John Togo died of bullet wounds– NDLF

Sun News

9 June 2011

John Togo died of bullet wounds– NDLF

Fighters of the Niger Delta Liberation Front (NDLF) have confirmed that their leader, General John Togo is dead. They said Togo finally died on Saturday June 4 after all efforts to extract bullets lodged in his body during the raid on his camp by the Joint Military Task Force failed.

 Togo’s death has been a subject of controversy with the JTF insisting that stories of his death was being peddled to divert the attention of the security outfit and ensure that he escapes the long arms of the law. The controversy heightened when a decomposing corpse suspected to be his was exhumed at his camp but the JTF maintained that it would not call off the search for him until a DNA proved the exhumed corpse belonged to Togo.

However, his fighters, in a subtle message to some stakeholders, disclosed that after the JTF attack, when he realized he had been hit by bullets, his doctor smuggled him into his hideout location in the creeks and battled to extract the bullets to no avail. They noted that contrary to earlier reports, Togo finally died and they would meet to choose his successor, who would be made public soon after his burial arrangements had been conducted.

The text message reads in part:  “General John Togo, leader of the Niger Delta Liberation Front (NDLF) is dead. He died on Saturday June 4, 2011. He died from bullet injuries during the JTF attack on his Israel barracks. The doctor smuggled him into his creek hideout location but couldn’t extract the bullet. Contrary to earlier reports, this is the end of Togo. His successor will be named in few days.”

 When contacted for reaction on the latest revelation, the media coordinator of the JTF, Lt. Col Timothy Antigha said the security outfit would still continue to hunt for him because it believed he was still alive. “The position of the JTF remains that the wanted John Togo is still alive.