Even as the Presidency appeared to have distanced itself from the ongoing air bombardment of some Ijaw communities in Delta State which has claimed hundreds of lives with thousands of surviving victims displaced, emerging facts indicated that the military aerial assault had indeed been planned more than one year ago, awaiting presidential nod.Hints from top security sources in Abuja revealed that President Umaru Yar’Adua had given approval to the military high command to implement the recommendations in a security and operational report on the Niger Delta, in which a former commander of the Joint Military Task Force [JTF] code-named ‘Operation Restore Hope’, Major General L.P.Ngubane, had emphatically requested the use of air raid.Then a Brigadier-General, Ngubane, who is currently the General Officer Commanding the 2 Division of the Nigerian Army, had in the security report dated July 2007, and addressed to the Chief of Defence Staff [CDS], stated that the aim of his brief was to avail the authorities with strategies for the stemming of militant activities in the troubled Niger Delta region.Citing terrain difficulties which he described as a ‘defenders haven’ as the main reason for recommending the use of military air operations, Ngubane had posited that the severity of hindrance the terrain offered to the Nigerian Army troops was directly proportional to the advantage it conferred on the militants. “The terrain of most parts of the Niger Delta is no doubt severely restricted to both infantry and armour. The situation is worse in the riverine communities which are interspersed with creeks,” he noted.“The advantage the terrain confers to the militants can be neutralized by combat air operations, using helicopter gun ships. Employment of fast patrol crafts can also assist troops to beach land safely and gradually wade through the creeks to seize objectives. However, the operation will be intensive in manpower and will also demand close air support, casualty evacuation and supply by air,” Ngubane recommended in the report tagged: ‘Strategies to stem out militant activities within the Joint Task Force Operation Restore Hope Area of Responsibility’.In assessing the equipment, arms and ammunition of the various militant groups, General Ngubane stated that every major militant camp possessed almost enough of weapons such as AK-47 rifles, GPMG, BMG, RPG 7, speedboats, gunboats, and anti-aircraft [only in Camp 5] just like an infantry unit of a regular army with sufficient personnel to counter any attack from the Nigerian military through land or sea.The army chief had also in his report, linked the heavy financial muscle and weaponry of the various militant groups to their alleged involvement in illegal oil bunkering activities, through which he claimed that a large part of the crude was given in exchange for arms and ammunition. Consequently, he recommended that the only way to curb the activities of the militants was for the Navy and the Nigerian Air Force to be given full approval to sink the ships used by the bunkering masters on the high sea.“The militants rake in so much money from this illegal activity which they also use in purchasing of arms, ammunition, speedboats and also sustain the militant activities. This constitutes serious threat to peace and security. Chasing the militants in the creeks to stop this unwholesome act is not only difficult, but hazardous. The illegal activity takes place in the hours of darkness in the depth of the creeks. In these hours of darkness, it is almost impossible for security agents to do anything meaningful,” Ngubane noted.In the security report, the erstwhile JTF boss further stated that: “In the Niger Delta, militant activities thrive most in the communities that buy into their illegal activities. For instance, in Okerenkoko, Oporoza and Kurukuruama, all in Gbaramatu kingdom, the traditional rulers and the communities are part and parcel of MEND and are very hostile to security agencies.”Incidentally, when the presidential seal was given for implementation of his recommendations more than one year after the report, Okerenkoko, Oporoza and Kurukuruama, were indeed, the first three communities bombed last Friday by no fewer than seven military fighter jets, allegedly killing scores of the inhabitants.Going by General Ngubane’s recommendations to the federal authorities, there are strong indications that besides about six communities where structures have already been reduced to rubble by massive air bombardment, more villages and towns are likely to suffer the same fate in the days ahead against the backdrop of fears by the military that the various militant groups enjoy brotherhood in the face of a common foe.Part of the report reads: “Militants enjoy camaraderie in the face of a common adversary. Also, their common goal and ethnic affinity ensure that they would easily be assimilated into other communities of the same ethnicity. Consequently, militants when attacked could easily relocate to other parts of the Niger Delta. It is therefore important that any offensive operation against militants should be conducted in the entire Niger Delta. The concurrent involvement of troops other than those of the JTF OP HR and JTF Op Flush-out 111, would be necessary. This may require that 4 and 13 Bdes as well as the ENC and WNC, would at least be at alert to ward off migration of the militants to other parts of the Niger Delta.“Offensive operations adopting either Option 1 or 2 would require the immediate deployment of one additional battalion to the operational area. This is important as troops already deployed are holding vital and key locations within the JTF Op HR AOR, and would be needed to continue to maintain their deployments. Additionally, the troops would be required for blockade operations while the additional troops would then be engaged in the striking operations.“In the advent of widespread destruction of oil industry’s facilities and other acts of sabotage and bombings, it would be necessary to induct 2 additional battalions into the operations area at 7 days notice. These 2 additional units would be able to carry out pursuit operations and the strengthening and tightening of security within the entire AOR until the insurgency is curtailed.”Apparently in line with the operational recommendations, Daily Sun reliably gathered that as at weekend, over 90 military gunboats had been placed in strategic positions around the waterways in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State where the bombings are ongoing for effective blockade of all entry and exit routes.Unconfirmed reports said besides about 20,000 persons who successfully fled to take refuge in some other safe villages and towns before the commencement of air raids on Friday, over 30,000 others are presently trapped in the mangrove forests as a result of the heavy military blockades. Reports also indicated that apart from the JTF troops, three battalions, including the 81 Battalion had been placed on standby to moved into the conquered communities.
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