PORT HARCOURT — SHELL Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has evacuated over 200 of its non-essential staff from Soku Gas Plant in the Akoko-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State following alleged threats from the leader of the Niger Delta People Volunteer Force (NDPVF) Alhaji Dokubo Asari.
There had been unconfirmed reports that some of the Shell workers at the Soku Gas Plant had been abducted which it is assumed led to the withdrawal by Shell of some of the workers.
This latest move by Shell has confirmed the rising panic in riverine communities in the state following the clash between the joint security team put in place by the Federal Government to quell the crisis in the state and the warlords.
The clash came to a head when the joint security team, armed with a jet fighter and attack helicopters invaded some of Alhaji Dokubo Asari’s camp.
After the attack there were speculations that the NDPVF leader may have died or was seriously injured.
Recent reports have however confirmed that the warlord survived those attacks. The fear of being in the line of fire has increased in the riverine communities in the state as members of such communities frequently find themselves staring upward at military helicopters hovering over their villages searching for Dokubo Asari and Ateke Tom.
The security team, in an assignment tagged: Operation Flush Out 3 is headed by Brigadier-General Zechariah Yaduma and its mandate is to “curb the activities of insurgents and militias” in the state.
So far the joint security team has invaded military camps in such places as Odegu, Rumuewhor, Tema, Ogbakiri, Evekwu and Rumuji.
The state chairman of the Nigeria Advance Party (NAP) Mr. J. Sodienye has however said that the pervasive fear in the riverine communities should be expected but added however that “there has been no casualty in Bonny,” where he hails from.
The NAP state boss appealed to the people of the state to support government in its efforts to curb the gang war in the state.
He commended the state government for the Bill on the prohibition of secret cults and similar activities which has been passed into law saying it was another way of fighting the gang war.
