Okunlola said the military was winning the war against criminal elements in the Niger Delta. He also promised that there was no going back on the war declared against criminals in the region. During his address at the Sector 1, JTF, 3 Battalion, Effurun Barracks, on the recent achievement of the unit, Okunlola said in line with the zero tolerance campaign against oil theft and illegal bunkering operations, the troops on September 5 conducted a “raid operation” on a suspected militant camp at Benigboye in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State.
While parading the suspect, the commander disclosed that during the raid,the suspected militants, on sighting the troops, opened fire which led to a gun battle that lasted for 30 minutes before the superior fire from the troops overwhelmed them. He added that the militants abandoned the camp in disarray while taking along with them their wounded colleagues.
When the smoke cleared and the troops combed the area, he said three militants lay dead with sophisticated weapons including a medium machine gun (MMG), an AK47 light machine gun (LMG) and AK 47 automatic rifles recovered. He said: “Others are Fabrique National (FN), SMG, and G3 rifles.
The troops also recovered one singlebarrelled gun, 7.62mm NATO special ammunition, 11 pieces of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), identity cards belonging to Oroso Kpasco, Iyadoufegha Nuwent, Clifford Ebikabowei and Emmanuel Stanley. “Also found was an ATM card belonging to Mr Into Kpasco, a suspected hoodlum that attacked Odimodi community recently.
The camp was destroyed while the recovered arms and ammunition are in the custody of Operation Pulo Shield.” Speaking with journalists, Lamia claimed that he was only a cook to the militants and pleaded for mercy. He confirmed that three of his colleagues died during a shootout with JTF men.
