'We killed Lt Col Maliki, 9 others in Bayelsa attack'- MEND

'We killed Lt Col Maliki, 9 others in Bayelsa attack'- MEND

*No you did not Pirates did" Nigerian Army
 
Recalcitrant militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND),has disagreed with the Joint Task Force (JTF),codenamed Operation Pulo Shield over the killing of security personnel in Beyelsa State,Nigeria.

MEND spokesman Jomo Gbomo said: "We re-assert our claim to the attack on the marine police patrol and urge the public to discountenance the propaganda of the JTF which attributes the attack on its convoy to pirates".

In an electronic message,MEND asked:"since when have sea pirates in the Niger Delta been known to travel in such large numbers as admitted by the JTF which for once is forced to concede to the loss of a senior officer"?
 
The attack on the JTF convoy was carried out by a small group in the Delta, MEND said.

"To the best of our knowledge, no member of this group was killed in the subsequent skirmish with the JTF which again lost more than 10 soldiers which as usual remains unreported".

"All members of this group retreated to the creeks and are safely out of that vicinity".

"In responding to the execution of Lt Col Maliki, the JTF spokesperson stated that without a body, a confirmation of death could not be made".

MEND said JTF had claim that its personnel sunk three boats conveying the said "pirates" resulting to death of twenty one person but "we challenge him to produce the bodies of all the "pirates" killed by the JTF".

The statement said: "rather than go in the creeks and do what they are paid so much to do, the JTF wastes so much time and resources on talk".
 
"These bunches of cowards are not ashamed to state publicly that they are continuously overwhelmed by disorganised sea pirates".

"The shameless spokesperson for the JTF further exposes his stupidity in addressing a "non-existent" MEND".
 
"The government of Nigeria seeks to mislead Nigerians and the rest of the world into thinking the unrest in the Delta is over".

" The oil companies know better and when we commence with our planned attacks on major oil facilities, we wonder what excuses the JTF will have".

" Nigerians are no doubt getting tired of JTF stories of attacks by Pirates, Bunkerers and ghosts".

JTF had earlier claimed they killed one Shedrack Itokofuwei (aka Mammy Water), the alleged mastermind in the massacre of an Army officer and three naval ratings, in a gun battle.

The task force authority said the deceased and his gang were fingered in the attack which resulted in the death of Lt. Col Malik, three naval ratings and four policemen.

It was reported that Mammy Water and his gang had first encountered the Marine Police check-point and gunned down four policemen before moving to Karankiri junction along Eweleso River and attacked the JTF soldiers.

JTF said it investigation reveals that the gang ended up at “One Man Camp”, a fishing settlement where they engaged a Naval patrol team in a gun fight, which claimed the lives of Mammy Water and a member of his gang while one was captured and three boats were sunk

Meanwhile, the military has threatened militants in the Niger Delta with a decisive response if its personnel in the region are attacked again.

The warning came on the heels of last week’s killing of a lieutenant-colonel and three other naval officers by a group that used to attack ships.