Terror was unleashed last week on the Ekpan community in Koko, Warri North Local Government Area (LGA), Delta State by a team of policemen from the State Command, soldiers from the 19th Battalion, and armed thugs suspected to be Governor Ifeanyi Okowa's men.
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The destruction left several people wounded and damaged millions of naira worth of property.
SaharaReporters reliably learned that the Nigeria police team was allegedly led by the State Commissioner of Police, Usman Akhali, while one Lawrence Ngozi Ijei, the Special Assistant to Governor Okowa, led the group of thugs.
It was gathered that the attack was targeting supporters and loyalists of Henry Baro, the former Chairman of the Uvwie Local Government Council, who has been engaged in a political battle with Mr. Okowa and the State House of Assembly Speaker, Monday Igbuya.
Sources speaking to SaharaReporters explained that this attack was organized under the guise of an operation to apprehend illegal weapons but was really intended to target political opponents.
It will be recalled that soldiers attached to the 19th Battalion have been the subject of a series of stories published by SaharaReporters in 2015 for working with local criminal gangs, oil bunkering, and murdering a local vigilante chairman extrajudicially.
An indigene of the Ekpan community who pleaded anonymity named individuals fueling the unrest and crisis in the community.
Among them were Principal Secretary to Governor Okowa, Hillary Obi Ibegbulem, Warri North Constituency in the Delta State House Of Assembly member Michael Diden (alias “Ejele”), the newly sworn in Chairman of the Uvwie Council, Stella Dabunor Otiotio, and Delta State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Bright Edejevwrho.
A local police officer stated that the above-mentioned persons are behind the destruction in the community, describing the situation as barbaric and painful.
According to another indigene of the community, police officers and soldiers actively participated in the destruction and assisted the armed thugs.
"The most surprising thing about the invasion was the fact that soldiers and policemen gave vests and uniforms to the thugs and assisted them in their destruction. The likes of Newyear Iffie, Daniel Ighedo Kere Ariurudje, an aggrieved Community Liaison Officer CLO, Monday Oki, Wilson Awana, Tega Obolor and others were present during the invasion,” she said.
“Rather than bringing lasting peace to the area, Governor Okowa is busy taking sides and making sure that Henry Baro's supporters go down for supporting Tony Obuh for the 2015 Peoples Democratic Party governorship ticket,” she added.
“At all costs, the governor and his hatchet men want Baro's supporters to go down. He is using his Principal Secretary Hillary Obi Ibegbulem to cause crisis in the Ekpan community. Governor Okowa is a big disappointment and a disgrace; he has failed to settle a crisis that was initiated between the Peoples Democratic Party in Ekpan before the last governor’s primary election in 2015," the indigene stated.
Efforts to obtain comments from all government and security agencies involved were unsuccessful.