From Tony Osauzo, Benin

THE 4 Brigade of the Nigerian Army said it has arrested 10 suspected members of the mili­tant group, Niger Delta Aveng­ers (NDA), as part of efforts to check the spate of renewed attacks on oil and gas installa­tions in the Niger Delta region.

The Brigade Commander, Brigadier-General Farouk Ya­haya, who paraded the suspects yesterday, said they were ar­rested at about 1:40am on Sat­urday, in Oporaza community, Warri South-West Local Gov­ernment Area of Delta State.

He explained that there had been several cases of sabotage by suspected militants and van­dals in the State since January 1, 2016, as well as warnings and threats “to shut down all opera­tions” in the sector.

He said several items includ­ing 28 detonator cords (also known as Detonator 33), one pistol, two empty pistol maga­zines, 196 rounds of 7.62 spe­cial ammunition, one round of nine-millimetre ammunition, a live cartridge and five daggers were recovered from the sus­pects.

Others were 15 handheld ra­dio sets, 18 phones, 203 SIM cards, belonging to three major network providers, five swim­suits, two headlamps, a laptop, two ipads and a camera.

The Army also recovered seven wraps of substances sus­pected to be Indian hemp, five speedboat throttle cables, six pairs of hand gloves, a sum of N23,000 and a cheque book.

Yahaya who said investiga­tion would reveal the true iden­tity of the suspects, observed that recent explosions carried out by the Niger Delta Aveng­ers suggested that the arrested may not be unconnected to the group.

“Within the period under re­view, you can see that the Niger Delta Avengers have claimed virtually all acts of criminal ac­tivities against oil and gas and they continue threatening a shutdown of the whole sector. So, most likely, suspects may be members who else would they be?

He dismissed speculation that the militants may have adopted the use of charms to evade arrest.