June 22, 2009:

NPR: Nigerian Military Seizes Former Rebel Stronghold

by Ofeibea Quist-Arcton

(This is the first piece of reporting directly from the creeks since the beginning of the attacks on May 13. )

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May 24, 2009:

Vanguard (Nigeria:) War in the creeks: US Senate seeks end to military offensive

The United States(US) Senate is seeking an immediate cessation of the military offensive in Delta State, and the adoption of a creative political process in resolving the Niger Delta crisis.

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee in a statement by its chairman, Russ Feingold, deplored the killing of defenceless civilians in the area, asking President Barack Obama to intervene with a view to halting the military onslaught. Read Full Article

Voice of America: Displaced Nigerians in Desperate Need of Water, Food and Services

By Gilbert da Costa

Impoverished villagers in Nigeria’s Niger Delta have been forced to flee for their lives since the army launched its offensive against militants last week. Hundreds of people displaced by the fighting are now living in a makeshift camp, under very deplorable conditions, in the delta town of Ogbe Ijoh.

The chaos at the Ogbe Ijoh refugee camp was unmistakable. With very little to eat or drink, already traumatized mothers struggled to calm their starving babies. Read Full Article

May 22, 2009:

Guardian Newspaper (Nigeria): Enahoro, Soyinka, others want halt to military action in Delta

A BARRAGE of condemnations has continued to trail the rising death toll among civilians, especially women and children in the military assault on militants in the Delta region.

Reuters: Nigerian parliament urges wider oil delta offensive

By Camillus Eboh

ABUJA, May 22 (Reuters) – Nigeria’s lower house of parliament has passed a resolution urging President Umaru Yar’Adua to extend the biggest military operation for years in the Niger Delta into neighbouring states.

The security forces launched a campaign a week ago to dislodge rebel fighters in Delta state, one of three main states in the oil-producing region, bombarding militant camps from the air and sea before sending in hundreds of ground troops. Read Full Article

May 21, 2009:

BBC News: Thousands flee Nigeria Delta fighting

Thousands of refugees from a remote area of a Nigerian oil-producing state have fled fighting between the military and oil rebels; sleeping in the swamps and too afraid to go home.

When military helicopters buzzed over the small town of Oporoza, in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, it was just two days after 19-year-old Happiness Michael had given birth.

The helicopter gunships hovered low over a crowded street, where people had gathered to celebrate an annual festival, and opened fire with machine guns and rockets, according to several accounts.

Happiness Michael and her baby fled into the bush

“I saw bombs and fire and shooting, we fled,” the teenager told the BBC.

The assault last Friday was the beginning of a six-day campaign by the Nigerian military’s Joint Task Force (JTF), which is in charge of security in the Niger Delta, fighting oil militants.

Nigeria is one of the world’s major oil exporters but in recent years, militant attacks have cut production by about 20%.

Now the military says it is determined to stop the sabotage of oil installations and kidnapping of oil workers though local civilians say they are paying the price. Read Full Story

Democracy Now!: Massive Casualties Feared in Nigerian Military Attack on Niger Delta Villages

Filmmaker Sandi Cioffi speaks about recent military violence in the Niger Delta that has led to civilian deaths and villages destroyed including the village of Oporoza where much of her film was shot.

Reuters: Nigeria army vows to push on with oil delta campaign

By Segun Owen

WARRI, Nigeria, May 21 (Reuters) – Nigeria’s army declared a militant leader wanted dead or alive on Thursday and pressed on with an offensive in the Niger Delta which Amnesty International said may have killed hundreds.

The military last week launched its biggest campaign for years in the country’s oil heartland, bombarding militant camps near the town of Warri from the air and sea before sending in hundreds of troops to flush rebels out of communities. Read Full Article

Vanguard (Nigeria): War in the Creeks: Chased from home, driven away from refugee camp – Horrifying tales of victims

THURSDAY, May 21, five days after the Joint Task Force (JTF) on the Niger-Delta started the bombardment of Ijaw communities and militant camps in the creeks of Gbaramatu kingdom, Warri South-West Local Government Area, an Ijaw youth from Oporoza community, Mike Itima and more than 20,000 others are still trapped in the forests, where they ran into on Friday, May 15, to avoid airborne missiles from invading soldiers. Read Full Article

The Nation (Nigeria): Youth corps members face sanction

The fate of some youth corps members in Delta State, who survived the renewed clash between the military and militants, hang in the balance.

The youth corps members, who are serving in Oporoza, Warri South West Local Area, Delta State, were allegedly suspended for speaking with reporters on their experience and how the Ijaw community was bombarded. Read Full Article

Business Day (Nigeria) Senate asks committee to probe N/Delta military campaign

After days of military campaigns in the Niger Delta, the senate, Wednesday, moved in and directed its committee on defence to investigate the campaigns and report back on the situation in the affected areas. The joint military task force (JTF) was reported to have commenced the military campaigns on Monday in Okerenkoko, an Ijaw community in Delta State and is believed to be the stronghold of Niger Delta militants. Read Full Article

THE HAGUE – May 20 – As military attacks continue in the Niger Delta’s oil producing Gbaramatu Kingdom, environmental and human rights groups call for an immediate investigation by the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Office of the Prosecutor of those responsible. Read Full Article

This Day (Nigeria): N/Delta: The Human Cost of a Crisis

Amid the claims and counter-claims by the military authorities and the militants there is an irrefutable point: the operations in the Chanomi creek of Delta State have come with a toll. On the basis of the reported killings, enormous dislocation of the social lives of helpless villagers and destruction of properties, it is only reasonable to call not only for restraint but also outright stoppage of the avoidable carnage. Viewed from all dimensions what is happening in Delta state is indeed national tragedy. The fallen soldiers were Nigerians just like the militants killed. Read Full Article

Sahara Reporters: The government of Nigeria and its acts of genocide & terror against the people of the Niger Delta

The Ijaw People’s Association and Bayelsa State Union, all of Great Britain and Ireland are greatly concerned about the reports reaching us that the Nigerian Armed Forces in the form of the Joint Task Force (JTF) for the Niger Delta is attacking and invading a number of towns and villages in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State Nigeria, from Wednesday 13 up till now, Thursday 21 May 2009. These towns and villages comprise of Oporoza and satellite villages of Gbaranmatu kingdom in the said local government area. We are greatly alarmed and shocked, because the attacks and invasion with the attendant destruction of lives and property were unprovoked, and seemed to have been planned for quite a while. Read Full Article

Sahara Reporters: “Strategies to Stem Out Militant Activities”, a secret Army memo detailing attacks on the “Western” Niger Delta region revealed

In 2007, the Nigerian Army defence headquarters issued a secret memo detailing its plan to wipe out “militants” from the Niger Delta region. The memo did not disguise its desire to use maximum force to wipe out targetted areas. Right now, the Niger Delta region is getting hit by members of the adhoc “Joint Task Force” on the Western delta axis, the JTF is composed of a cocktail of security agencies in Nigeria. The attacks, which are ongoing has brought about heavy civilian casualties in areas targetted by the government. SaharaReporters brings you the “classified memo” Click here to download memo (registration required)

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