Relief as Niger Delta Militants Fail to Launch Missiles

Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa

There was relief in the Niger Delta region on Wednesday following the failure of the new Niger Delta group, Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force, to unleash six missiles on the country’s critical assets, including military hardware in the region.

Many respondents told THISDAY that though the group was little known, the threats could not be dismissed with a wave of the hand since several other groups like that had kept their vows in the past.

Aside from threatening to bomb the Presidential Villa, the Department of State Services, Central Bank of Nigeria, the Police Headquarters and the Defence Headquarters, the group had also vowed to attack all the assets of the Joint Task Force in the region.

‘’Note: we are going to destroy the ones (warships and fighter jets) they have deployed to Escravos, Forcados in Delta State; Bonga oil field, Agbami offshore and Brass in Bayelsa.

‘’Also, Bony in Rivers; Qua Iboe Terminal in Akwa Ibom State, and
Opuekeba in Ondo state if they (military) fail to remove them before time. Our crack team has taken inventory of their equipment’’, the group had threatened.

But THISDAY learnt that while there was no serious public security response to the vow to bomb the facilities, residents in the area took several precautions, including staying indoors.

‘’There was serious apprehension in the region concerning the threats. In fact, some teachers asked some students not to come to school tuesday.

‘’In my area, Harbour Road, Yenagoa, many children did not go to school. You needed to check the Free Readers Association, the people that read free news, saying that the equipment the boys possessed, Nigeria didn’t have them.

‘’But it was basically out of ignorance. Do you know what a missile is? Do you know what it takes to launch a missile?’’, Mr Christopher Abarowei, a resident of the state, said.

Further details later