Five Niger-Delta militants have been reportedly killed yesterday in ‘Exercise Crocodile Smile’, the special military operation that will involve land, air and sea bombardments of militants attacking oil assets in the Niger Delta region in South-South Nigeria.The action, which was carried out in Rivers State, injured several other militants while 23 were arrested. This was disclosed in a statement which stated that, “The 133 Special Forces Battalion of Nigerian Army troops have carried out a precursor operation to `Exercise Crocodile Smile’ aimed at getting rid of all forms of criminal activities in the Niger Delta geo-political region of Nigeria. In the course of the operation, five militants that attacked the troops were killed in action, while numerous others were injured and 23 suspects arrested. The operation, which was conducted on 26th August 2016 was carried out by the Special Forces at the militants camps. Items recovered from the camps include 2 AK-47 rifles, 11 pump action guns, a locally made revolver pistol, 292 cartridges of live ammunition, 199 rounds of AK-47 rifle ammunition, 4 electricity generating sets and a camp gas cooker. The troops also recovered an abandoned engine boat left by the fleeing criminals.”
