LANCEGUARDS- UPDATE

Soldiers Raid Communities in Search of Militants

The Joint Task Force on the Niger Delta yesterday raided villages bordering the Tora Manifold along the Nembe Creek in search of militants who killed three naval officers in a recent attack.
The raid on the villages followed the expiration of the 72- hour ultimatum given the people to produce the killers or face the wrath of the military.
Also yesterday daredevil militants operating along the creeks of the Niger Delta once again attacked the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) facility, where three naval men were killed last week, blowing up a pipeline and causing heavy oil spillage.
THISDAY gathered that the militants, even before the commencement of the military operation, in a daring move, invaded the same facility despite heavy military presence and blow up the pipelines through which all oil evacuated from oil wells are taken to the Bonny Terminal.
It would be recalled that the Military High Command ordered the immediate invasion of the area where the naval ratings on guard duties at the Tora flow station were killed and fish out the killers. All effort to confirm the attack on the manifold from relevant authorities proved abortive as at 8.00 pm yesterday.
but a steady stream of people who claimed their communities have been invaded by soldiers continued to enter Yenagoa as at yesterday evening. Others claimed that the heavy presence of the soldiers along the creeks and rivers leading to their communities force them to flee to safety. Contacted, the Commander of the Joint Task Force in Yenagoa, Lt. Col. Chris Musa denied both the attack and the invasion. According to him, the military only went to the area to replace the house boat that was destroyed in the attack that killed the three naval ratings. Musa in a reply to a text message sent to him wrote, “I just spoke to my source. The destroyed house boat was removed today and replaced with a new one. No explosive around the area reported.” The Commander was however silent on the reported sacking of communities by soldiers.