THE Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) has flayed the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS Delta), Warri, Delta State, for allegedly claiming to have arrested and paraded some of their members.
Spokesperson of NDA, Mudoch Agbinibo, faulted the claim in a statement posted on the website of the militant group late Friday.
He denied knowledge and membership of Prince David and Felix Ebiador, who were paraded last Thursday at the Warri Naval Base by the new commander, Commodore Joseph Dzunve.
The duo were allegedly caught with 11 batteries and electric cables and other items believed to be used for bombing oil and gas pipelines in the region.
Ebiador, one of the suspects, had confessed during the parade that he was hired, as usual, to use his boat to convey the items to a guest house believed to belong to former militant, Chief Government Ekpemupolo a.k.a Tompolo, in Oporoza, Warri South West Local Government Area.
However, NDA said in the statement that the navy was after soft targets in order to impress it on the Federal Government that it was working.
It flayed Commodore Dzunve for arresting innocent persons and tagging them members of the Avengers.
“From media reports, it was clear Commodore Joseph Dzunve the Commanding Officer, NNS Delta, had lost his sense of professionalism.
“How are those innocent boys connected to NDA? We don’t know Prince David and Felix Ebiador they are not part of us.
“All NDA operatives are intact. No security operative has arrested any of our members,” the group claimed.
According to the statement, “What the commanding office NNS delta commodore is doing is to please his boss that he is working.
“Must he connect innocent people to us? Very soon
the general public will know the truth about Nigeria Military, especially Nigeria Navy that specializes in
illegal oil bunkering.
“Stop arresting innocent people in the name of looking for NDA operatives. It’s obvious that Nigeria Navy is incapable of policing the Nigerian maritime space.”