JTF Declares 7 Militants Wanted Over Bombing Of Oil Facilities

Ireports

6 February 2012

JTF Declares 7 Militants Wanted Over Bombing Of Oil Facilities…As MEND Vows To Cripple Oil Exploration In N’Delta

The Joint Military Task Force (JTF) Operation Pulo Shield has declared wanted seven persons believed to be the brain behind the weekend destruction of Agip Oil trunk line in Brass, Bayelsa state. This is coming as the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) vowed to paralyse oil exploration activities in the oil rich Niger Delta region in the coming days.

The JTF in a statement today revealed the identity of seven suspects it claimed were the brains behind the attack.

Names given include Friday Burutu, Lord Onipa, Robinson Agagudu , Eyala Karo, Stanley Uduorie, Para Ekiyes and Rasmus Omukoro.

According to the JTF media coordinator, Lt. Col Timothy Antigha, the suspects are advised to turn themselves in for interaction with authorities by 12 noon Wednesday February 12 or face military action.

However MEND has accused the JTF and the Ministry of International Affairs, South Africa of ignorance of unfolding events in the Niger Delta region. In a statement today by its spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, the militant group said: “The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) wishes to respond to the ignorant comments of the spokesperson of the joint task force(JTF) Col Timothy Antigha and the government of South Africa through its ministry of International Affairs.

The JTF spokesperson in his little mind is failing to comprehend the gravity of the situation unfolding in the Niger Delta and attributes our attack on the Agip pipeline to instigation by imaginary persons interested in benefiting from the fraud that was the disarmament process in the Niger Delta.

The Nigerian government claims to have disarmed more people than exist in the Nigerian Army with only two thousand weapons to show for all their trouble. The lull in fighting by all groups in the Niger Delta is being used to acquire more sophisticated weapons to ensure that our next assault on the Nigerian oil industry expels western oil companies once and for all. There is nothing the Nigerian military can do to halt us.

Agip cleverly indicated that 4000 barrels of its production is affected by our attack. The reality is that close to 200,000 bpd of Nigerian crude exports is affected by our attack as that trunk line served to transport crude oil for other oil companies as well. This translates to a daily loss of at least 20 million us dollars.

To the South African government, we accept your challenge and will show you how easy it is to drive your investments out of our region. If the Nigerian government cannot protect companies like shell and chevron, how will they manage to protect an insignificant Sacoil? Within the next few weeks, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta will carry out a few major attacks on oil installations to demonstrate to the world the helplessness of oil companies and the Nigerian military.

After these next attacks, there will be a brief pause as we await the time agreed upon by all groups in the delta for the resumption of hostilities in the Niger Delta”.