Samuel Oyadongha
05 February 2012, Sweetcrude, Yenagoa – The Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta codenamed Operation Pulo Shield yesterday warned that there could be collateral damage, if individuals and communities decide to provide sanctuary to perpetrators of the attack on the nation oil facilities.
The JTF warning is coming on the heels of the weekend attack on a Nigerian Agip Oil Company, NAOC, trunk line at Brass in Bayelsa State which the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta claimed responsibility for.
Spokesman of the JTF, Lt. Col Timothy Antigha in statement issued in Yenagoa condemned the attack in view of what it portends for the region which not too long was almost plunged into the abyss of agitation for the development of the region.
The Federal Government, according to the JTF, reacted to this genuine aspiration by embarking on programmes that were aimed at addressing the human development and infra structural deficits that existed in the region.
Condemning the latest attack on the oil facility in the mangrove swamp of the state, the JTF said, “These programmes are on going and verifiable. Unfortunately, people who were never part of the agitation have emerged and want to claim amnesty and its benefits by force.
“It should be noted that it is not possible to run an inelastic amnesty programme. Consequently, the JTF advices Niger Deltans to be mindful of people who are out to swindle them by wrongfully appropriating the identity of the erstwhile leadership of MEND to scurry sympathy for their selfish and criminal interest.
“Therefore, the JTF calls on the good people of the Niger Delta Region to rise up and join security agencies to defeat the evil that is rearing its head, by giving timely and accurate information on these charlatans through the usual channels.
“However, the JTF warns that there could be collateral damage, if individuals and communities decide to provide sanctuary to these enemies of the society.”
