[allAfrica.com] [celtel.com] Warri: 7 Ijaw Communities Sacked - Group This Day (Lagos) NEWS July 15, 2004 Posted to the web July 15, 2004 By Onwuka Nzeshi Warri In continuation of the manhunt for the killers of the four oil workers and three military personnel at Olero Creek three months ago, the Joint Task Force on Peace in the Niger Delta has reportedly sacked seven Ijaw communities suspected to have been the hideouts of the militia groups. The Egbema United Front, the umbrella association for Ijaw elements in Warri North Council, have cried out over the recent military operations undertaken by the Joint Task Force. Briefing newsmen yesterday, the Egbema United Front alleged that contrary to the official position canvassed by the security agencies, the Joint Task Force had razed a total of seven Ijaw communities in the Warri North Local Council. President of the group, Apostle Sunny Jeroh accused the task force of high- handedness and alleged that the operations in the last two days have left on its trail sorrow, tears and blood. According to him several houses were razed to their foundations, several people killed and hundreds of families displaced in the area due to the military operation. Only three days ago, the Senate Committee on the Niger Delta had expressed displeasure at the operations of the Joint Task Force and advised that the men of Operation Restore Hope needed to apply less force in their assignment in order not to kill and maim innocent people alongside the criminals. The renewed offensive which has displaced hundreds of local people from their homes in the creeks followed the total lifting of the curfew on Warri metropolis by the Delta State government. Secretary to the Delta State Government (SSG), Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, who announced the lifting of the curfew said the action was taken "after careful appraisal of the gradual return of peace to Warri and its environs." Uduaghan who enjoined the general public to go about their legitimate businesses without let or hindrance, however, warned that security operatives including the Joint Task Force (Operation Restore Hope) would continue to maintain surveillance in the troubled areas to forestal any act of lawlessness. Commander of the Joint Task Force, Brig. Gen. Elias Zamani, confirmed yesterday that his troops have successfully penetrated some communities in Warri-North Local Council of Delta State. Zamani said soldiers on the trail of the hoodlums terrorising people around the creeks gained entry into Ogbudugbudu and Lagos Junction at the weekend. Zamani who spoke to reporters shortly after the state security council meeting in Warri said the military operation in both communities was in line with the mission of the task force to rid the waterways of sea pirates, kidnappers and illegal oil bunkerers. "We have been on the trail of these boys since that ugly incident of April 23, 2004 when some local militia men killed some oil workers and three naval personnel. In the latest operation our troops on patrol sighted a boat conveying three men and gave them a hot pursuit, forcing them to abandon their boat and some items that gave us more clues as to the hideout of these hoodlums. "Inside the abandoned boat were three military rifles, two dane guns and some radio communication gadgets. On a closer examination we discovered that one of the rifles bore the number that tallies with the number that was on one of the rifles which was assigned to one of the deceased naval personnel killed in that Olero Creek incident," Zamani disclosed.   =============================================================================   Copyright © 2004 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). =============================================================================