NIGER DELTA REGION – Some militants in the South-South have threatened to attack the Nigerian army deployed in the oil-rich region under the Operation Crocodile Smile II.
The Nigerian army yesterday announced that its troops had landed in the region to commence the Crocodile smile exercise.
Speaking in a statement by “General Playboy”, the leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Democratic Front, the militants said the heavy presence of soldiers in the area was unnecessary.
The militant leader said, “I am writing this statement as I was coming out of a meeting with members of our group and we believe that the government is trying to make the youths angry with the recent deployment of soldiers in the Niger Delta region.
“The level of militancy is very low and there is no longer attacks on oil installations in the region.
“So, we want to know why troops are deployed in the region. Do they want to kill our people the way they killed some Igbo in the South-East.
“We are asking them (troops) to leave our region immediately otherwise we will attack them.
“We don’t have any problem here and therefore, we do not need the deployment of soldiers.”
