| By EMMANUEL ADDEH | |
| Sunday, 22 May 2011 |
Following the lingering violence in the Niger Delta, which disrupted crude oil production in the area, the late President Umaru Yar’Adua had on April 2, 2009 announced his intention to grant amnesty to all militants in the region.
The amnesty had come with a proviso that it would only cover those who were ready to lay down their arms and ammunition with a commitment by the federal government to rehabilitate and reintegrate such militants into the society.
"We are working on terms for the granting of amnesty for all those who are ready to lay down their arms in the Niger Delta, and this amnesty will include not only to lay down their arms but also reintegrating them and rehabilitating them into the Nigerian society’’, the late president had vowed.
Two years after, it would seem that some Niger Delta warlords, the major one being John Togo’s Niger Delta Liberation Force had only taken the late president’s amnesty plan with a pinch of salt.
Though, he was initially said to have accepted the federal government’s amnesty, John Togo reportedly reneged and went back to the creeks with his boys following his disenchantment with the way the programme was being handled.
The federal government’s battle against the renegade militant took a formal dimension when it declared him wanted for various crimes in the oil-rich region.
Indeed, the task force in a statement by its Media Coordinator, Lt. Col. Anthony Antigha, declared NDLF leader, Togo, wanted for setting up new militant camps, involving in sea piracy and other criminal activities in the region.
Since then, it has been a hide-and-seek between the rebel and authorities of the JTF.
The self-styled General of the Niger Delta struggle was said to have emerged from the Itsekiri/Ijaw ethnic war of 2003, when rival tribal groups from Delta State spawned death, destruction and a new set of militias and militants were born.
The wrangling between the JTF and Togo’s NDLF, had come to a head when the group also declared the then JTF Commander, Brig.-Gen. Charles Omoregie, wanted for daring to humiliate their leader, bombing harmless communities, causing genocide, extra-judicial killings, rape, oil theft and intimidating the people of Niger Delta."
But the fresh manhunt for Togo which started about 12 days ago, followed what the leadership of the military operation codenamed, Operation Restore Hope, described as an unprovoked attack by Togo’s camp around Ayakoromo Community in Burutu LGA of Delta State, where the Nigerian troop was said to have been on a routine patrol.
Five days after, the leadership of the military operation to restore peace in the Niger Delta confirmed that some of its officers were wounded.
The task force Spokesman noted that the wounded soldiers had been evacuated to the hospital for medical attention.
He said, "I wish to finally say that following the unprovoked attack on a JTF patrol on May 10, 2011, which preceded this on-going operation, some personnel sustained various degrees of injuries and have been evacuated for adequate medical attention.
"This is further to previous updates on the on-going operation to stamp out the threat of militancy in the Niger Delta, I am pleased to provide the following updates: The JTF is continuing with its efforts to isolate renegade militant leader; John Togo and his gang.
"In this regard, the JTF has been holding consultations with community leaders of riverine communities where John Togo has been hiding. The essence of this effort is to carry the leaders along and intimate them of the risk in providing safe haven for people who constitute clear and present threat to the stability of the nation."
He added, "I would also like to disclose that the JTF has so far discovered some recently constructed camps, built by John Togo within Obubu Creek and environs. The import of this discovery is that Togo is not considering giving up on militancy and criminal activities."
Days after the reported air and land raids on the militants and his gang, there were reports that he had either surrendered or died.
In fact, the surrender story was looking clearer by the minute as the leadership of the militants confirmed their plan to give in to the JTF’s superior fire power.
The militant group, in a statement, entitled, "End of the last battle; why we surrendered and abandoned Israel Barracks," said, "this is much like a speech of a fallen hero in battle with tears and heavy face. Today, we hereby declare that the JTF has won the final battle in the creeks.
"This decision is not out of cowardice, but it was reached basically on humanitarian reasons as many Ijaw and Urhobo communities have had untold suffering with over hundreds of people losing their lives in Ayakoromor on December 1, 2010, in the hands of Nigerian soldiers who killed innocent community as reprisal for their lost soldiers in battle with NDLF soldiers.
"While we have abandoned our barracks in the creeks, the government should know that these boys are no longer in the NDLF control which if urgent step is not taken to integrate them into the federal government amnesty programme, the resultant effect could be imagined than said. We therefore, appeal to the federal government to make a quick decision so as to withdraw the weapons from NDLF."
But the JTF would hear none of the surrender tale. In fact, the body asked Togo to tell his story to the mariners, as they had heard the same song severally.
Antigha said Togo sold the same dummy last year after his attack on the government troops led to a manhunt for him and his members.
‘’A surrender cannot be effected in cyberspace or on the pages of newspapers. If John Togo and his co-travellers are serious about surrender, they know what to do. Until that is done, any news of surrender is seen as a diversionary and a decoy and should be disregarded."
He added, "This criminal cannot be taken seriously. This is a self-confessed armed robber who inundated the former commander with calls about his purported surrender. While he was making us believe that he was repentant, he was busy building more camps in the creek. Is that not a contradiction? Look, we are a professional force that will not believe that nonsense."
The JTF maintained that the reported surrender of John Togo, the wanted militants’ leader in Delta State, was a decoy to commit more havoc in the creeks.
He accused Togo of trying to curry public sympathy despite his criminal activities and added that even if the federal government were to accept his surrender, the militant leader was going about it the wrong way.
However, it would appear that the myth surrounding the dissident would not abate, as days later, he was rumoured to have died following gunshots sustained in a clash with men of the JTF during an attempted escape from the state. He was purported to have been rushed to Ogodobiri community where he died and was buried, a tale his aide waived.
Another twist was added last week when the Obubra Amnesty Camp Administrator in Cross River, Mr. Ekpein Appah, alleged that the wanted man had left Warri, Delta State, in his yellow SUV for Yenagoa and was being harboured by the Bayelsa State government.
Appah insisted that Togo was in Yenagoa, the state capital, and enjoying himself, an allegation the government immediately dismissed.
But the manhunt for the militant appeared to have advanced on Thursday as the military Joint Task Force confirmed that its officers had killed one of the warlord’s lieutenants in Aladja area of Delta State.
The killing of Togo’s aide, whose name could not be ascertained at the time of going to press, our correspondent learnt, was carried out when he attempted to escape from men of the JTF who got wind of his movements on Thursday.
Confirming the latest development, Antigha, said the capture of some loyalists to the Niger-Delta Liberation Force leader was part of the mop-up operation of militants in the creeks.
He stated that the JTF men acting on a tip-off apprehended the two aides to Togo, but regretted that one of them was shot in the leg when he attempted to escape.
Antigha added, "As part of the ongoing mop-up operations, following the sacking of several John Togo’s camps in Bobou creek and environs, the JTF is continuing in the pursuit of the fleeing militants.
But the JTF has also received some flaks from certain quarters which accused the group of being an army of occupation.
To this, the JTF spokesman said, "What is there in the creeks? You can take a tour of the creeks and find out what is there. The President has asked us to rebuild the Ayakoromor community and as we speak, military engineers are already doing that.
"We cannot go on our own and an idiot cannot just come and be asking us to leave. The JTF is established by a legally constituted government. So, between the JTF and him (Togo) who should be leaving?"
As the manhunt for Togo continues, the puzzles that remain to be unravelled are: Has he truly surrendered or is it just another distraction, is he dead or alive and does the JTF have a hidden motive for remaining in the Niger Delta? The answer, as they say, is in the belly of time.
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