Delta raid: by a joint Nigerian military task force
Nigeria military denies rebel claims
Nigeria’s military has denied killing civilians and destroying homes during a raid on a suspected militant hideout in the oil-rich Niger Delta.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) alleged in an email sent on 18 January that a joint operation by the army, navy and air force on 17 January resulted in an unspecified number of “casualties.”
Lieutenant-Colonel Sagir Musa, a military spokesman, told Bloomberg no civilians were killed and no homes were destroyed during the operation.
Musa also denied Mend’s claim that the raids, which occurred in the Andoni district 37 kilometres east of Port Harcourt, was aimed at rescuing two British hostages abducted in September.
“The operation was meant to flush out militants, destroy their camps, recover arms, ammunition and documents of intelligence value,” Musa said by phone today from Port Harcourt.
Attacks by Mend and other armed groups on Nigeria’s oil industry have cut the country’s exports by more than 20% since 2006.
Robin Hughes and Matthew McGuire, both British citizens, were among 27 oil workers, including five foreign nationals, seized by gunmen who hijacked their vessel on 9 September in the Niger Delta.
Mend freed all except the two Britons, saying they would only be exchanged for their detained leader, Henry Okah.