BOMADI —Following the deaths of many military personnel last weekend while on a rescue operation to the riverine village, soldiers stationed in the Okuama community in the Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State have continued to demolish other homes in the neighborhood.
According to a community source who spoke with our reporter, Okuama is currently under military occupation, and multiple residences have either been damaged or razed.
Military Deploys Armoured Vehicles to Bomadi creeks
In the meantime, the Nigerian military sent armored vehicles to the Bomadi council offices yesterday in response to the military personnel who were killed while conducting a peace and rescue operation in Okuama town in the Ughelli South Local Government Area. Late yesterday, the military soldiers and three armored vehicles were observed swiftly crossing the Bomadi bridge, most likely on their way to the creeks. At the same time, the military high command was given an order by President Bola Tinubu to find the people responsible for the military commanders’ deaths. Additionally, Mr. Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s (LP) presidential candidate for 2023, has denounced as inhumane and reprehensible the death of troops and army officers in Delta State.
This is just as Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State condemned the killing of the officers and soldiers, describing it as despicable and alien to the culture of Deltans. On its part, the Pan-Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, led by Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, said the act is totally unacceptable and must be fully investigated. Meanwhile, Senator Ede Dafinone has called on the dramatis personae involved in the ongoing carnage at Okuama community to sheathe their sword for the sake of humanity.
Urhobo group urges probe
Additionally, the Urhobo Media Practitioners Advocacy Group, or UMPAG, called for the arrest of those responsible and an impartial inquiry into the killings.
“As I’m talking to you right now, soldiers are there and they continue the demolition of buildings in the community, and I don’t think they will leave very soon,” a community source told newsmen. Usually, they visit our neighborhood to make a purchase before returning to Okuama.
Remember that last week, while on a rescue mission to Okuama to free a hostage, Mr. Anthony Aboh, from the neighboring Okoloba community in Bomadi over a long-standing land dispute, soldiers from the 222 battalions of the military Joint Task Force, JTF, Bomadi Division, under the command of Maj. Jaffa was ambushed and killed. When more soldiers were murdered the next day, things grew tense.
The perpetrators of the act, who fled the community during the remobilisation and the consequent reprisal attack on Okuama by the military, are now at large, with the military launching a manhunt for them in n e i g h b o u r i n g communities
A well-known former militant leader and his crew are reportedly on the run after being named as the main suspect. They were purportedly paid by the Okuama village to battle the neighboring Okoloba community. Many indigenous people, particularly women and children, are said to be residing with relatives in nearby Ughelli South settlements after fleeing the community. When asked to comment on a potential humanitarian crisis within the council, Mr. Austin Emaduku, Head of Personnel Management, HPM, Ughelli South, stated: “First and foremost, I’m a civil servant and not an elected officer and I have my restrictions speaking to the press. “Besides that, the state government has issued a statement on the crisis and the public should take that for now.” It was learned yesterday that the military has commenced a counteroperation. The operation, according to sources, is to fish out the suspects who perpetrated the babaric act of not only killing the soldiers but also beheading some of them as witnessed in viral videos of the bodies recovered. Sources told Vanguard that the Land Component Delta Safe, Major General Jamal Abdusalam, the GOC, 6 division, and the Commander, Operation Delta Safe, Rear Admiral John Okeke are coordinating the counteroperations.