Militants Burn The Nation Newspaper's Van


Mark my words Tinubu will deal with these thugs shortly.  Thug kuku pass thug.  I don't believe mama Awo has anything to do with this, this one is pure thuggery 

Suspected militants, yesterday morning, in Mbiama, a boundary town between Bayelsa and Rivers states, which is the hub of oil bunkering, burnt a van belonging to Vintage Press Limited, publishers of The Nation, report BISI OLANIYI and ISAAC OMBE

The scene: Mbiama, a boundary town between Bayelsa and Rivers states. Solomon Amajuoyi, a driver with Vintage Press Limited, publishers of The Nation, arrived in the town regarded as a hub of illegal oil bunkering. He is not strange to the area. The time was 4.30am. But, unknown to him, there was trouble.  The first inkling he got was when he heard someone say: “This is one of the newspapers carrying the stories and not supporting us.”

Before he knew it, they descended on him. Minutes later, the Toyota Hilux van with which he was conveying yesterday’s edition of The Nation, Sporting Life and this week’s edition of The News, was set ablaze. 

The Hilux van, with registration number XR 264 LND, was first used by the protesting militants to block the East-West Road, obstructing traffic on the road, currently being dualised by the Federal Government, through Setraco Construction Company.

Amajuoyi said the militants collected his N10,500, mobile telephone handset, a pair of sandals, his identity card and the vehicle’s key. A good Samaritan gave him N500 with which he paid his fare to Port Harcourt.

He said: “I have been hearing of militants; that was my first time of seeing them in action. They carried more sophisticated guns, which they were shooting sporadically at Mbiama Junction and the mobile policemen at the nearby check point ran away.”

He added: “I am alive by the grace of God. I am from Abia State and the head of my family. I have been driving The Nation vehicle since 2008 and going to Calabar. I started moving to Yenagoa and Warri route in the last one month.

“I got to Mbiama Junction around 4:30 am and I wanted to drop the parcels going to Yenagoa at the junction as usual, before moving to Warri. I saw a group of boys. So many of them with guns, machetes and other dangerous weapons. As I alighted, they rushed at the vehicle and used stones to break the windscreen and side glasses, when they saw The Nation on both sides.

“The boys were saying ‘this is one of the newspapers criticising and not supporting’ them, declaring that they would burn the vehicle, and me with the newspapers and The News magazine. They ordered me to return to the vehicle, but I refused and they started beating me with sticks and other items.

“As I was escaping into the bush, I saw the boys pouring petrol from a  20-litre can onto the vehicle and its contents. The Toyota Hilux was then driven by one of the youths to block the East-West Road before setting it ablaze.

“I continued to run in the bush, in case they might be pursuing me, because I overheard some of the boys saying ‘where is the driver?’ and asking me to come back and pick my phone, money, ID card and sandals, but I saw it as a ploy to push me into the burning vehicle and I kept running.”

Soldiers in two Toyota Hilux vans later came to disperse the boys. As the soldiers were shooting into the air, the boys were running into the bush, shooting at the military men, who had superior fire power.

The driver said: “Somebody gave me N500 for transport to Port Harcourt when I narrated my ordeal. I paid N400 to Rumuokoro, Port Harcourt and N100 for intra-city transportation to the office at Mile 1, Diobu. If the company replaces the burnt vehicle, I will not be discouraged and I will still continue to drive on the route. I take what happened as one of the hazards of the job.”

The spokesman of the Joint Task Force (JTF), Lt.-Col. Timothy Antigha, confirmed the incident and said the situation was under control, with soldiers at the scene since 2 am.

Lt.-Col. Antigha also described the protesters as a “bunch of criminals”, whom he said were not part of the authentic ex-militants. He said some of the repentant militants, who recently protested at the same spot, disowned the “self-acclaimed” former warlords and were even stoning them.

An ex-militant group, known as the “Third Phase” of the Federal Amnesty programme, Bayelsa State chapter, has condemned the action of the ex-militants against The Nation.

The group’s Secretary-General, Mr. Tonye Bobo, in a statement, said: “We condemn the riot by some ex-militant agitators on the East/West Mbiama road earlier this morning.

“We call for immediate halt to this wanton destruction of property.

“The third phase of the Federal Amnesty Programme has embraced the non-violence approach to achieve our goals for proper documentation and training.”

But  the Amnesty Committee said it was not aware of the Third Phase. In a statement by its Head, Media and Communications, Mr. Henry Ugbolue, said: “Closure has since been achieved in the disarmament and demobilisation phases of the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme. A total of 26,358 persons (in two phases) accepted the offer of amnesty at the expiration of the stipulated deadline.

“Given that the clamour for the expansion of the Programme to admit more persons is a distraction that could do immense harm to the Programme, Kuku is urging champions of this cause to desist.”

Bayelsa State Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy Nathan Egba condemned the perpetrators.

   He said: “The  Bayelsa State government wishes to condemn the attack on the circulation van belonging to The Nation by some  unidentified  persons around Mbiama, who accused the paper  of supporting Governor Sylva… Having failed  in their expectations of a negative Supreme Court judgment  before the party primaries  and their hopes of the governor not being cleared at the screening also dashed, these people now seem to have  resorted to violence as we saw  at the PDP Secretariat in Abuja and now the burning of a private  newspaper’s vehicle.”


http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news-update/24797-militants-burn-the-nation%E2%80%99s-van.html

SMH, rascals.

Lol. Won't this attract even more attention to them?

It seems they were just offering a gentle warning to the editors and owners of the Nation. Boys no de talk too much for dat side.

Like I said destroying media property by burning or bombing it is "a gentle warning" in fascist eyes.

Beaf:

It seems they were just offering a gentle warning to the editors and owners of the Nation. Boys no de talk too much for dat side.

koruji:

Like I said destroying media property by burning or bombing it is "a gentle warning" in fascist eyes.

tsk tsk.

ndu_chucks:

Mark my words Tinubu will deal with these thugs shortly.  Thug kuku pass thug.  I don't believe mama Awo has anything to do with this, this one is pure thuggery 

That woman sef. . . . such a contrast to Awolowo. . . .

koruji:

Like I said destroying media property by burning or bombing it is "a gentle warning" in fascist eyes.

Boys no de talk too much for awa side.
Thank God there were no injuries.

Wetin 

Ileke-IdI:

tsk tsk.

ndu_chucks:

Mark my words Tinubu will deal with these thugs shortly.  Thug kuku pass thug.  I don't believe mama Awo has anything to do with this, this one is pure thuggery 

Alh ndu chucks, you mean Tinubu is a thug ehh?

Ileke-IdI:

tsk tsk.

That woman sef. . . . such a contrast to Awolowo. . . .

How is Tinubu fighting for the Yoruba Nation

These boys are no militants, they are lazy village champions, seeking govt attention

Martmore:

These boys are no militants, they are lazy village champions, seeking govt attention

If u say so

An ex-militant group, known as the “Third Phase” of the Federal Amnesty programme, Bayelsa State chapter, has condemned the action of the ex-militants against The Nation.

militancy don become career

^^

Don't mind the clowns

ndu_chucks:

Mark my words Tinubu will deal with these thugs shortly.  Thug kuku pass thug.  I don't believe[b] mama Awo[/b] has anything to do with this, this one is pure thuggery 

Ileke-IdI:

tsk tsk.
That woman sef. . . . such a contrast to Awolowo. . . .

Sorry i'm a bit lost  What has mama Awo got to do with this ?

@ Topic

"Militants burn The Nation Newspapers",who were the militants

IMO,it's just another unfortunate incident,in which the only innocent victim is the driver of the van and any other occupant of the vehicle at the time of the attack.

LOL @ the romance between the drug users and the drug lords,i.e Sylva and Tinubu
Tinubu is so desperate to lay his thieving hands on one of the oil producing states so he can plunge his soiled thieving hands into the treasury of the states:WHATB A PIPE DREAM(especially now that breeze has finally blown and Tinubu nyash don open)

Those are tardeens brothers in the creeks They are just as useless as Odechukwu himself

ndu_chucks:

Militants Burn The Nation Newspaper's Van


Mark my words Tinubu will deal with these thugs shortly.  Thug kuku pass thug.  I don't believe mama Awo has anything to do with this, this one is pure thuggery 

Look Tinubu can do noting to those militant.

And why are you bringing MAMA AWO into these.

Too bad.