WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2009-05-19 Time: 16:00:06 Posted By: Jan
By Tunke-Aye Bisina and Rotimi Akinwumi
Defence Headquarters reiterated on Monday that the ongoing military onslaught in the Niger Delta to douse the activities of militants would continue until order is restored to the troubled region.
The authorities also denied killing innocent people while attacking the militants, saying the allegation to this effect was a mere media strategy by the militants to turn the public against the military.
Director of Defence Information (DDI), Chris Jemitola, a Colonel, at a press conference in Abuja, said the military cannot sit back and allow its men to be killed in the line of duty, especially while carrying out its constitutional duty.
Jemitola, who restated the need for the current military action in the Niger Delta, noted that the militants were the ones that first attacked the soldiers on May 13 while men of the Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Restore Hope, were on routine duties around Chanomi Creek.
The JTF, he said, lost some men to the ambush by the militants.
He stated that prior to the ambush, militants had hijacked a chartered ship, Tanker CM Spirit, with its foreign and local crew captured, tortured and some killed, while others were held hostage after its content had been stolen.
He accused the militants of attacking the JTF team sent to rescue the captives, adding that the JTF team actually discovered a large cache of arms and ammunition used for acts of criminality by the militants when the soldiers repelled the attack.
Absolving the military of any complicity in the carnage, Jemitola said the militants have always been the aggressor in every act of confrontation between them and the JTF men.
He noted that the law guiding the conduct of the JTF prohibits the team from attacking the militants until they are fired at first, adding that extra care is also being taken to reduce collateral damage.
Even though, there have been reports that villages like Oporoza, Ubefan, Okerenkoko, Kurutie, Azama, Benikurukuru and Kunukunuma, among others making up Gbaramatu-Ijaw communities in Delta State were bombed with helicopter gunship by the soldiers, the military spokesman dismissed the allegation, saying “no community was razed down in this process and collateral damage was kept to the barest minimum”.
Reiterating the resolve of the military to continue the attack in the region as long as the militants keep operating there, Jemitola said “what we have observed is the deliberate and repeated unprovoked attacks on JTF troops, the sabotage of oil and gas facilities, the kidnapping for ransom of people and the killing of innocent citizens of the society, including children, people of the clergy and the very old citizens.
“We have also seen the kidnapping and harassment of site workers and contractors carrying out socio-economic development of the area.
“These are all acts of criminality that cannot be condoned by any government and no responsible military leadership will fold its arm and watch its personnel attacked and killed while on official assignment by any criminal gang.
“Hence, the military was left with no choice than to go after these criminals in order to bring them to book.
“It is important to note that the Nigerian military has the constitutional responsibility of protecting our vital national interest wherever they may be.
“In the course of carrying out this responsibility, the military will no longer tolerate or watch criminal gangs slaughter its personnel without recourse,” Temitola said.
Unconfirmed reports indicated that the military still deployed about eight gunboats to the area on Monday.
But Ijaw leaders from the area confirmed to Daily Independent that there has been some respite in the area but that the humanitarian crisis was getting worse.
Some people were still stranded in the bush because the military authorities have denied access to the area.
Some of the survivors are said to have made their way to nearby communities like Yokri, Ogulagha and Sokibolo in Burutu Local Government area with others still stranded.
One of the leaders, Bello Oboko, told Daily Independent that it has not been possible to determine the number of persons that have died or who were stranded in the swamp since the military offensive, due to the blockage of the waterways by the military.
Meanwhile, the Ijaw National Congress (INC) and other prominent Ijaw leaders, including Edwin Clark, on Monday evening, held a crucial meeting in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital to appraise the military attack on some Ijaw communities in Delta State.
The meeting which had retired military officers of Ijaw extraction in attendance, reviewed the situation, appraised its implications for the existence of the Ijaw nation and came up with a strong statement against the action of the Federal Government.
Daily Independent gathered that, among other decisions, the meeting condemned the action of the military and urged the Federal Government to stop the onslaught against their people.
In another development, Action Congress (AC) governorship candidate for the 2007 polls in Rivers State, Tonye Princewill, who chairs the Niger Delta subcommittee of Vision 2020, has resigned his position following the current debacle.
Original date published: 19 May 2009
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200905190168.html?viewall=1