Army arrests six militants

NIGERIAN army has arrested at least six militants during a raid at their camp in the oil-rich Niger Delta. The raid was carried out after four soldiers and one policeman were killed at an army base in a suspected pirate attack on Friday ( 7 August).

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Militants in four speed boats attacked the Joint Task Force (JTF) military base in Nembe, in the southern Bayelsa State. The attackers are also suspected of having carried out another raid on a community in the neighbouring Rivers State. It is not yet clear whether the militants belonged to a specific group of the Niger Delta, marred by oil thefts, piracy and kidnappings for ransom.
"The militants' camp was destroyed by JTF troops while six suspects comprising of four male and two female [suspects] were arrested. Large quantities of arms and live ammunition were also recovered from the camp," a statement by JTF was quoted as saying by AFP.
JTF is part of the Nigerian Armed Forces and it was created in the Niger Delta to counter the ongoing political unrest that rose during the 1990s over oil production. Violence erupted due to tensions among local ethnic groups, who felt they were being exploited and, unlike foreign oil corporations in the region, they were not benefiting from resources present in the areas they inhabited.