Militants Attack NNPC Jetty, Burn Ship
From Ahamefula Ogbu in PortHarcourt, 12.20.2007
In what seems like a worsening situation in the Niger Delta, militants in the early hours of yesterday attacked the Nigerian National Petro-leum Corporation (NNPC) Jetty in Okrika and the Okrika Local Government headquarters.
The Joint Military Task Force in the Niger Delta were able to repel the attack and has since brought the situation under control.
The militants reportedly set fire on a ship which was within the NNPC Jetty, though all the 18 Filipinos on board were rescued and have been handed over to the Rivers State Government.
Confirming the attack, spokesman for JTF, Lt. Colonel Musa Sagir, said the militants launched the attack at their own out post at about 4 am but were repelled.
He also confirmed that the Okrika Council came under attack, as two civilians -- a man and a woman -- were killed and about five vehicles burnt by the hoodlums, adding that the soldiers had brought the situation under control.
Musa said the hoodlums were armed with automatic weapons such as AK 47, General Purpose Machine guns, Rocket Propelled Grenades and dynamites.
The Head of the JTF in the state, Brigadier General Sakin Yaki-Bello, THISDAY gathered, had taken a tour of the area immediately the attack was reported.
Yaki-Bello assured the people in the area of their safety and urged them to go about their businesses as the JTF would ensure the protection of lives and property.
“Militants attacked the location at Okrika LGA at about 4 am today (yesterday). JTF troops repelled the attack. The militants were armed with AK 47, GPMG, RPGs and some quantity of dynamites” he said.
The Secretary to the Rivers State Government, Mr. Magnus Abe, in a statement said the fire incident and attack arose from the refusal of the JTF to allow militants carry out bunkering activities at the NNPC jetty near Okochiri.
He, however, warned those behind the attack to desist from such negative action.
“The Rivers State Government would want to use this medium to appeal to all those involved in negative and criminal activities, including kidnapping, bunkering, sea piracy, armed robbery and cultism, who have done so much in the past, to discredit and destroy our beloved state, to please, in the name of God, cease all such activities forthwith, and surrender all illegal arms in their possession to the relevant law enforcement agencies,” Abe said.
A militant group, the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) said it was angry that in spite of the efforts by Ijaw elders to free Professor Nimi Briggs, the militants had refused, insisting that they wanted ransom.
JRC said: “We wish to condemn in very strong terms the recent kidnap of a distinguished Ijaw son and leading Niger Delta academic, Professor Nimi Briggs, by bandits, hooligans and criminals who have for so long now hidden under the toga of the struggle for the liberation of the Niger Delta to commit strong acts of atrocities that today threatened to undermine all the successes that we have enjoyed thus far and call to question the integrity of all heroic combatants in the struggle for a liberated and emancipated Ijaw and Niger Delta territory.
“In spite of ongoing efforts by the President of the Ijaw National Congress, Professor Kimse Okoko, to seek a ransom-free release of Professor Nimi Briggs, these bandits still refuse to yield to reason. They will be damned.”
The Federal Government about two weeks ago signed a ceasefire agreement with the militants. The Rivers State Governor, Hon Chibuike Amaechi, represented the Federal Government, while about 12 groups represented the militants.
About a week ago, the militants kidnapped Briggs and demanded a N100 million ransom, which was later reduced to N10 million.
