Operation Crocodile Smile

About a fortnight ago, the Nigerian Army launched what it called Operation Crocodile Smile. The operation, according to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Tukur Buratai, is aimed at testing the combat readiness of its amphibious units and checking such widespread criminal activities as kidnapping, militancy, oil theft and piracy in the Niger Delta. […]

About a fortnight ago, the Nigerian Army launched what it called Operation Crocodile Smile. The operation, according to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Tukur Buratai, is aimed at testing the combat readiness of its amphibious units and checking such widespread criminal activities as kidnapping, militancy, oil theft and piracy in the Niger Delta.
On the eve of the launch of the operation, the Nigerian Army spokesman, Brigadier General Rabe Abubakar had sought to douse tension by claiming that it was not targeted at any group. General Abubakar was quoted as saying: “It’s just a normal exercise; Operation Crocodile Smile is an exercise just to refresh our memories on amphibious training. It does not mean that we are warming up for action, but if training is still deemed to be warming up for internal security action, so be it.”
Really? So how does a crocodile smile? Is it when it bares its dangerous uneven teeth? How will you know when it bares its teeth whether it’s smiling or showing a desire to eat you? I must say that I for one do not have the desire to see a crocodile smile. The spokesman of the Army Brigade in Port Harcourt, one of the formations involved in the operation, said they had already arrested 142 suspects and though all of them had been released, 15 were still being detained.
Notwithstanding the innocuous statement by the army spokesman, operation crocodile smile may eventually open the way for a brutal suppression of the economic terrorism going on in the Niger Delta and which is being spearheaded by a new evil group calling itself Niger Delta Avengers. In the last six months, the Niger Delta Avengers have been sabotaging oil production by blowing up pipelines and oil wells, particularly inside Bayelsa and Delta states. Recall that the army high command had also said that the military may join the fray if the current attempt at dialogue is spurned by these oil vandals, one has no doubt that a military solution is also actively being explored.
Just how long is the Nigerian government going to tolerate the economic sabotage perpetrated by the faceless Niger Delta Avengers? What other point do they want to make and what purpose does it serve to spill the contents of those huge pipelines unto the Niger Delta land? Whose interest is helped by this massive pollution?
Enter Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, the grand old patron of Ijaw militants. In March 2015, despite the prohibition by Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court, Lagos, the chief was head over shoulders calling for the use of soldiers in election duties because he was hopeful that his godson and then President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, could use them to steal the election. Clark was quoted as saying: “Today there are those who want to become President of Nigeria and they are the people saying no soldiers should be used (in election duties); they want to destroy the country and after destroying the country, which country are they going to? The military must be used together with the police for the safety, security of this country, for the survival of this country, for the unity of this country…the military must be used if we want to have one country.”
By Saturday, 30th July, 2015, Chief Edwin Clark has changed course as far as the use of military to maintain the security, unity and survival of the country is concerned. At the tribal meeting of Ijaw leaders held on that day, Clark said: “As a demonstration of sincerity of commitment to dialogue, the Federal Government should immediately withdraw the military from all occupied Ijaw communities, particularly the Gbaramatu Kingdom.” Blimey! What happened to the need for “one country”?
In his remarks during the tribal meeting, old man Clark had spoken about his determination to have a piece of the action in any federal government dialogue with the militants: “Today we hear that the federal government is planning, already talking or negotiating with militants and nobody has consulted us. That will not work. These children are our children and we cannot fold our arms when they are being attacked and pretend not to notice. We must be involved in what the government wants to do.”
Old man Clark is speaking from both sides of his mouth: he has nothing to do with militancy, but when it is time to negotiate with militants, he must have a seat at the table! The militants are his children but he cannot talk to his children to stop militancy. As I write, three soldiers have reportedly been killed by militants in Bayelsa.
When he served as a delegate during the Goodluck Jonathan conference, people were falling over themselves to be and remain in his good books; his residence at Asokoro was a kind of Jerusalem where everybody wanted to go and genuflect.
Despite claiming that he didn’t benefit from any contract, oil block or financial reward during the administration of his Godson, Goodluck Jonathan, Chief Edwin Clark is stupendously rich. He has a university, Edwin Clark University, Kiagbodo, near Ughelli, Delta State. Where did this old man get money to build a university?
The Nigerian Army may have to take operation crocodile seriously and in taking kinetic action, it is important to question the likes of Edwin Clark after he has confessed to the ownership of these ill-bred children hell bent on bringing down “the economy to zero.”
The most devastating militancy is being perpetrated by Ijaw criminal elements in Delta and Bayelsa states and unless operation crocodile smile factors in the likes of Goodluck Jonathan, Tompolo, Seriake Dickson, Edwin Clark, etc. and delivers them a bloody nose, there may not be peace in Niger Delta.