March 19, 2024
SaharaReporters had reported that a Commanding Officer, two Majors, one Captain and 12 soldiers of 181 Amphibious Battalion were killed by hoodlums in the Bomadi Local Government Area of the state.
The lawmaker representing Ughelli North/South and Udu Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Francis Ejiroghene Waive, has called for restraints in the ongoing killings and wanton destruction of lives and property in Okuama and other communities in Delta and Bayelsa states over the killing of 17 Nigerian Army personnel.
SaharaReporters had reported that a Commanding Officer, two Majors, one Captain and 12 soldiers of 181 Amphibious Battalion were killed by hoodlums in the Bomadi Local Government Area of the state.
The acting Director, Defence Information, Brigadier General Tukur Gusau, who made this known in a statement on Saturday, said the military personnel were killed on Thursday while on a peace mission to the community.
However, on Sunday and Monday, there were series of reports that troops invaded communities, killing and burning down properties in a reprisal attack.
Reacting in a statement to the unfortunate development, Waive, who also chairs the House Committee on Rules and Business, cautioned that the vicious killings and destruction in Okwama Community were never a solution to the killing of soldiers, insisting that "we cannot return to the Old Stone Age".
"I call on the military to exercise maximum restraint in their response and abide by internationally accepted protocols in the face of this provocation," the lawmaker appealed.
The statement partly reads, "I received with utter shock news of the killings in Okuama Community of Ewu Clan in Ughelli South LGA (a part of my constituency). I must begin by calling on all parties in the dispute to a ceasefire and allow peace to reign.
"I condemn in its entirety the taking of human life and console with families and institutions affected. We simply cannot return to the Old Stone Age.
"I am particularly appalled by the reported killing of officers and men of our armed forces and demand that a full-scale unbiased investigation be carried out to ascertain the real culprits.
"There is no need to accuse and counter accuse one another or violently label anyone until reliable investigation with proof, fish out the killers to face justice."
Condemning the attack on the military, Waive noted "It is not an acceptable norm to willfully attack and kill our good officers and men on patriotic duty to protect and defend our territorial integrity and collective peace and security."
He lamented that "Okuama community has always been the theater of the fightings over lingering crisis, suggesting that they are the ones being attacked. Had these attacks been nipped in the bud as they ought to be, we wouldn’t come to this edge of the precipice."
The statement added, "As sad and painful as it it, this is however a moment to reflect as true patriots and our brothers’ keepers to put a stop to these bloody attacks that have become incessant.
"I am at a loss how a community of only a few hundred inhabitants can inflict this level of damage on our military. I worry if there are no fifth columnists and other vested interests at play. But I believe a thorough, unbiased and professional investigation will unveil this mystery.
"Reports have it that the bodies of our fallen officers and men of the military were found in the community and on the Forcados River. There is a need to unveil the place of their killing and the actual killers. Whoever did this must be found and punished according to law.
"The burning down of Okuama community is not a solution to the problems at hand. I call on the military to exercise maximum restraint in their response and abide by internationally accepted protocols in the face of this provocation.
"I call on the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to immediately set up modalities to assist those displaced at this difficult time.
"We must all realise that land belongs to God. We met it here and will definitely leave it when we exit this world. So too is human life. Nobody has the right to take the life of another.
"I call on our beloved people of Okuama Community to calm down and ensure they allow peace to reign. I also call on our dear people who are their neighbours to do the same.
"The military authorities, the State Government, and the Communities should cooperate in the investigations and find lasting solutions to this crisis according to law and the tenets of good conscience."