Posted by By Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt on
Against the backdrop of allegations from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, that the Joint Task Force carried out extra-judicial killings by eliminating all the 20 suspects arrested in the wake of the Tuesday shooting in Port Harcourt, the JTF, this morning, paraded the 20 masked suspects at a press briefing held at the 2 Amphibious Brigade Headquarters, Bori Camp, Port Harcourt.
Against the backdrop of allegations from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, that the Joint Task Force carried out extra-judicial killings by eliminating all the 20 suspects arrested in the wake of the Tuesday shooting in Port Harcourt, the JTF, this morning, paraded the 20 masked suspects at a press briefing held at the 2 Amphibious Brigade Headquarters, Bori Camp, Port Harcourt.
The spokesman of the JTF, Lt. Colonel Sagir Musa, denied the allegations by MEND as published in both local and foreign media, that it carried out extra-Judicial killings of suspects arrested at the Waterfront area of Port Harcourt, alleging that they were the cult members engaged in the Tuesday sporadic shootings.
According to to Lt. Col Musa, 'from the inception of JTF, there has never been any case of extra-judicial murder before now and in future.We won't do it. And those purported to have been killed are alive and healthy.'
He said that when suspects are arrested, they are brought to the Joint Task Force headquarters, interrogated, documented and thereafter, the reports, exhibits if any, are forwarded to the relevant authorities for further professional in-depth investigation.
He further explained that if after thorough investigation the suspects are found culpable, they are sent to the appropriate agencies to prosecute them. If they are not found liable, they are released accordingly.
He said JTF has never breached this procedure. However, when the press was allowed to interview some of the suspects, one of them, though masked like others for security reasons, gave his name as Sunday Nweke, and claimed that he is a patent medicine dealer and was arrested along with his brother in front of their shop.
Another suspect claimed that he lives alone in his apartment and was just coming out of the toilet when he was arrested. PM News reports show that the Bori Camp headquarters of JTF is now well fortified and cordoned off with armoured tanks and military men on red alert. Only residents with valid identity cards were thoroughly screened before being allowed into the barracks. Unauthorized guests were turned back.