TheNewsGuru

Tag: Militant

  • CRUDE OIL THEFT: Militia group in Bayelsa allegedly recruits youths

    CRUDE OIL THEFT: Militia group in Bayelsa allegedly recruits youths

    A militia group said to belong to a militant identified as General Endurance Amagbin, in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, has allegedly started recruiting youths for the illegal crude theft operations in the communities.

    It was gathered that the Militia group subjected traditional rulers of Igbemotoru, its satellite communities Lasukugbene, Beberegbene and Peremabiri communities, to an unofficial oath of allegiance for his operations or get dethroned or killed.

    According to residents of Igbomotoru, Oyeregbeni and Peremabiri communities, there was palpable fear in the area over the rising cases of attacks and forceful takeover of traditional institutions by some gunmen.

    It was also gathered that the affected communities are hosts to multi-million dollars Trunk 18 inches diameter Crude Oil Tebidaba/Igbomotoru/Brass pipeline belonging to the Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited.

    Furthermore, many security personnel deployed to the area have allegedly been compromised by the operations of General Endurance Amagbin and his boys while he has started his cooking of crude oil known as “Kpo fire” in the area.

    The Paramount Ruler of Igbomotoru (West Bomo) Community of Southern Ijaw Local Government Council, HRH Asemighen Ayibaikie Ofongo, BUO X, in a petition sent to the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, to come to the rescue of the Bayelsa communities as the militia groups have continued to molest, beat up, vandalise houses and loot properties of those who go against their illegal activities in the area.

    Ofongo, in the letter with reference number IGBO/Security/10102/Vol.1/32/22, pointed out that he was also a victim of the wrath of these gunmen with their leader, self-styled Amagbin subjecting him to the personal oath of allegiance to their operations and announcing his dethronement on state radio without the approval of the state government.

    According to the petition, “The youths and elders of Igbemotoru community have become refugees in their community. The people of the Community and surrounding communities have not had any positive change since the self-styled General Endurance arrived. And he has also boasted that he has a connection to the top and that petitions sent out are sent back to him promising anyone writing such petition to be ready to accept any consequences of their actions.

    “This has emboldened him to recruit jobless youths into his army in other to vandalize houses, loot properties therein.”

    The worried monarch recounted that on the 11th of December,2021, the militia leader, Amagbin, ordered his squad to bring him at gunpoint, “Ammanawei was escorted under gunpoint by six gunmen into a waiting horsepower speed boat to a bush and into a shrine.

    “I was ordered by the militia leader to take an oath of allegiance to him. When I protested and insisted I have earlier before my ancestors and even God sworn to be impartial in the discharge of my duties, he ordered his gunmen to fire several rounds of bullets above my head as a warning.

    “I realized I could be shot dead in the shrine, so I succumbed to save my life and took the oath. Again, on the 12th of December, 2021, the Igbomotoru 1 community chiefs under the directive of the militia leader convened a meeting of all people of the town.

    “The meeting has no other agenda besides the dethronement of the Amananawei. Some persons who attended the meeting queried the veracity of such a dethronement exercise. While many walked out of the meeting and the meeting ended on that note. Within days, a special announcement was sponsored by the militia leader and his boys of the dethronement on two radio stations in the state capital.

    “The state government reacted spontaneously and denounced the dethronement as an exercise in futility and of no effect whatsoever. The paramount ruler as well went on air and denounced the purported dethronement. As it is now, I and some others who are against the notorious activities of Endurance Amagbin in the Igbomortoru community are not allowed access to our own community. We are calling on the Government to convene a peace meeting and in synergy with the Federal Government to please mop up all illegal arms and ammunition in the possession of non-state actors like the militia group now terrorizing the innocent people of Igbomotoru community.”

  • Israel kills senior militant commander in Gaza – Military

    Israel kills senior militant commander in Gaza – Military

    Israel on Monday assassinated Hasam Abu Harbid, a senior militant commander in the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces said, triggering a fresh barrage of rockets on Israeli cities.

    Israel’s Shin Bet security service and the military said in a joint statement that warplanes struck and killed the commander of the Northern Division of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

    Islamic Jihad is a militant group in Gaza that has been fighting alongside Hamas in the recent escalation.

    “Abu Harbid has consistently led rocket launches against Israel as well as shooting attacks at soldiers,’’ the statement read, adding that he was behind an attack last Monday in which an Israeli civilian was injured.

    He was a commander in the Islamic Jihad for over the past 15 years, according to the statement.

    Shortly after the attack, a rocket barrage from Gaza was fired at southern Israel.

    One of the rockets hit a residential building in Ashdod city, causing damage and injuring three people, according to a statement by Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency health service.

    According to a military notice on Monday, some 3,150 rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory.

    About 460 of these rockets failed to reach Israel and fell within the Gaza Strip.

    Israel’s Iron Dome Air Defence System has intercepted about 90 per cent of the rockets, the army said.

    At least 200 people in the besieged Palestinian enclave were killed, including 59 children.

    Meanwhile, 10 people were killed in Israel, including a five-year-old boy and a soldier.

  • Photo: Ex-militant, Tompolo makes first public appearance after six years

    Photo: Ex-militant, Tompolo makes first public appearance after six years

    Former militant leader Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo aka Tompolo has made his first public appearance after hiding from security agencies for six years.

    Tompolo, who led the disbanded Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), went underground immediately President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in in 2015, as the Federal Government deployed troops to fish him out.

    The government also declared him wanted through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for ignoring two bench warrants issued against him by the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, following alleged N45.5billion fraud case.

    But the court on July 15, 2019 dismissed the charges against Global West Vessel Specialist Ltd, a company linked to the former Niger Delta militant leader.

    Despite the judgment, Tompolo failed to appear in public until October 19, 2020, when sources said he made a sudden appearance at the Egbesu shrine in his Oporoza country home in Gbaramatu, Delta State.

    A picture of his appearance showed the former warlord and his friends dancing, worshipping and offering thanksgiving to Egbesu, the Ijaw god.

    An Egbesu disciple, Bodmas Kemepadei, who confirmed the development, said the appearance of Tompolo, who is the Egbesu priest, would help to facilitate resolutions of knotty issues in the Niger Delta.

  • Court sentences three militants to death over bombings

    Court sentences three militants to death over bombings

    Somali military court on Wednesday sentenced three al-Shabab militants to death after they were found guilty of being behind the hotel bombing in October last year, officials said.

    Chairperson of the Military Court, Hassan Ali Nur Shute, said the militants admitted to charges of carrying out attack on Nasa-hablod II Hotel in which more than 30 people were killed and several others injured.

    “The Court heard the cases of three terrorist militants in several sessions and found them guilty of carrying out attack on Hotel Nasa-hablod II attack on October 28, 2017, therefore the court sentenced Farhan Samatar, Abdinasir Hassan and Abshir Haji to death,” Shute said.

    Somali government’s military court often gives death penalties against al-Shabab militants and some soldiers.

    But human rights groups including the UN and the EU have condemned these executions.

    The EU says it considers the death penalty to be a cruel and inhuman punishment, which fails to provide deterrence to criminal behavior and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity.

    Xinhua/NAN

  • Ex-militants demand relocation of oil coys to Niger Delta

    Ex-militants demand relocation of oil coys to Niger Delta

    Ex-agitators under the Federal Government Amnesty Programme has opposed reported plans by the Federal Government (FG) to terminate the Presidential Amnesty Programme in 2018.

    Ex-militant leader and Chairman, Amnesty Phase 11 in Delta State, Ambassador (Chief) Kingsley Muturu said the laudable intentions of the initiative is far from being achieved.
    Muturu advised that the FG should first ensure the relocation of multinational oil companies and facilities back to the Niger Delta before such a provocative move.
    “The ideal of peace and deserved development of the Niger Delta for which Late President Musa Umar Yar’Adua laudably offered and implemented the Amnesty programme remain far from being achieved”.
    “With the groundswell of anger in the land, we wish to humbly serve notice that we cannot guarantee the safety of oil installations in the Niger Delta. Accordingly, before terminating the PAP, we advise the Federal Government to kindly relocate all oil facilities from the Niger Delta region to another safer haven.
    “This advice is intended to avert consequences of military deployment by the FG which unfortunately believes more in physical force to spill innocent blood of people of the oil-bearing communities in the Niger Delta”, he stressed.
    Muturu alleged that the amnesty programme has suffered declining fortunes under Gen Paul Boroh who he claimed, was arm-twisted by agents of the FG to the detriment of Niger Deltans.
    “With recent denials of Niger Deltans in educational programmes of the PAP, is the FG not orchestrating the denial of Niger Deltans from the prospect of being in the commanding heights of political and economic decision making in the Nigerian nation that has so held us down?”, Muturu queried.
    “It is disheartening that even those interested in agricultural training, whose training were supposed to last longer were reduced to two week training or less. The implication is that they were not trained at all while the vendors (contractors) of such programmes smile to the banks with huge amounts”, he lamented.
    The creek ex-warlord who was conferred with “ambassador of peace” title by his people, further alleged that politicians and bad advisers were preventing Gen Boroh from meeting with leaders of the militants for which the programme was designed so they could offer suggestions for continuity.
    He said budgetary constraints disabled payment of a housing allowance of N150, 000.00 per year paid once under Kingsley Kuku as Coordinator of the PAP, adding that “several militants that we have engaged and who are undecided as yet to embrace amnesty for the good of the nation are turning around to mock us over the FG lacklustre disposition to the PAP”.
    We had thought that an amnesty programme that is progressively better sponsored, not terminated, would take the wind off the sail of those still bent on vandalism as a means of agitation”, stressed.

     

  • Arrested militant, Oyawerikumor Peregbabofa leader killed in ambush – JTF

    The Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Delta Safe (ODS), on Friday confirmed that a militant leader in its custody, Oyawerikumor Peregbabofa, popularly known in the creeks of the Niger Delta as Karaowei, was later killed in an ambush.

    This was revealed by JTF’s Coordinator, Joint Media Campaign Centre (JMCC), Maj. Ibrahim Abdullahi in a statement on Friday.

    Abdullahi said the militant, who was apprehended on Thursday, was killed in an ambush laid by his fighters to rescue him.

    Abdullahi in a statement said: “After his arrest, Mr. Karowei confessed to several criminal acts and led troops to his camp to recover the cache of arms and ammunition in his possession as well as to persuade other members of his gang to surrender.

    “However, in a twist of events, Karowei’s recalcitrant group laid an ambush and attacked the Task Force troops in a gun battle at his camp deep in the forest.

    “This was in a bid to rescue Karowei from own troops. The superior firepower, resilience and gallantry of own troops countered this snap attack which resulted in the death of several of Karowei’s henchmen and the kingpin, Karowei who tried to rejoin his cohorts.”

    The statement further listed the atrocities committed by the deceased militant leader, saying the Commander, ODS, Rear Admiral Suleiman Apochi, commended the Burutu and Ekeremor communities in Delta and Bayelsa States for their cooperation during the operation.

    It added: “This operation was aimed at tackling the security challenges posed to safety of lives and critical oil and gas facilities in the region. Consequently, a seven-day clearance operation was initiated by the Commander of JTF, Rear Admiral Apochi Suleiman, to sanitize the region of militants, cultists, sea robbers, kidnappers and other criminals.

    “During the operation, precisely on Thursday, 11 January 2018, a notorious militant leader Peregbakumo Oyawerikumo also known as ‘Karowei’ and his criminal gang were arrested.

    “It could be recalled that Mr. Karowei and his criminal gang abducted four British Missionaries on 13th October 2017 in Burutu local government area of Delta State which led to the unfortunate death of one of the Britons, Late Mr. Ian Squire.

    “Karowei and his gang were also responsible for several abductions/kidnappings, robberies and raping of innocent women in the region including unprovoked attacks on military locations in Delta and Bayelsa States.

    “Also on 7th January 2018, Karowei and his gang attacked own troops at Bolu Ndoro forest which led to the death of four military OPDS personnel.

    “The Commander, Joint Task Force, Operation Delta Safe, Rear Admiral Apochi Suleiman, deeply appreciates the support of the locals within communities in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State and Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State in finally uprooting this notorious criminal, who in conjunction with his gang had constituted serious security menace around the general area.

    “The Commander Joint Task Force also wishes to seek additional selfless support from law-abiding citizens to uproot all criminals causing mayhem within the Niger Delta.

    “He urges all to go about their legitimate businesses as the waterways are now safe and secure. Furthermore, he assures the local communities of the Task Force’s commitments to stem all criminalities in the Niger Delta in line with the mandate of the Chief of Defence Staff as well as strategic expectations of the Joint Task Force.”

  • Army confirms death of officer, 4 policemen in Ikorodu

    The Nigerian Army in Lagos on Sunday confirmed the death of a soldier and four policemen in an ambush by suspected criminal gangs in Ishawo Community in Ikorodu.

    This is contained in a statement by 81 Division’s Acting Deputy Director, Public Relations, Lt.-Col. Olaolu Saudi.

    “At about 3 a.m. on Sunday, April 9, a patrol team led by a Nigerian Army officer responded to a distress call.

    “The distress call was from the police requesting for reinforcement because some suspected criminals had invaded Yewa Community, Isawo in Ikorodu, Lagos State and abducted some persons.

    “The combined team in a swift response was able to successfully foil the kidnap attempt and rescued all the abducted victims.

    “Nine of the victims, including an infant of about two years old were rescued from the criminals.

    “However, on their way back, they were ambushed by a suspected criminal gang.

    “During the clearance of the ambush, unfortunately four policemen lost their lives while the army officer who led the operation sustained gunshot wounds and died on the way to the hospital.

    “Similarly, four of the rescued victims of the kidnap, including the infant, sustained injuries during the encounter.

    “They have all been evacuated to a hospital and are responding to treatment,” the statement said.

    It added that the Commander, 9 Brigade, Brig.-Gen. Elias Attu and Commissioner of Police, Lagos state, Fatai Owoseni, had ordered a manhunt of the criminals.

    “Meanwhile, a combined team of the Police and military is in hot pursuit of the suspected kidnappers who fled the scene carrying the dead bodies of their colleagues and the wounded.

    “The combined team is on their trail as they have vowed that the death of the gallant officer and men of the Nigerian Police who fought bravely for the success of the operation will not be in vain.

    “We would like to use this medium to implore anyone with useful information to come forward.

    “We are also reassuring the general public, especially the residents of Isawo community in Ikorodu, of their continued safety,” the statement said.