Niger Delta Avengers Arrested

Suspected militants destroying oil facilities in the Niger Delta- the Niger Delta Avengers, have been arrested. They were paraded in Benin, the Edo State capital on Sunday. The militants were apprehended at about 1:40am on Saturday in Oporaza community, Warri South-West Local Government Area, consequent upon a cordon-and-search operation conducted in the community. Parading the suspects, the 4 Brigade Commander, Brigadier General Farouk Yahaya stated that there had been several cases of sabotage by suspected militants and vandals in Delta State since January 1, and warning and threats “to shut down all operations” in the sector. According to General Yahaya, the arms and ammunition recovered from the suspects are 28 detonator cords (also known Detonator 33), one pistol, two empty pistol magazines, 196 rounds of 7.62 special ammunition, one round of nine-millimetre ammunition, a live cartridge and five daggers. Other items recovered are 15 handheld radio sets, 18 phones, 203 SIM cards belonging to three major network providers, five swimsuits, two headlamps, a laptop, two ipads and a camera. Also recovered is seven wraps of substances suspected to be hemp, five speedboat throttle cables, six pairs of hand gloves, N23,000 cash and a chequebook. Yahaya added that “Within the period under review, you can see that the Niger Delta Avengers have claimed virtually all acts of criminal activities against oil and gas and they continue threatening a shutdown of the whole sector. So, most likely, they (suspects) will be the people; who else would they be?” “Operations that led to these arrests and recoveries were conducted professionally, guided by our mandate, operation orders, code of conduct and rules of engagement. “Our operations are strictly targeted against perpetrators of all criminal acts in our area of responsibility and not innocent citizens.”