Over one thousand Nigerians have been killed during an attempt by the Nigerian army to rescue foreign hostages, taken captive by the Niger Delta militants. The rebels declared war on the Nigerian government after an attack on one of its camps deep in the swamp lands on Friday. The Nigerian Joint Task Force resulted to their arsenals and military strength in the weekend as they waged war against the rebels in the oil-rich region of the country.
Over one thousand Nigerians have been killed during an attempt by the Nigerian army to rescue foreign hostages, taken captive by the Niger Delta militants. The rebels declared war on the Nigerian government after an attack on one of its camps deep in the swamp lands on Friday. The Nigerian Joint Task Force resulted to their arsenals and military strength in the weekend as they waged war against the rebels in the oil-rich region of the country.
Over the weekend the rebel group blew up two major gas pipelines, and ordered oil companies to pull out their staff by Saturday. The Nigerian government had sought to resolve the quagmire in the region by offering amnesty to the rebels if they surrendered, but the rebels rejected the offer and rather declared war against the government army.
According to the Niger Delta’s largest ethnic group, Ijaw National Congress, the Nigerian army bombarded entire communities from the air, sea and land, killing over one thousand civilians in a bid to rescue seventeen hostages from the rebels. Naval gunboats and helicopter gunship attacks are reported to have been utilized in the insurgency.
Mr. Victor Burubo, spokesperson for the Ijaw National Congress has called on the United Nations to intervene. “The military action has resulted in over a thousand deaths, because we dared to ask for our rights,” Mr. Burubo said. The Nigerian military has, however, dismissed the allegations as baseless, claiming that the offensive was a rescue operation to save the crews of two ships hijacked by gunmen last Thursday.
Nine Filipinos, four Ukrainians and four Nigerians have been freed so far, but two hostage were killed during the gunfire exchanges and their bodies are to be handed over to the Red Cross. “We regret to announce that two hostages have been killed by the indiscriminate shelling,” a statement by the rebels read. The rebel’s statement also claimed that Britain’s Matthew Maguire, who was taken hostage separately last year, was now being moved to a new location.
The most notorious of the rebel groups in the Niger Delta is identified as the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), and they claim to be fighting for a fairer share of Nigeria’s oil wealth for local people, but have been guilty of oil theft, extortion and kidnapping.
