the militants, who perceive the incursion as a prelude to the planned offensive against them by the JTF.
Sources in JTF told one of our correspondents that heads of the various militant camps, especially those identified and scheduled for destruction in the security report prepared by a former Commander of JTF, Major Gen. Lawrence Ngubane, were strategising on the way forward.
Ngubane, in a report to the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Owoye Azazi, in July 2007, had identified all the militant camps in the region, which he categorised as minor and major militant camps.
He had identified the manpower and weaponry strength of each of the militant camps and suggested military operation to dislodge them as part of the strategies to restore a lasting peace in the region.
He suggested that the federal troops could take on the minor militant camps first in order to boost the morale and strengthen the confidence of the Federal troops to clamp down on the major ones.
But the report could not be implemented because it leaked to the militants.
Already, NNS Ologbo and NNS Nwamba, as well as many gunboats and patrol craft deployed in the waterways, sea and oil locations in the region have stepped up their operations in the area.
While the latest deployment had compounded tension in the region, JTF sources, however, told Sunday Punch that the militants had resorted to propaganda to pre-empt the action.
One of the sources cited the alarm raised by the militants that the federal troops launched a premeditated attack on Boyloaf camp in Bayelsa State last week.