Army arrests suspected members of Niger Delta Avengers

As part of efforts by the Federal Government
to check the spate of renewed attacks on oil
and gas installations in the Niger Delta
region, the Nigerian Army has arrested 10
suspected members of the militant group,
Niger Delta Avengers.
The suspects were said to have been
arrested at about 1:40am on Saturday in
Oporaza community, Warri South-West Local
Government Area of Delta State, following a
search conducted in the community.







Some oil installations in the region have
been vandalised by militants suspected to be
members of the Niger Delta Avengers,
threatening the production and supply of oil
and gas in the country.
The Commander of the 4 Brigade, Brigadier-
General Farouk Yahaya, who paraded the
suspects on Sunday in Benin, the Edo State
capital, said there had been cases of
sabotage by suspected militants and vandals
in Delta State since January 1, 2016 and
threats “to shut down all operations” in the
sector.
He noted that several items were recovered
from the arrested suspects.
They include 28 detonator cords (also
known Detonator 33), one pistol, two
pistols, 196 rounds of 7.62 special
ammunition, one round of nine-millimetre
ammunition, a live cartridge and five
daggers.
Also recovered were 15 handheld radio sets,
18 phones, 203 SIM cards belonging to
three major network providers, five
swimsuits, two headlamps, a laptop, two
ipads and a camera.
Others are seven wraps of substances
suspected to be Indian hemp, five
speedboat throttle cables, six pairs of hand
gloves, the sum of N23,000 cash and a
cheque book.
He said that although investigation would
reveal the true identity of the suspects,
recent explosions carried out by the Niger
Delta Avengers suggested that the arrested
suspects might not be unconnected to the
group.
He added, “Within the period under review,
you can see that the Niger Delta Avengers
have claimed virtually all acts of criminal
activities against oil and gas and they
continue threatening a shutdown of the
whole sector. So, most likely, they (suspects)
will be the people, who else would they be?
On the speculation that the militants might
have adopted the use of charms to evade
arrest, Yahaya said, “Whatever a person
wants to use, he can use it. But I know that
God is always on the side of the truth.
“We are not worried by voodoo. It did not
stop the suspects from being arrested and
others that have been arrested before now.”
“Operations that led to these arrests and
recoveries were conducted professionally,
guided by our mandate, operation orders,
code of conduct and rules of engagement.
Our operations are strictly targeted against
perpetrators of all criminal acts in our area
of responsibility and not innocent citizens,”
he added.
The brigade commander, who noted that
the suspects would be handed over to
prosecuting security agencies at the end of
preliminary investigation called on the
general public to provide the Army with
relevant information on militant groups to
assist it to combat criminal elements in the
interest of the country.