Nigeria: Disband JTF Now, Niger Delta Monarchs Urge Jonathan

Independent

18 May 2011

Nigeria: Disband JTF Now, Niger Delta Monarchs Urge Jonathan 

 Meanwhile, the Joint Task Force (JTF) has warned the public to be wary of the ‘’intricate web of lies’’ being spurned by wanted militant leader, John Togo, as he is still alive.

The task force stated that the claim that Togo had surrendered and that he was later killed in confrontation were all tissues of lies aimed at deceiving the public, attract sympathy and escapes justice.

Media Coordinator, Lt. Col. Timothy Antigha, stated that Togo has neither been killed in a combat or surrendered as being portrayed in the media and urged the media to be circumspect on new ploy by the kingpin.

Antigha, in a telephone interview with our correspondent, wondered why the public was so susceptible to Togo’s antics, stating that task force as a professional military outfit would not fall victim to this ‘’elaborate deception plan’’.

But Togo’s lawyer, Carsley Omon-Irabo, said the militant leader has been flown abroad for medical treatment as he sustained serious injuries in a combat with the task force.

He confirmed that the sea piracy kingpin was alive, thus dousing insinuations in some quarters that he was killed and buried in a secret grave.

  

Traditional Rulers from the Oil Mineral Producing Communities of the Niger Delta region (TROMPCON) have called on President Goodluck Jonathan to re-examine the activities of the Joint Task Force (JTF) operating in the Niger Delta region.

 The call was the outcome of a two-day meeting in Port Harcourt and contained in a communiqué jointly signed by Eze Young Ogbonna and Pere Stanley Perediegha Luke, National President and National Secretary respectively

 The group also urged the Federal Government to overhaul the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) programme considering the recent post election violence in some parts of the North, which resulted in the death of at least ten corps members of southern origin.  

The traditional rulers pleaded with Jonathan to grant audience to the association before the May 29 swearing-in, while calling for the speedy passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and an urgent review of the Land Use Act.