JTF kills 2 kidnap kingpins in Bayelsa

Two notorious suspected waterway criminals have met their Waterloo in the hands of troops attached to Sector 2, Joint Task Force (JTF), codenamed Operation DELTA SAFE in Bayelsa.

The suspects met their untimely deaths when troops deployed to Obama Flow Station, while acting on a tip-off from a local vigilance group, raided a militant camp.

One of the suspects, simply identified as Labista, was said to have been on security agencies watch-list for some time.

Labista was also said to have, at various times, “engaged in high profile kidnapping, killing of security personnel in ambush, piracy, armed robbery and other criminal activities.”

Labista and his partner in crime, whose name was not given, were said to have dived into the river in an attempt to escape, but were eventually overpowered by the superior fire power of the troops.

The bodies of the two notorious criminals, which were later found floating on water, have been reportedly deposited at a morgue.

Items recovered from the hoodlums, as gathered, comprised two single barrel guns, a cutlass and four speed boats.

Meanwhile, the Commander Operation DELTA SAFE, Rear Admiral Apochi Ogabu Suleiman, in a statement signed by Coordinator, Joint Media Campaign Centre, Lt. Col. Olaolu Marcellinus Daudu and made available to journalists electronically, has reassured people of the Niger Delta of safety and security as they go about their legitimate businesses.

The senior military officer, while appreciating the people for their cooperation, admonished them to eschew all “forms of sabotage, vandalism or acts of criminality because of the negative effects on the environment and economy.”

According to him, “Operation DELTA SAFE remains focused on its mandate to protect oil and gas infrastructure, deter militancy, sea piracy, crude oil theft, operation of illegal oil refinery and other forms of crime and criminality.”