BREAKING NEWS ....NIGERIA

Reports had emerged recently that the Nigeria Army had, over the weekend, launched a military operation in the Niger Delta region codenamed “Operation Crocodile Smile”. Armored tanks of the Army were pictured on some streets in Delta state. The Army says part of the aims of the new operation is to provide adequate security for residents in the region as well as critical national economic assets in the region. See More Photos Below

ne of the militant groups in the Niger Delta, the Ultimate Warriors, on Saturday rejected the position taken by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta to lead the agitators’ negotiations with the federal government. The group, in a statement by its spokesman, Sibiri Taiowoh, accused MEND of lacking the credibility to take on such a huge task, noting that the ex-militant group would only worsen the current situation. “Furthermore, MEND should stop playing itself up as if they are one credible body to reckon with in respect to the renewed agitations. “We did not embrace the dialogue initiative because of MEND; so, it is not for MEND to dictate and set the pace for us. Let them not give us or any of our affiliates bogus criteria… otherwise, they would only succeed in worsening the situation”, the group said. But MEND, while recently accepting the dialogue option, held that the aegis under which all militants would negotiate should be its Aaron 2 Peace Initiative to be...