Post by Honorebu on Aug 7, 2016 4:56:23 GMT
There was pandemonium Thursday in the mangrove creeks of Arepo in Ogun State when operatives of the anti-pipeline vandalism Joint Task Force (JTF) carried out an aerial bombardment of four camps believed to be the stronghold of suspected militants who have been unleashing terror on innocent members of the community.
In the five-day offensive, Alfa jets belonging to the Nigerian Air Force pounded the hideouts of the suspects in the area between 2am and 3am, a security official said, adding that many of the hoodlums were killed and several others wounded.
It all started soon after the criminals abducted the Oniba of Iba, Oba Yushau Goriola Osen and later proceeded on a shooting spree at Ewedogbon, located about five minutes away from Iba town.
After the heavy assault on the suspects’ camps, the operatives said at least 11 displaced pipeline vandals now turned militants were arrested.Though the military said it could not give an exact number of persons who died in the raid, villagers alleged that scores were killed in the fresh air strikes on the stronghold of the militants located in the Arepo mangrove creeks.
The residents said they saw several areas where huge fires were burning following the blitz, while officials claimed that four of the terrorists’ camps were decimated.
The chairman of the task force carrying out the operation tagged ‘Operation Awatse’, Rear Admiral Ferhusson Bobai, said the air strikes would continue until the entire area is cleaned up.However the silence from the militant camps, according to some villagers,was ominous for those living around Arepo, Ishawo, Elepete, Ijeododo, Igando and Ibafo in Lagos and Ogun states respectively.
Daily Trust on Sunday learnt that the vandals were expecting to collect the sum of N500 million from the families of Oba Yushau Goriola Osen and a pastor from the Redeemed Christian Church of God Mission who was also abducted at Ishawo and four other persons.
They didn’t anticipate anything different from the usual combing of the murky waters by security operative, until the dark cloud suddenly turned red as about four Alfa jets launched attacks on them, it was gathered.
Some fishermen told our correspondent that two days after the bombardment, they saw some of the militants collecting the remains of their dead colleagues for burial.They alleged that they dug shallow graves where they buried their dead and shot dead those who sustained both minor and severe injuries in order to remove anything that could lead the security forces to them before they moved into the densely area of the mangrove creeks.
Before the aerial bombardment, several suspected militants had attacked security check post in the area leaving scores dead and many others injured. Many policemen and naval personnel also lost their lives in an attempt to stop the criminals from vandalising pipelines belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Meanwhile, days after the Oniba of Iba was kidnapped, some vandals dressed in NNPC uniforms under the pretence of carrying out repair work, blew up a gas pipeline in the area.
The military said most areas at the border between Lagos and Ogun that were used by suspected pipelines vandals have been cleared and that another operation was underway in the thickly forested areas where the suspects are holed up after fleeing from their former strongholds.
But just when the military said the offensive was in its final phases, the militants went haywire killing, raping and robbing members of the public around Ishawo, Elepete, Igando, Igbo-Olomu, Arepo and Ibafo areas.
Officials said another bombing foray last Sunday was part of a massive ground operation in which the security forces regained the control of some strategic heights.
The operation in Arepo was launched following reports that fleeing militants had been sheltered by Badoo, one of the kingpins of the displaced vandals now turned militants.Local fishermen alleged that after the aerial bombardment, some of the vandals responsible for attacks on communities in Lagos and Ogun states were escaping to other riverine communities.
Rear Admiral Ferhusson Bobai, ‘‘Arepo is no longer safe for them. Some of them are moving out using the banks of the shallow waters as their foot paths. Nobody can say where they are moving to, but few of them left under the cover of darkness. We believe that a large number of them are still trapped in the swamp. We sighted them in some communities here. It seems Arepo is too hot for them.”
The Director of Public Relations and Information of the Nigerian Air Force, Group Capt. Ayodele Famuyiwa, also disclosed that the vandals were sighted on Sunday, “probably perfecting plans to flee”.
He said NAF cameras used for night operations picked some of the insurgents meeting, adding that the aerial operation against the vandals would continue until they were flushed out of Ogun and Lagos areas completely.
The NAF fighter destroyed the major camps of the vandals at Arepo, known as Fatola, Abuja, and two others during the four days of sustained aerial offensive in the area.
“Some of them tried to run into the mangrove. You know that place is very thick and that is why our operation is going to continue until we flush them out completely,” Group Capt. Famuyiwa said.
The JTF’s ‘Operation Awatse’ chairman, Rear Admiral Bobai, who also doubles as the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), Western Naval Command (WNC) disclosed at a press conference held at the Headquarters of the Logistics Command, Ikeja, that only 11 suspects have been arrested since the operations started, while the Lagos State Police Command said it arrested about five suspects when the militants raided Ewedogbon area of Igando.
The FOC, alongside the Air Officer Commanding (AOC), Air Vice Marshal Sani Ahmed, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police (CP), Fatai Owoseni, as well as heads of other security agencies in the state gave an overall assessment of the five-day operation.
Others who attended the assessment briefing were General Officer Commanding (GOC), Major General Isidore Edet; the Air Officer Commanding (AOC), Air Force Logistics Command, Air Vice Marshal Sani Ahmed, and the Commander, Nigerian Army 9 Brigade, Brigadier General Sani Mohammed, the Commandant, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Tajudeen Balogun; and the Director, Department of State Security Services.
At the end of the joint meeting the security heads concurred that the operation was successful.
Admiral Bobai who addressed the media on behalf of the team said the operatives carried out aerial bombardment of the creeks and mangroves of Ishawo and Igando areas of Ikorodu in Lagos State; and the Arepo, Awawa, Elepete and Ibafo areas of Ogun State.
The surveillance videos obtained by the NAF Beachcraft (NAF 202), showed that the vandals were heavily armed with the General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMG) mounted on their gunboats.
To complement the aerial bombardments of the vandals’ camps, the army component, alongside the NSCDC, police and DSS, has blocked access through land. The other exit points on water, especially the Abeokuta, Ishawo, Igando points have been blocked by the navy.
Bobai said the decision to sustain the aerial bombardment was to ensure that the four key targets gotten on the surveillance videos were knocked out using precision attacks.
He said: “After using some of their surveillance aircraft to carry out reconnaissance of the areas since Thursday, the Nigerian Air Force pilots were at the Logistics Command to brief us.
“Through the surveillance gathered, we identified four key targets, which we believe when knocked off, will set confusion in the militants’ and vandals’ camps.
“Therefore, we are going to sustain and continue to mop up the ground as the Nigerian Air Force continues to use their air power to neutralise some other areas.
“We have 11 suspects in our custody. They are still being processed. All the security agencies are involved in this operation to avoid infiltration of other areas by militants. It will not be limited to Arepo. If we get information that some of them have escaped and are in another area, we will go after them.”
He explained that the operatives would set ablaze millions of kegs containing the stolen products, which were sighted in the surveillance videos, because the terrain was too difficult to bring them out.
Meanwhile, members of the Community Development Associations (CDA) in the area have applauded the federal government’s deployment of security forces in the area.
Some officials of the CDAs in Ikorodu said that the intervention of the forces had checked criminalities in the areas.
Mrs Ramat Momoh, the spokesperson of the IgbaOtun CDA in Muti-Ereko, Sagamu, urged the federal government to do more by establishing a police station in one of the affected communities.
“People are still running away from the communities and packing out for fear of reprisal by the pipeline vandals. It is important for the government to reassure us that our safety is guaranteed by building a police station here,” she said.
She noted that the activities of the vandals, including killings, had also affected buying and selling in the area.
Alhaji Mustapha Raji, the Vice-Chairman of Ifelodun CDA, Igboolomu in Lagos State, who also lauded the operations of the security agencies, urged government to construct a road to the affected communities.
Read more at www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/general/inside-battle-against-militants-in-ogun-lagos-creeks/158103.html#K8xSJWDKmAX4d8uE.99
In the five-day offensive, Alfa jets belonging to the Nigerian Air Force pounded the hideouts of the suspects in the area between 2am and 3am, a security official said, adding that many of the hoodlums were killed and several others wounded.
It all started soon after the criminals abducted the Oniba of Iba, Oba Yushau Goriola Osen and later proceeded on a shooting spree at Ewedogbon, located about five minutes away from Iba town.
After the heavy assault on the suspects’ camps, the operatives said at least 11 displaced pipeline vandals now turned militants were arrested.Though the military said it could not give an exact number of persons who died in the raid, villagers alleged that scores were killed in the fresh air strikes on the stronghold of the militants located in the Arepo mangrove creeks.
The residents said they saw several areas where huge fires were burning following the blitz, while officials claimed that four of the terrorists’ camps were decimated.
The chairman of the task force carrying out the operation tagged ‘Operation Awatse’, Rear Admiral Ferhusson Bobai, said the air strikes would continue until the entire area is cleaned up.However the silence from the militant camps, according to some villagers,was ominous for those living around Arepo, Ishawo, Elepete, Ijeododo, Igando and Ibafo in Lagos and Ogun states respectively.
Daily Trust on Sunday learnt that the vandals were expecting to collect the sum of N500 million from the families of Oba Yushau Goriola Osen and a pastor from the Redeemed Christian Church of God Mission who was also abducted at Ishawo and four other persons.
They didn’t anticipate anything different from the usual combing of the murky waters by security operative, until the dark cloud suddenly turned red as about four Alfa jets launched attacks on them, it was gathered.
Some fishermen told our correspondent that two days after the bombardment, they saw some of the militants collecting the remains of their dead colleagues for burial.They alleged that they dug shallow graves where they buried their dead and shot dead those who sustained both minor and severe injuries in order to remove anything that could lead the security forces to them before they moved into the densely area of the mangrove creeks.
Before the aerial bombardment, several suspected militants had attacked security check post in the area leaving scores dead and many others injured. Many policemen and naval personnel also lost their lives in an attempt to stop the criminals from vandalising pipelines belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Meanwhile, days after the Oniba of Iba was kidnapped, some vandals dressed in NNPC uniforms under the pretence of carrying out repair work, blew up a gas pipeline in the area.
The military said most areas at the border between Lagos and Ogun that were used by suspected pipelines vandals have been cleared and that another operation was underway in the thickly forested areas where the suspects are holed up after fleeing from their former strongholds.
But just when the military said the offensive was in its final phases, the militants went haywire killing, raping and robbing members of the public around Ishawo, Elepete, Igando, Igbo-Olomu, Arepo and Ibafo areas.
Officials said another bombing foray last Sunday was part of a massive ground operation in which the security forces regained the control of some strategic heights.
The operation in Arepo was launched following reports that fleeing militants had been sheltered by Badoo, one of the kingpins of the displaced vandals now turned militants.Local fishermen alleged that after the aerial bombardment, some of the vandals responsible for attacks on communities in Lagos and Ogun states were escaping to other riverine communities.
Rear Admiral Ferhusson Bobai, ‘‘Arepo is no longer safe for them. Some of them are moving out using the banks of the shallow waters as their foot paths. Nobody can say where they are moving to, but few of them left under the cover of darkness. We believe that a large number of them are still trapped in the swamp. We sighted them in some communities here. It seems Arepo is too hot for them.”
The Director of Public Relations and Information of the Nigerian Air Force, Group Capt. Ayodele Famuyiwa, also disclosed that the vandals were sighted on Sunday, “probably perfecting plans to flee”.
He said NAF cameras used for night operations picked some of the insurgents meeting, adding that the aerial operation against the vandals would continue until they were flushed out of Ogun and Lagos areas completely.
The NAF fighter destroyed the major camps of the vandals at Arepo, known as Fatola, Abuja, and two others during the four days of sustained aerial offensive in the area.
“Some of them tried to run into the mangrove. You know that place is very thick and that is why our operation is going to continue until we flush them out completely,” Group Capt. Famuyiwa said.
The JTF’s ‘Operation Awatse’ chairman, Rear Admiral Bobai, who also doubles as the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), Western Naval Command (WNC) disclosed at a press conference held at the Headquarters of the Logistics Command, Ikeja, that only 11 suspects have been arrested since the operations started, while the Lagos State Police Command said it arrested about five suspects when the militants raided Ewedogbon area of Igando.
The FOC, alongside the Air Officer Commanding (AOC), Air Vice Marshal Sani Ahmed, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police (CP), Fatai Owoseni, as well as heads of other security agencies in the state gave an overall assessment of the five-day operation.
Others who attended the assessment briefing were General Officer Commanding (GOC), Major General Isidore Edet; the Air Officer Commanding (AOC), Air Force Logistics Command, Air Vice Marshal Sani Ahmed, and the Commander, Nigerian Army 9 Brigade, Brigadier General Sani Mohammed, the Commandant, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Tajudeen Balogun; and the Director, Department of State Security Services.
At the end of the joint meeting the security heads concurred that the operation was successful.
Admiral Bobai who addressed the media on behalf of the team said the operatives carried out aerial bombardment of the creeks and mangroves of Ishawo and Igando areas of Ikorodu in Lagos State; and the Arepo, Awawa, Elepete and Ibafo areas of Ogun State.
The surveillance videos obtained by the NAF Beachcraft (NAF 202), showed that the vandals were heavily armed with the General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMG) mounted on their gunboats.
To complement the aerial bombardments of the vandals’ camps, the army component, alongside the NSCDC, police and DSS, has blocked access through land. The other exit points on water, especially the Abeokuta, Ishawo, Igando points have been blocked by the navy.
Bobai said the decision to sustain the aerial bombardment was to ensure that the four key targets gotten on the surveillance videos were knocked out using precision attacks.
He said: “After using some of their surveillance aircraft to carry out reconnaissance of the areas since Thursday, the Nigerian Air Force pilots were at the Logistics Command to brief us.
“Through the surveillance gathered, we identified four key targets, which we believe when knocked off, will set confusion in the militants’ and vandals’ camps.
“Therefore, we are going to sustain and continue to mop up the ground as the Nigerian Air Force continues to use their air power to neutralise some other areas.
“We have 11 suspects in our custody. They are still being processed. All the security agencies are involved in this operation to avoid infiltration of other areas by militants. It will not be limited to Arepo. If we get information that some of them have escaped and are in another area, we will go after them.”
He explained that the operatives would set ablaze millions of kegs containing the stolen products, which were sighted in the surveillance videos, because the terrain was too difficult to bring them out.
Meanwhile, members of the Community Development Associations (CDA) in the area have applauded the federal government’s deployment of security forces in the area.
Some officials of the CDAs in Ikorodu said that the intervention of the forces had checked criminalities in the areas.
Mrs Ramat Momoh, the spokesperson of the IgbaOtun CDA in Muti-Ereko, Sagamu, urged the federal government to do more by establishing a police station in one of the affected communities.
“People are still running away from the communities and packing out for fear of reprisal by the pipeline vandals. It is important for the government to reassure us that our safety is guaranteed by building a police station here,” she said.
She noted that the activities of the vandals, including killings, had also affected buying and selling in the area.
Alhaji Mustapha Raji, the Vice-Chairman of Ifelodun CDA, Igboolomu in Lagos State, who also lauded the operations of the security agencies, urged government to construct a road to the affected communities.
Read more at www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/general/inside-battle-against-militants-in-ogun-lagos-creeks/158103.html#K8xSJWDKmAX4d8uE.99
