Group condemns killing of soldiers in Delta community, Calls for independent panel of enquiry
The Urhobo Media Practitioners Advocacy Group has condemned the killing of 16 military personnel in Okuama community of Delta State.
The soldiers who were of 181 Amphibious Batallion in Bomadi Local Government Area of the state were said to be on a peace mission responding to a distress call of a communal crisis between Okuama and Okoloba communities on Thursday 14th March 2024 when they were killed.
The Troops’ Commanding Officer, two Majors, a Captain and 12 soldiers were killed after they were surrounded by youths suspected to be from the Okuama community according to Nigeria’s military authorities.
The Urhobo Media Practitioners Advocacy Group however said there is a plot to twist the narrative and paint one side as savages and the other as saints.
A statement jointly signed by the Secretary of the Group, Theophilus Onojoghen and Executive Member, Shedrack Onitsha, alleged that the Okuama community has been razed by angry soldiers in a reprisal, an act which it also condemned.
“We have also been informed that leading from the killings of the personnel, Okuama community has been completely razed down by angry soldiers. The situation has sacked peace and law abiding citizens of Okuama community, especially when it has not been established that Okuama youths were responsible for this gruesome killing of the military men”, the group said.
It demanded for an urgent action to arrest the culprits and bring them to book and also called for an independent investigation into the matter as it called on the Delta State Government and the Nigerian Army to set up a joint investigative panel.
According to the group, the terms of reference of such panel will include unraveling what was the true mission of the soldiers to Okuama, whether the Delta State Government was aware of the Troops’ peace mission and why other security agencies like the Police and DSS were not involved among other issues.
See the group’s full text below:
*KILLING OF SOLDIERS IN DELTA: UMPAG CONDEMNS ATTACK ON SOLDIERS, RAZING OF OKUAMA COMMUNITY, CALLS FOR INDEPENDENT PANEL OF ENQUIRY*
The Urhobo Media Practitioners Advocacy Group (UMPAG), college of Urhobo media practitioners worldwide, received with rude shock the heinous and dastardly murder of 16 military personnel, including the commanding officer of 181 Amphibious Batallion, two Majors and a Captain by unknown gunmen around the bank of Okuama community in Ewu Kingdom in the Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State.
As a body of trained media workers, we condemn in strong terms the killing of the military personnel and some indigenes of the Okuama community. From information available to us, there is a grand conspiracy to twist the facts of the bizarre incident to paint one party as savages and adjudge another as saints.
From our findings, the incident is coming on the heels of the renewed crisis over a land dispute between Okuama community in Ughelli South and Okoloba community in Bomadi Local Government Areas of the state.
The Urhobos of Okuama community in Ewu Kingdom have lived peacefully with their Okoloba neighbours for ages. Both communities have robust inter-marriages and can even speak both Urhobo and Ijaw languages fluently.
We have also been informed that leading from the killings of the personnel, Okuama community has been completely razed down by angry soldiers. The situation has sacked peace and law abiding citizens of Okuama community, especially when it has not been established that Okuama youths were responsible for this gruesome killing of the military men. This, too, we strongly condemn in strong terms.
While we commiserate with the Nigerian military, the Federal Government and the Delta State Government on the unwarranted killing of these personnel, we join other Nigerians to demand for an independent investigation and arrest of the culprits.
To this end, we call on the Delta State Government and the Nigerian Army to urgently constitute a joint panel of enquiry to unravel the cause and what led to the killing of the soldiers on the said peace mission to Okuama and Okoloba communities.
Falling from information available to us, we demand that the panel probe the following areas:
*1. What was the true mission of the soldiers to Okuama and Okoloba communities?*
*2. Was the Ovie (King) of Ewu Kingdom and her subjects informed of the military visit on a peace mission?*
*3. Was the Executive Governor of Delta State, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, informed of the PEACE mission?*
4. *Why did the situation report come from DPO Bomadi, and not DPO, Otu-Jeremi?*
*6. Why would the military, stationed in Bomadi, embark on a “PEACE” mission to Okuama in Ughelli South, without the involvement of DPO Jeremi, and local government officials?*
*7. Why was the military “PEACE” mission escorted by Ijaw youths?*
*8. How come, that civilian members of the “PEACE” mission survived to tell the story, yet no military man survived?*
*9. If the King, PG, DPO Jeremi, LG officials were not involved, who were those to sign the peace accord?*
*10. Why did the situation report come from DPO Bomadi, and not DPO, Otu-Jeremi?*
*11. Where did the community source such sophisticated weapons to wage such war against the military men?*
*12. Why were the police, DSS and other sister security agencies not involved in the military peace mission to Okuama?*
*13. Why was the military peace mission only for the Okuama community?*
*14. From the reports, the bodies of the slain military personnel were recovered from the Forcados River. Who dumped the bodies in the River?*
*15. Are we not sure that warlords from neighbouring areas were responsible for the attack on soldiers?*
*16. Was Okuama and Okoloba at war for 16 soldiers to be gruesomely killed in less than 24hrs?*
*17. Who were the civilians that took the military to Okuama as quoted in the report by Sunday Bomadi Chancel who had earlier claimed over 22 soldiers were killed? Who were the Ijaw civilians who accompanied the soldiers to Okuama? How come they survived while the soldiers were killed?*
*18. There are many mindboggling questions to be asked on the incident.*
From the foregoing, we call on the Executive Governor of Delta State, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori and the Nigerian military to thoroughly investigate the attack on the soldiers and the people of Okuama community.
As media professionals, we are mediators and peace advocates; we therefore call on our people in Okuama community and our Ijaw brothers in Okoloba community to maintain the existing peace, while the Government and the military get to the root of this tragedy.
We use this medium to call on the military to refrain from assaulting peace and law-abiding citizens of the area in face of the recent development. We also urge parties involved in the communal crisis to refrain from making unguarded statements so as not to fuel the crisis.
Signed
Mr. Onojeghen Theophilus Okpare
Secretary
Mr. Shedrack Onitsha
Executive Member
