The military on Friday said they had arrested the “mastermind” of an April attack that killed 11 policemen and raised fears of worsening tension in a crucial oil region.
The arrested militant leader, Jackson Fabouwei aka Jasper Junior, Friday revealed he took part in the killing of eleven policemen last April in the creek of Southern Ijaw local government area of Bayelsa State.
Fabouwei who spoke to newsmen at the Sector command of the Joint Task Force codenamed Operation Pulo Shield after his arrest said he was forced at gun point to participate in the killing of the policemen.
He said, “the killing was led by General Virus and carried out with seven AK 47 guns and Kala gun stolen from the country home of their former leader, known as Young Shall Grow.”
He added, “As a surveillance contractor, I had MG 3 Machine gun and we gathered at Lobia market to launch the attack on the policemen.
“We positioned at the market and waited for the boat convoy of the burial procession for the mother of the ex-militant leader.
The Policemen boat came to the jetty, but General Virus insisted that the policemen should be killed and we opened fire on them.
“When we came down from the shooting point, we saw that one was injured while others were killed. I pleaded and asked that we save the lives of the ones that were not dead but Virus said Young Shall Grow has offended them many times and the policemen must be executed. He was also the one that ordered that we pour them fuel and burn them.”
Jackson Fabouwei was presented to journalists in the oil hub of Yenagoa and backed previous reports that the shootings were linked to a dispute over government payments to ex-oil rebels.
“He was arrested on the 6th of June… through sound intelligence gathering efforts,” Colonel Farouk Yahaya of the military’s Joint Task Force said.
He described Fabouwei as “the mastermind” of the deadly raid.
The attack in the Niger Delta targeted an ex-militant leader turned government advisor who was being escorted by security agents to his mother’s funeral when gunmen opened fire on their convoy of boats.
The target, Kile Selky Torughedi, widely known by the moniker Young Shall Grow, was a prominent militant in the insurgency that for years crippled the oil sector in Africa’s largest producer.
A 2009 amnesty deal that saw huge payouts to ex-militants significantly curbed the unrest.
But the attack on Torughedi warned that tensions persist, including among former insurgents over how to divide the government cash.
Fabouwei denied that he planned the shootings.
He said the leader of his gang, identified as “General Virus”, ordered the attack on Torughedi because he was hoarding amnesty funds.
“General Virus told us he has not been giving amnesty money,” Fabouwei told reporters.
Police had previously said the attack was motivated by a dispute over amnesty payouts.
Young Shall Grow had also been appointed a security advisor to the area governor.
Sporadic violence has continued in the Niger Delta since the amnesty, including waves of kidnappings targeting foreign oil workers, with the hostages typically released following a ransom payment.
Analysts have warned that unrest in the region could intensify if the amnesty payments are scaled back.
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