The joint security information managers committee ,a joint committee of all the security agencies in the country has faulted claims by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger-delta (MEND) that it is responsible for the attack on a naval gun boat deployed to Shell Petroleum Development Company on March 1st.
MEND had in a statement on the 2nd of March claimed responsibility for the attack which killed three Marine police officers the day before in Bayelsa.
Parading the one of the attackers who is said to be the only surviving one, the director of naval information Commodore Kabir Aliyu , identified the alleged attacker as Mr. Apudu Gole.
The suspect was said to have sustained some injuries during the exchange of fire with the security operatives, as he was seen wrapped up and limping during the press briefing.
According to Commodore Aliyu , “the attack on the JTF personnel in the last three months along Nigeria’s territorial waters have been carried out by a few uncoordinated groups within the Niger-delta” as he use the opportunity to refute MEND’s claim. This is “exposing the lies and deception of the so called MEND” he said.
He warned that any more attempt to orchestrate violence and insecurity in the Niger-delta region will be met with decisive force.
The Joint Task Force had announced the recovery of bodies of slained officer of the force that were also killed in another attack on the same day. The JTF also denounced the claim by MEND saying the attacks were launched by miscreants in the Niger-delta, noting that any community of the creeks that harbor the criminals will not be spared.
