Nigeria: Ogodobiri Villagers Flee Homes As JTF Hunts John Togo, by Emma Amaize, Vanguard (Lagos), 18 May 2011

Warri — THE people of Ogodobiri community in Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State have fled the community seeking refuge in the forest and nearby communities following the manhunt for dreaded ex-militant leader, John Togo, suspected to be dead, by the Joint Task Force, JTF, on the Niger-Delta.

Niger Delta militants, photo credit: Vanguard

Ogodobiri, the maternal country home of Togo, who is an indigene of Ayakoromor in Burutu Local Government Area of the state, was razed in 2004 by the task force in their search for the militant leader.

In 2010, when Togo came up with the Niger-Delta Liberation Force, NDLF, the JTF, also traced him to Ogodobiri, but did not find him.

This time around, after NDLF fighters fought and wounded JTF soldiers who were on routine patrol, the task force, which maintained it was not aware of the news of the purported death of the militant leader has swooped on the community in search of Togo and his associates.

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Disband JTF now, N’Delta monarchs urge Jonathan, by Daniel Abia (P’Harcourt) and Harris-Okon Emmanuel (Warri), Daily Independent, May 18, 2011

Traditional Rulers from the Oil Mineral Producing Communities of the Niger Delta region (TROMPCON) have called on President Goodluck Jonathan to re-examine the activities of the Joint Task Force (JTF) operating in the Niger Delta region.

JTF of the Nigerian Military Photo credit: Tribune.com.ng

The call was the outcome of a two-day meeting in Port Harcourt and contained in a communiqué jointly signed by Eze Young Ogbonna and Pere Stanley Perediegha Luke, National President and National Secretary respectively

The group also urged the Federal Government to overhaul the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) programme considering the recent post election violence in some parts of the North, which resulted in the death of at least ten corps members of southern origin.

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Activist: Civilian deaths in Nigeria’s oil delta by Jon Bambrell, Associated Press – Fri Dec 3, 4:19 pm ET

WARRI, Nigeria – Nigerian warplanes bombed a village near a militant camp and soldiers opened fire with machine guns, killing as many as 150 people, human rights activists and witnesses said Friday.

image credit: next

Oghebejabor Ikim, national coordinator for the Forum of Justice and Human Rights Defense, told The Associated Press civilians have suffered a heavy toll in the military operation that began Wednesday. He said as many as 150 had died around the village of Ayakoromo, though he could only offer a list of 14 names of those dead who have already been identified. The lawyer said many people remained hiding and mourning in the region’s winding creeks.

The attacks on a village in the Niger Delta continued Friday as the military tried to kill or capture a militant called John Togo who runs the attacked camps and who officials said gave up on a government-sponsored amnesty program. The amnesty program for militants brought an uneasy calm to a region vital to U.S. oil supplies, which is now threatened by new militant attacks and government offensives that put civilians at risk.

In a statement issued late Friday, a military spokesman said any civilian building targeted by soldiers had been used by militants as cover, meaning they became “a military target.”

The military “wishes to state categorically that it did not carry out any genocide in Ayakoromo, neither was Ayakoromo or any other community its target,” the statement from Lt. Col. Timothy Antigha said.

The statement did not offer any death toll for the operation targeting the village and surrounding communities.

“I can describe it as a killing spree of innocent civilians,” Ikim said. “Houses have been burnt. Women are raped. There are killings. Is that how to get at John Togo?”

There appeared to be confusion about whether those in Ayakoromo initially fought back when the military began their assault Wednesday afternoon. Ikim said all of Togo’s fighters left the area before the fighting, while a witness in a nearby village told the AP by telephone that “there was shooting from both sides.”

The witness said the military had returned several times to launch new assaults, calling in heavy machine gun fire from patrolling Navy vessels and dropping bombs from military aircraft. One attack took place Friday morning, he said.

“We could only hear the sound — boom boom boom — everywhere,” he said. “Everyone (was) running.”

The man spoke on the condition of anonymity as he remained fearful of being targeted by military forces for speaking publicly about the attacks.

Amnesty International issued a statement Friday saying one eyewitness who spoke to its researchers said he saw soldiers transferring more than 20 bodies from boats to military vehicles.

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More news on the military attacks in the Niger Delta:

Ijaw Peoples Council wants JTF to limit attacks to militants, Vanguard, Dapo Akinrefon, Nov 18, 2010

A Niger Delta group, Ijaw Peoples Congress, IPC, has called on the Commandant of the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta to limit their attack to militants in Ughelli South and Burutu Local Government Areas of Delta State.

In a statement by its national president, Mr. Ekanpou Enewaridideke, the group expressed worry over the deployment of soldiers to the councils in the state, noting that the councils were in no way connected with the militants.

“We condemn in strong terms, any resurgence of militancy in the Niger Delta and will assist in any capacity to curb the menace. Let the public know that Ayakoromo is a community of intellectuals, who are diametrically opposed to militancy in any form and therefore, do disassociate ourselves from any form of complicity or companionship with John Togo in the on-going battle between him and JTF soldiers.

“We wish to place on record that JTF soldiers should limit their attack to only John Togo’s camp. The commandant of JTF should carry out his military operation in such a way that innocent and harmless people and communities are not affected.

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“Already stray bullets have begun flying to Ayakoromo in invasive torrents and this must stop because Ayakoromo people are not part of the war,” he said. While urging the JTF commander to refrain from harming innocent people in the areas, he said what happened in Gbaramatu should not be allowed to repeat itself.

“We wish to say that communities such as Akparemogbene, Oyangbene, Ogbobabougbene, Okwagbe, Egbo-Idei, Ekameta, Egolegbene, Gbekebor, Eseimogbene, Newtown and many others are in the vicinity of Ayakoromo and these communities are peaceful and anti-militancy and will not applaud militancy in any form,” he said.

The Nigerian joint military task force (JTF) carried out a land, air, and marine assault in the Niger Delta, freeing 19 hostages and raiding two suspected criminal camps after several kidnappings and attacks on oil facilities.

“At the moment we have ongoing operations in several locations simultaneously,” JTF spokesman Timothy Antigha was earlier quoted by Reuters as saying before the hostages were freed.

The military had warned on Saturday it planned to carry out raids on suspected criminal camps in the Niger Delta and told civilians in the vicinity to leave.

A major military offensive would be the first in the heartland since an amnesty brokered by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua began in August 2009.

JTF Attacks More Militant Camps, Frees 19 Hostages, Paul Ohia with Agency Reports, All Africa, 17 November 2010

Last Month, the Nigerian military began an offensive attack in the Niger Delta under the guise of rooting out militants associated with the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). However, it’s clear that those who have suffered have been countless innocent villagers. Now the military has expanded their attacks to other states in the Delta.  Late last week, Environmental Rights Action issued a report of eye-witness accounts from the violence.

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“Most of the students like me who tried to escape during the deadly incident are dead.  Some in the streets, forests …they were killed by the bombs. I lost my mother and six of my brothers in the incidence. Two of my three sisters are still trapped in the forest. The place is too dangerous for them to come out now. They can’t cross with boat and they can’t risk swimming. The JTF (Joint Task Force) people  have blocked the waterways. One of my sisters has been missing.
Nobody seems to know her whereabouts. The military people were using their helicopter chopper to destroy everything we have ever had. I saw war with my naked eyes. I saw my mum’s dead body. I saw my brothers lying helpless on the ground (here she started sobbing). Everyone was running without direction. It is a bitter experience. They are wicked people. They are heartless. I don’t have any family member as militants. We used to survive with fishing. It was through fishing business that my mum pays our school fees. Why will the FG [federal government]  send military men to kill us, to destroy our community? We don’t have anywhere else to go now. No home, no place to go…”

-. – Miss Peres Popo, 21, ,21 from, from Okporoza .

The report details what Environmental Rights Action is calling for in response to the military violence:

ERA demands:

• The Federal Government  should withdraw Joint Task Force (JTF) operatives from Gbaramatu Kingdom and the entire Niger Delta region.
• Federal Government should engage in genuine dialogue with the peoples of the Niger Delta as gun duels will not resolve the deep political issues
• Adequate provision of medical treatment and relief materials to all displaced persons
• Grant immediate access to NGO’s and other observers to Gbaramatu Kingdom
• Compensation for all affected persons in the attacks.
• Reconstruction of all bombed buildings and communities

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