The Joint Task Force (JTF) also known as Operation Delta Safe (ODS) said 23 human skulls in various stages of decomposition, a complete human skeleton and several other human parts were recovered during its operations in Cross River.
A statement issued on Thursday by the Coordinator, Joint Media Campaign Centre, Operation Delta Safe, Lieutenant Colonel Olaolu Dauda, said the camps located at Ikot Ene Idem, Abakpa and Ikang Inam communities in the Bakassi and Akpabuyo councils of the state were destroyed on Wednesday.
In another operation the JTF arrested 44 suspected members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) in Bayelsa State.
It said the arrested suspects were apprehended at Lakeview Club, along Mabinton Estate, Okaka Road in Bayelsa State while trying to disrupt public peace.
The statement read: “In fulfillment of Operation Delta Safe’s mandate to rid the Niger Delta region of crude oil theft, sea robbery, all forms of criminality and protection of oil and gas facilities, on October 26, 2016, troops of Sector 4 in Cross River State, acting on a tip-off, carried out raids of Ikot Ene Idem, Abakpa and Ikang Inam communities in the Bakassi and Akpabuyo local government areas.
“During the cordon-and-search operations, troops discovered four militant shrines with 23 human skulls in various stages of decomposition, a complete human skeleton and several other human body parts. The shrines were destroyed as troops continued the search for the perpetrators of these heinous acts against humanity.
“With the clearance of these shrines, the Bakassi Strike Force has effectively been smoked out from the areas they used to hold sway. It should be noted that the senseless killing of humans for ritual purposes is sacrilegious and will not be tolerated in any form within the joint operation area,” he said.
