Niger Delta Avengers have said the announcement by the State Security Services to the effect that some of its members were arrested was laughable.

In a statement posted on its website, the Avengers, notorious for its wanton destruction of oil and gas installations across the oil-rich region, said the SSS should grant reporters access to suspects in its custody to substantiate its claims that those arrested were members of the militant group.

The SSS had said two members of the Avengers were arrested as a result of intensified surveillance the service recently put in place to forestall criminal activities across the country.

The SSS, signed by Tony Opuiyo, also said some members of the separatist Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, as well as other criminal elements in different hideouts across the country, were also arrested in the operation which lasted throughout the month of June.

It said Christian ‘Sensor’ Oluba and Selky Torughedi were the two individuals with alleged ties to the Avengers who were apprehended while plotting to launch an attack on an oil installation.

But in the statement signed by its spokesman, Mudoch Agbinibo, the Avengers faulted the Director General of the SSS, Lawal Daura, for trying to fool President Muhammadu Buhari by giving him a false sense of comfort over the situation in the region.

Agbinibo said the individuals arrested were, in fact, SSS moles whom the department only arrested and labeled criminals after they demanded payment for the clandestine operations they had carried out for the country.

He admonished security outfits to desist from feeding Buhari a false narrative about activities across the region, saying the war against oil vandals would not be won if they remained economical with the truth.

The Avengers also decried Daura’s alleged indifference to the truth, saying the security chief should imbibe the teachings of his faith as a Muslim.

Agbinibo, therefore, urged the authorities to sort out their matter with the informants, adding that Buhari should focus on more important issues in the Niger Delta.