/ 14 September 2007

Nigerian troops clash with armed men in oil region

Nigerian troops on Friday raided a community in the restive Niger Delta in a bid to dislodge armed gangs who have been terrorising the local population there, a military spokesperson said.

The operation “began at 10am [local time]. The objective is to hunt down the militants from the creeks,” Major Musa Sagir said.

“Following intelligence reports that the criminal gangs were hiding in the thick forests in the creeks and swamps of Ogbogoro, we decided to attack the area,” he said.

“What we are doing is not an air strike per se but aerial surveillance. We will be very happy to capture the militants alive so that they can be made to face trial,” Sagir said.

He said the militants were fighting back. “They are fully armed and they are trying to repel our attack.”

Sagir could not confirm if there were any casualties on either side.

“It would be premature to say if anyone has been killed,” he said.

Last week, Nigeria’s top military chiefs met in Port Harcourt and vowed to pursue the militants to the creeks.

“We are going to take the fight to the criminals in the creeks now. We will go there and smoke them out,” army chief General Luka Yusuf said after meeting his counterparts from the navy, the air force, the police and the intelligence services.

Following the comments from the army chiefs, some local chiefs in Ogbogoro decided to give the armed gangs an ultimatum: lay down their arms or be handed over to the security forces.

Some gang members who refused to cooperate were arrested, prompting the reprisal killing of at least three chiefs.

Port Harcourt in August was the scene of both inter-gang warfare and battles that pitched the military against the gangs.

This violence resulted in the putting in place of a curfew and in the deployment of additional troops. — AFP