Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), one of the militant groups operating in oil-rich region, said that at least 20 soldiers died during the military operation “Crocodile smile”.
The group in a statement signed by its spokesman Brig Gen Mudoch Agbinibo and made available to NAIJ.com offered their condolences to the families and Mr. President, Muhammadu Buhari, C-In-C of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, on the soldiers murdered in the current military operation.
The statement reads: “Mr. President from available facts, the untimely deaths of these four (4) fine soldiers in the creeks of Bayelsa and another sixteen (16) that was recorded during the first four days of the exercise along the River Ethiope, in Delta state but was earlier covered up is nothing more than act of murder.”
The militants claimed that the soldiers died due to negligence, administrative greed and a corruption within the military constructed and perfected by the ascendant APC political class (conflict merchants we have mentioned times without numbers) from the Niger Delta and some Abuja paid and bought up interest.
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“Mr. President, the worrisome dimensions about the ongoing reorganization and restructuring of the unending security operations in the Niger Delta is where two of your head of security apparatus are boasting to the minister of defense that, they have your hears. They assured him, it is now their turn to bloat their pockets and that they can talk you to even borrowing money to sustain the insecurity in the region, which the honourable minister of defense concurred to before the ongoing exercises.
“We have earlier advised against timing, strategy and objectives of the show of military might and the deployment of military hardwares to the Niger Delta suddenly when there is certainly cessation of hostilities for peace talks to commence. But the top hierarchy of the Nigerian military led by Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, your chief of army staff was only after his pecuniary monetary gains and that of some Akpakpa- AJUDAIBO CHAMPAGNE intelligence chief who is desperately arm-twisting the peace processes continuously,” the Avengers added.
They wondered why to hurry to train over two thousand military personnel for just 4 to 14 days on amphibious military exercise to occupy the Niger Delta region when the Niger Elders and stakeholders are awaiting your response for peace talks.
The group continued: “Have you forgotten the exploits of our great fathers during the infamous Nigerian Civil War in amphibious warfare without any military training? Is it because they were volunteers as such the success was credited to Late Lt. Col. Benjamin Adekunle and Lt. Col Olusegun Obasanjo instead of them? Mr. President as a veteran of that fateful war, you know that after all failures, the amphibious warfare and successes was under the command of Lt. Gen. Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro of blessed memories, the pride and face of the 3rd Marine Commandos (3MCDOS) constituted of able-bodied Ijaw warriors voluntarily. They were not given any formal military training prior to that great contribution to the unity of Nigeria, but they succeeded because there were amphibious by nature.
“Mr. President, the truth to be told, we are the “GREAT WHITE SHARKS” of the Atlantic when it comes to marine warfare! “Operation Crocodile Smiles” is ironically, a simulative military operation exercise for waters less than 2 fathoms in depth orchestrated by the top hierarchy of the military to undermine any genuine disposition from your government towards restoration of tranquility in the Niger Delta and to exhaust your security budget for the year, except you are thinking otherwise towards peace in the Niger Delta too.
“We the Ijaws and the people of the Niger Delta occurred here times immemorial. We have resisted, any attempt of exclusions in the control of our God given resources, from the Portuguese and British colonial trades and periods to date. We are ever ready to continue that resistance even without guns and ammunitions.
“Finally, Mr. President, we want you to commission a high powered panel to investigate all processes that led to the ongoing military operation and exercise in the Niger Delta tagged “Operation Crocodile Smiles” and all the ongoing cover-ups of military mishaps that have led to more than twenty (20) deaths so far. Mr. President, in practical terms Crocodiles do not have any capacity to swim close to the water depth small tiger sharks swim and play around not to talk of the depths of the great whites, the heart of the nation’s economic where we have overmastered.
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“The mission ongoing in the Niger Delta is a brainchild of orchestrated military corruption at your face Mr. President. Operation Crocodile Smiles is nothing but a conduit pipe for military contracts, political profiteerism and patronages designed for the stress of your administration’s scarce resources. If it has any other purpose, it is satisfy the ego of a trigger happy chief army staff who killed over 800 Shiite just to have the right of way to a meeting even though there were other routes to his meeting. For the records, depths of 2-3 fathoms in the Niger Delta region is likened to the waters our kids of ages between 3-8 years bathe and swarm with crocodiles, alligators and other aquatic creatures in the mangroves/freshwater swamps of Niger Delta creeks.”
Niger Delta militant groups, including NDA, have launched the attacks on oil and gas pipelines since February 2016.
The militants demand a greater share of Nigeria’s oil wealth for the impoverished but oil-rich region.
On August 29, Avengers announced that it halted hostilities in the region and is ready to talk with the government. Meanwhile, the production losses have left Nigeria facing questions about how it will fund its record budget.