TheNewsGuru

Tag: Okuama

  • Letter to Gen. Musa on Okuama 5 forever in detention – By Abraham Ogbodo

    Letter to Gen. Musa on Okuama 5 forever in detention – By Abraham Ogbodo

    BY ABRAHAM OGBODO

    Dear CDS,

    I am writing to bring your attention back to Okuama. Perhaps it is not a very nice thing to do because Okuama invokes memories that are not too pleasant in the military. But my options are very slim, sir. If you were any ordinary person that I could walk up to or call on the phone to raise matters, I would have gladly done either instead of doing this tedious letter-writing like the Great Apostle Paul. Sometimes, seeing the President is easier with some of us than seeing, not just a serving General, but the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).

    For instance, I know that the President lives in Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, or on Bourdilon Street Ikoyi, Lagos. I can just call my Oga, Bayo Onanuga, to say I want to see the Jagaban, and that may be it. The President may only ask one or two questions to be reassured. “Is he that stupid boy that is always writing nonsense about me and the APC?” “Yes Your Excellency”. ”Shebi he used to edit The Guardian Newspaper before?” “Yes Your Excellency.” “Were ni o! Tell him to come, joor.”

    I am not too vast in martial protocols. With you, it may not go that smoothly. Instead of talking or explaining for thorough understanding, the boys around you may bark orders at me and call me a bloody civilian. They might just be shouting as if I am a small boy or their junior in the military. I am retired, and I have long crossed 60 years of age. Such a rude encounter could be detrimental to my physical and mental health.

    As they say, prevention is better than cure. And so, sir, kindly permit this medium of communication. Maybe, after now, we shall become good friends and can be talking one on one. I even hear your beautiful wife is my sister from Urhobo. That is another level that has ‘’serious cultural implications’’ as my good friend, Dr. Reuben Abati would say.

    That in-law matter would be appropriately introduced at the appropriate time. For now, I want to remain focused on the main purpose of this open letter. It is to tell you that six indigenes of Okuama that were arrested by your men between August 17 and 20, 2024, are still in your custody. Soon, it will be a full year since their arrest.

    Their names are Prof. Arthur Ekpekpo, Chief Belvis Adogbo, Denis Amalaka, Miss Mabel Owhemu, James  Oghoroko and Denis Okugbaye. The roll call has, however, experienced some modifications over the months. James Achovwuko Oghoroko is no longer living. He is a dead detainee, so to say. He died in your custody last December.  And he died in spite of his middle name. In Urhobo,  *Achovwuko* is a distress call. It is an invitation to the world to act with dispatch; to offer a most needed help. Pa Oghoroko would have repeatedly sung with his own name as he was dying.

    He reportedly passed on December 4, 2024. Nobody helped. The only meaningful help in the circumstance would have been releasing him to his family. That did not happen. And the man died. Another, Pa Denis Okugbaye, who was in the line to die due to ill health, was quickly released to Senator Ede Dafinone, who represents Delta Central in the Senate.

    As you know, sir, journalists have so much in common with soldiers. Just as soldiers don’t fight their own wars, but the wars created for them by politicians, journalists too don’t create their own stories but report the stories created by newsmakers.

    These newsmakers may include government and its institutions such as the military. In the matter of the death of Pa Oghoroko, the press reported that he died as a result of torture by your men. This is not good at all for your image and that of the military. Even prisoners of war (POW) are not tortured to death by their captors.

    This is contained in the Geneva Convention of 1949. Maybe I should re-establish the context of the Okuama story, which is gradually building into a saga. It started with the incident of March 13, 2024. That was the fateful day that 17 soldiers, including four officers, were gruesomely murdered by yet-to-be identified killers.

    It was a most despicable act of cruelty. The entire nation was pained by the untimely death of the service men. The military, in their preliminary investigation, pinned the killings down to Okuama; a fishing community on the bank of the Forcados River in Delta State. Sir, it will not serve any purpose bothering you with details of your own story.

    The reprisal attack by the army induced an aftermath that all stakeholders are still struggling to manage. The community was completely razed with no building standing except the Anglican Church building. Everyone living in Okuama became homeless overnight. There was a humanitarian crisis that had to be dealt with irrespective of the facts of the original crime of murdering 17 servicemen in cold blood.

    The Delta State Government had created a camp to receive and care for the displaced persons. That effort revolved around me as the chairman of the management committee of the IDP Camp.

    My dear CDS, I can tell you for free that the people I managed in that camp for eight months, between April and December last year, were victims; comprising mainly women and children. I did not see any killer or criminal among them for a day.

    This is to say the people of Okuama are themselves victims of an unprovoked act of aggression as much as the Army, which lost 17 men in a non-kinetic operation. The criminals, however, must not go unpunished. They must be fished out and made to face the law. The task before everybody is to apply all constitutional means to look for the people who killed our 17 soldiers.

    Sir, I want us to stay on a single narrative at this point. Let’s not talk here and there like market women. I am saying this because when the whole thing happened, you had come out almost immediately to name one Endurance Amagbein as being responsible for the killings.

    That lead was never followed up effectively. Instead, the searchlight was exclusively focused on Okuama, culminating in the arrest of the six individuals earlier mentioned. Even the king of Ewu Kingdom, of which Okuama is part, His Royal Majesty, Clement Ikolo, was arrested, detained, questioned, and released after more than 20 days. It was a humiliation. But it is well. Anything can happen under an emergency where basic rights and privileges of individuals could be suspended for the sake of the larger good.

    I advise that we move forward to create a fresh beginning on some assumptions. First is the assumption that the Army has strong evidence connecting the persons in its custody for more than 10 months, with the crime. The next point is not an assumption. It is a fact. It is the fact that Nigeria operates a criminal justice system that assigns institutional roles as to how crime is determined and offenders punished.

    The military institution has no direct role in that arrangement except as assigned to it by the court or police, both of which play adjudicatory and prosecutorial roles, respectively, in the pursuit of criminal justice. The military, which has higher kinetic capability than the police can be invited to stabilise combustible civil situations for the police to move in.

    That is where it ends. No soldier is permitted in the Nigerian legal system, and legal systems elsewhere in the world, to incident criminal matters in court and thereafter stand before a magistrate or judge to prosecute the case. The most that happens is for the soldier to enter court, as the case may be, as a witness to either the prosecution or the defendant.

    Sir, I have listened to you speak in press interviews and other forums. You come across as a very fine and intelligent officer. As CDS, you have no brighter professional feather to aim at. Nobody is going to promote you to the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, except by processes known to the constitution. In other words, after this time, you would be shown the exit door.

    You would have successfully anchored as a professional soldier and, therefore, good to go home in retirement and join your people in your community. This is why I keep saying that only criminals and not communities should be taken out in the event of a conflagration. For instance, if your community in Zango Kataf council area in Southern Kaduna is to be taken out the same way you people have taken out Okuama, where will you go after retiring as CDS?

    I have digressed, sir. On the Okuama detainees, I am truly confused. What point is the military trying to make by holding them in detention against all known statutory provisions and rules of engagements?  Are you saying, sir, that after about 10 months, enough evidence has not been gathered to charge these detainees for the crime of killing those 17 soldiers?

    I hear that the body of the one that has died is still being detained in a military morgue? What for, please?  I don’t understand. Has the whole thing become some entertaining sports for the viewing pleasure of some people? Also know sir, that if there is any law that permits this, in view of the enormity of the crime, the army is not the institution prepared by law to keep people that are awaiting their day in court.

    You know you are my in-law. I will feel so guilty if I do not tell you the truth. And the truth is that the military is on an unnecessary power show against the citizens of Nigeria. The army is only bringing a bad name to itself with the continued detention of these people. I am not even calling on your beautiful wife to play a Queen Esther here.

    I am just asking the military to recognise that we are in a democracy and follow due process in the Okuama matter. You definitely have the powers to foreclose this matter one way or the other. To play Pontius Pilate and allow what is clearly an injustice to fester unchecked, neither ennobles nor discharges you of ultimate responsibility.

    The military should not cultivate that image of impunity under you. I reject it on your behalf in Jesus Name! Sir, I love you too much not to tell the truth. The world is now a global village. In this twilight of your career, when you are also in the limelight, every of your acts or omissions will either count for or against you in the unknown court of natural and social justice.

    General Olusegun Obasanjo didn’t believe this until he had reason to warm up for the job of the Secretary-general of the United Nations sometime in the early 1990s. He didn’t go far with his quest because late Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti and others had gone ahead to present OBJ’s dossier on human rights abuse to the world. I want you to be properly guided. It doesn’t take too long to complete 360 degrees and return to the starting point.

    Perhaps you do not even have any blame after all my dear CDS and in-law. I cannot understand, for instance, why the court has not been urgent and definite in the interpretation of Chapter Four of the 1999 Constitution in the Okuama matter.

    Enforcement of fundamental human rights is a matter of urgency and necessity and does not require an elegant display of all the fine points of law to determine. Also, the Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), is doing as if he does not live in this country or operate his office from this country.

    But I hasten to add that neither of these omissions will detract from the weight of your own responsibility or duty in the matter under review. This is the point about individual responsibility underscored by Prophet Ezekiel in the bible. You shall be judged according to your deeds and misdeeds and not the acts or omissions of others. The Okuama saga has become a misdeed.  Do well to stem it, sir. Thanks and God bless you.

    A Concerned Bloody Civilian.

  • One year after: Perpetrators of Okuama killings, yet to be apprehended-Prof Ahwefeada

    One year after: Perpetrators of Okuama killings, yet to be apprehended-Prof Ahwefeada

    A member of the World Council of Urhobo Professors, Prof. Sunny Ahwefeada, has said we have found it confusing that after one year, those responsible for killing 17 army personnel in Okuama in Delta State are yet to be apprehended by the security operatives.

    Ahwefeada, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Friday, said that identifying those behind the heinous crime and bringing them to book will go a long way in bringing closure to the case.

    “We are all confused that one year after, the intelligence community has not been able to make any headway in identifying the real perpetrators of this and bringing them to book, it is quite unfortunate,” Ahwefeada said.

    “And I should put it on record here that identifying the perpetrators and bringing them to book is a step towards closure. So, we are waiting and hopeful that someday the intelligence community will be able to do the needful so that we can actually know those behind that heinous crime.”

    The 17 personnel — the Commanding Officer of 181 Amphibious Battalion, two majors, one captain, and 12 personnel of the battalion — were later buried at the Military Cemetary in Abuja.

    Detention of Okuama Leaders
    Speaking further on the programme, the Urhobo leader lamented that the Okuama community leaders arrested in the aftermath of the incident are still languishing in detention after months of arrest.

    He regretted the death of one of the community leaders in military detention and appealed for the release of the remaining detainees.

    “These people that were arrested, even if they are considered suspects, should be handed over to the police and be charged to court. So, as far as we are concerned, in as much as they have not been convicted, they are still innocent, and we feel that they have been held for too long.

    “They were arrested between 18th and 20th of August, this is March, this is more than half a year since they were incarcerated, and as I said earlier, one of them, an 80-year-old man died in military detention. So, we are thinking that these people should be released,” he said.

    Ahwefeada acknowledged that there were some interventions by the government including setting up of IDP camps. He also recalled that the military set up an investigative panel but said that the military can’t be a judge in its own case.

    He appealed to the government to set up an independent commission of inquiry, saying that this will help in bringing closure to the matter.

  • Okuama: One year after the killings – By Abraham Ogbodo

    Okuama: One year after the killings – By Abraham Ogbodo

    It will be one year today, March 14, since the unfortunate killing of 17 soldiers, including four officers, at a location along the Forcados River in Delta State. While the point about the actual killers of the servicemen remains hanging, the Army, in the aftermath, pinned the killing down to persons in Okuama, a fishing community in Ughelli South local government area of Delta State. The army explained that the 17 soldiers were on a mission to settle a land dispute between Okuama, an Urhobo community and the neighbouring Ijaw community of Okoloba but that all 17 men were killed in cold blood on that fateful day by persons from Okuama. This sparked off a chain of catastrophic events, the end of which is still not in sight 365 days after.

    The army’s claim of a peace mission that went awry did not sound too probable across board. Doubts were raised. In the first place, soldiers are not primed to make peace. They are created to fight wars, especially wars to repel external aggression and protect the fatherland. Even at that, soldiers do not go about fighting their own wars. They fight the wars created for them by politicians. But when the time comes to discuss or make peace after a war, soldiers are kept far from the discussions. Politicians sit alone at the table to hammer out the terms of peace. That is the way it is happening right now in Ukraine/Russia and Gaza/Israel. Soldiers will only be invited by politicians if need be, to enforce the terms of the negotiated peace deal.

    Put differently, peace mission is not the same as peace keeping mission. One is a civil engagement and happens before the other which is a military assignment with an underlying kinetic approach. While nothing should justify the killing of Nigerian soldiers by Nigerians, the 17 men and officers of the Army, killed on March 14 last year, were not on a peace keeping mission. By the Army’s own admission, they were on a mission to discuss peace or peace-making mission. Peace is made before it is kept or enforced by deterrence which soldiers can do.

    Let’s put it into context. Even though they are neighbouring communities, Okuama and Okoloba are in different local government areas of Delta State. The former is in Ughelli South Local Government Area and the later in Bomadi Local Government Area. But neither of the leaderships in the two council areas was involved or even aware of the Army’s mission to make peace in the area. Also, the police formations in the jurisdiction, namely the divisions in Bomadi and Otor-Jeremi, as well as the Area office in Ughelli, were not accommodated in the scheme. The Department of State Service (DSS), that is, the Nigerian secret police was in the dark of the peace mission. Even the Delta State Government with all the human and institutional structures for such civic engagements, never knew that the 181 Amphibious Battalion in Bomadi, in a unique show of its capabilities, was moving officers and men across water for the settlement of a land dispute in Okuoma. To say the least, the army acted alone when it was most necessary and even mandatory for itto act in concert with civil authorities.

    Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Chris Musa added a dimension that should ordinarily refract the narrative and remove the heat from Okuama. But that did not quite happen. He explained that a certain Amagben from Igbomoturu, a Community in Southern Ijaw local government area in neighbouring Bayelsa State was behind the death of the 17 service men. His revelation however came after the army had rolled over Okuama and reduced the once bubbling community to rubbles, leaving nothing standing except the Anglican Church. All the same, the lead offered by the CDS was followed by soldiers on ground and water to extend the unmitigated pain to Igbomoturu. When the smoke cleared, the authorities in Yenagoa quantified the loss as 20 deaths and many destroyed houses.

    As a matter of fact, the facts of the Okuama tragic story are not too complex. They are fairly straight forward and easy to understand by quarters that should understand them. And here is a recap. There was a very heinous crime of the killing of 17 men and officers of the Nigerian Army on March 14, 2024 by yet to established killers. The army however alleges that the crime was committed by persons from Okuama and in a reprisal on March 15, 2024, destroyed the community and rendered the people homeless. The army became army of occupation and stayed put in Okuama for about 40 days before they retreated following interventions from high quarters.

    Instead, what have appeared really complex, are the procedures of the case. The crime remains murder as defined in the provisions of Chapter 27 of the Criminal Code. The procedures for the determination and punishment for murder are all contained in the Criminal Code. The summary is that murder, as in all crimes, is between the Nigerian State and the defendant. Crime, technically, is committed against the state and not against individuals or institutions. At the very best, person or institution, against whom the crime is committed or who bears directly the consequences of the criminal act or omission would only be invited by the prosecution as a witness. It is the police and the attorney-general that prosecute criminals. There is no private crime anywhere in the criminal justice system in Nigeria and in fact elsewhere in the whole wide world.

    It means, effectively, that the military authorities have been seeking justice outside the law. This kind of thing is called ‘self help’ in law. It does not enrich the jurisprudence of any jurisdiction. It diminishes it. It should be known also that if the military is not dealing with its own matter, among its own people and according to its own rule, it has no authority whatsoever under a democracy to declare any citizen wanted. In the Okuama matter, the Army has acted as if it is a republic within the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It has declared perceived criminals wanted without a police report of investigation. It has investigated without making public the report of its investigation. It has arrested and detained without recourse to the court.

    Not only that, the Army refused blatantly to honour an invitation to appear before the House of Reps ad-hoc Committee that looked into the Okuoma matter. The soldiers were just bent on doing things their own way. They felt and still feel that the gravity of the crime and their arising grievances are enough justification for their serial procedural breaches. No civilised system runs that way. The difference between murder and assassination is in the profile of the target. Thus, even the assassination (instead of murder) of a sitting president will still be determined within the relevant provisions of the Criminal and Penal Codes. No other law applies under a democracy. I am saying therefore that after one full year, the time has come for the army to backtrack and follow laid-down procedures to close the Okuama matter for good.

    In the wake of the military offensive in Okuama, persons suspected by the Army to be connected with the killing of the 17 soldiers, were declared wanted by it. These included the king of Ewu-Urhobo Kingdom, HRM, Clement Ikolo. Okuama is one of the satellite towns of Ewu-Urhobo kingdom and the specific charge against King Ikolo, I guess, is allowing Okuama to be part of his kingdom. How is that his fault? The king, who didn’t want to look like a fugitive from the law, had voluntarily surrendered himself to an army formation in Asaba, Delta State. He was to remain in military custody, without an enabling court order, for 22 days. Others on the wanted list were Akevwru Daniel Omotegboro who is same as Amagben, Prof Arthur Ekpekpo, Andaowei Denis Bakiri, Igoli Ebi (the only female amongst them), Sinclair Oliki and Reuben Baru.

    It would be interesting to say a thing or two about Prof. Arthur Ekpekpo. He teaches physics at the Delta State University, Abraka. He is the former Dean of the Faculty of Science of that university. By the known social and material dialectics, Prof Ekpekpo is cast at a social station that should distance him far from the maddening crowd. But he was spat at by the spitting cobra that bit the toe of King Ikolo. He happens to be doing the right community service at the wrong time. He is the President-general of Ewu-Urhobo Kingdom and also an indigene of Okuama. Both are non extenuating facts in the understanding of the Army. The Prof is complicit and stands guilty until he is allowed some space by the military to prove his innocence or reinforce his culpability either in a court-martial or a conventional court as the case maybe.

    The army, which alone, knows the murderers it is looking for, had plucked out Prof from hiding in August last year. It expanded the list of wanted persons to include more persons from Okuama. They are Chief Belvis Adogbo, Denis Okugbaye, Denis Amalaka, James Oghoroko and Mabel Owhemu, all of whom were taken at different locations and dates between August 17 and 20 last year. Two of these persons are no longer in army custody. James Oghoroko had a permanent reprieve when he died in custody in December last year. He was the President-general of Okuama community. Death was allegedly knocking for Denis Okugbaye when he was released on compassionate grounds last December to Senator Ede Dafinone, who represents Delta Central in the Senate. The rest are still where they are – Bori Camp in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

    More worrisome is the impression of institutional helplessness in a democracy. The police cannot assert itself against the military and say clearly that investigation and prosecution of crime is not a military task. The House of Reps did not issue warrant of arrest of the Army Chief when the Army refused to appear before the House committee on the Okuama matter. The Minister of Justice and Attorney-general of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), who likes to see treason in everything, did not see treason when armed soldiers stopped a sitting Governor from accessing a part of the state he governs. He has also not shouted treason over serial procedural breaches of the military or act to compel the Army to stay within bounds in the Okuama matter.

    As at today, about three suits bordering on the enforcement of fundamental human rights are lying in court against the Army. These are ordinarily matters of urgent attention, but nothing definite, outside announcement of postponements, has been pronounced by the court to compel the military to act appropriately. Some of these processes were filed since April last year.

    Last Tuesday, the Member representing Ughelli North, Ughelli South and Udu Federal Constituency in the House of Reps, Hon. Francis Waive moved a motion for the House to urge the Nigerian Army to: 1. release the report of its investigation into the Okuama matter; 2. release the detained innocent members of the community or charge them to court; 3. rebuild the homes destroyed by its men in the wake of the incident and 4. mandate the House Committee on Defence to ensure compliance and report to the House within four weeks. The motion was unanimously passed. It is something to cheer about in the matter at hand.

    All said, my appeal is for the military not to be consumed by rage. It should seize this parliamentary window created by the representative of the people of Okuama to backtrack into honour. Whatever is the magnitude of the injury, yielding to democratic processes in seeking redress strengthens the institution of the military more than it weakens. We are in an age of information. Others are watching us. The current posture of the Army concerning the Okuama matter is bad public relations for the country. The Commander-in-Chief should be interested.

    Meanwhile, plenty thanks should go the Delta State Government that stepped in with an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp to coordinate relief efforts to help the unfortunate victims of the Okuama crisis. The camp which operated for seven months (between May 2 and December 31, 2024), achieved the short-term purpose of supporting the displaced people of Okuama to recover from the trauma of the military invasion and reposition for normal life. The long term agenda of returning the community to baseline conditions calls for the participation of all stakeholders including the Federal Government, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), national and international donor agencies, good spirited individuals and the Delta State Government.

  • One year after: Senator Dafinone demands justice for Okuama people

    One year after: Senator Dafinone demands justice for Okuama people

    Senator Ede Dafinone, representing Delta Central Senatorial District in the 10th Senate, has called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to ensure justice for the Okuama people following the military onslaught of March 14, 2024, which left the community in ruins.

    The attack was carried out in response to the brutal killing of men and officers of the Nigerian Army earlier that day. However, one year later, the government has yet to take decisive action to address the suffering of the affected people.

    In a press statement released on the first anniversary of the tragic events, Senator Dafinone also called on the Federal Government and the Nigerian Army to either unconditionally release all detained suspects who have been held without trial for over seven months or allow them to be tried in an open court.

    He condemned the continued violation of their rights, emphasizing that all suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of law. According to him, the military’s actions in detaining individuals without trial undermine Nigeria’s reputation in the global community of democratic nations.

    Following interventions by Senator Dafinone and other stakeholders, the Nigerian Army, on April 16, 2024, released the King of Ewu Kingdom, His Royal Majesty Clement Ikolo, who had been arrested and detained for three weeks without any charges, sparking public outcry.

    However, while the Okuama community was still reeling from the effects of the military onslaught, its President-General, Pa James Achovwuko Oghoroko, who was among the community leaders arrested by the Nigerian military in August 2024, tragically died in military detention. His death further heightened tensions among the people.

    A few days later, Senator Dafinone intervened upon receiving reports that the 81-year-old community treasurer Dennis Okugbaye also being held in military detention was gravely ill. Thanks to his timely efforts, Okugbaye was released on bail; otherwise, the elderly man might not have survived.

    Both leaders, alongside others, including Prof. Arthur Ekpekpo, Chief Belvis Adogbo, Mrs. Mabel Owhemu, and Mr. Dennis Malaka, were arrested by the military between August 18 and 20, 2024, and have remained in custody without any formal charges.

    As the Senator representing Delta Central, Dafinone also facilitated the supply of palliative items, including food, to the displaced Okuama people while they were at the IDP camp in Ewu. He has continuously engaged with the community and its leaders regarding the release of detained citizens and the rebuilding of Okuama.

    Senator Dafinone declared:

    “As the world marks the first anniversary of the Okuama military onslaught on March 14, I join the voices calling for justice, accountability, and urgent intervention to alleviate the suffering of the displaced Okuama people.

    The events of that tragic day left an entire community in ruins, with homes destroyed and families forced into unimaginable hardship. One year later, the Nigerian government must take decisive action to ensure these innocent citizens are not abandoned and that justice is served.”

    He decried the lack of basic infrastructure in Okuama, describing it as unacceptable: “These are Nigerian citizens who deserve protection, not neglect. I call on the federal and state governments, as well as humanitarian organizations, to prioritize the rebuilding of Okuama.

    “Urgent efforts must be made to restore housing, schools, healthcare facilities, and roads, enabling the community to rebuild their lives and reclaim their dignity. The government’s duty is not only to protect but also to rehabilitate communities affected by conflicts—Okuama should be no exception.”

    The Senator also condemned the continued detention of four Urhobo citizens by the Nigerian military since August 2024, emphasizing that seven months without trial constitutes a gross violation of their fundamental rights. He demanded their immediate release or a fair and transparent trial.

    Furthermore, he stressed that justice for Okuama extends beyond rebuilding homes and releasing detainees—it also requires accountability and measures to prevent future injustices.

    He called on the government, civil society organizations, and the international community to stand in solidarity with Okuama and take urgent action to restore the community, secure the release of detainees, and ensure that such a tragedy never happens again.

    “As a representative of Delta Central Senatorial District, I remain committed to championing the cause of the Okuama people.

    “I call on all well-meaning Nigerians, civil society organizations, and the international community to stand in solidarity with Okuama in demanding justice, rehabilitation, and the protection of fundamental rights.

    “It is time for the government to act—restore Okuama, release the detainees, and ensure that such a tragedy never happens again.”

  • Release detained Okuama residents or charge them to court, Reps tell army

    Release detained Okuama residents or charge them to court, Reps tell army

    The House of Representatives has urged the Nigerian Army to release the detained innocent members of Okuama community in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta or charge them to court.

    The call was sequel to the adoption of a motion moved by Rep. Francis Waive (APC-Delta) at plenary on Tuesday in Abuja.

    Moving the motion, Waive recalled the unfortunate killing of 17 soldiers on March 14, 2024, whose lifeless bodies were discovered in Okuama community.

    He said that the incident led to the reprisal destruction of the community and the arrest of some residents by the army.

    The lawmaker further stated that since the event happened, the perpetrators of the crime had not been arrested despite claims that the alleged criminals were known to the authorities.

    “Several innocent indigenes of the community, including Prof. Arthur Ekpekpo, Chief Belvis Adogo, Mr Dennis Amlaka, Miss Owhemu Mabel and Pa James Oghoroko, who died in custody, among others, were detained and have since been in detention.

    “The affected community requested that a judicial inquiry be made to look into the facts of the events, an option that was not considered.

    “The Committee on Defence conducted an investigation into the matter, in which the army refused to participate.

    “The Nigerian Army decided to conduct their own investigations; it is believed that by now, one year later, they should have had sufficient time to conclude investigations,” he said.

    The house urged the army to release the investigation’s report and rebuild the homes destroyed by their men in the wake of the incident.

    In his ruling, the Speaker, Rep. Tajudeen Abbas, mandated the Committee on Defence to ensure compliance and report to the house within four weeks for further legislative action.

  • Alleged Okuama killings: Court permits ex-Bayelsa LG chair to testify

    Alleged Okuama killings: Court permits ex-Bayelsa LG chair to testify

    A Federal High Court in Abuja has permitted Mr Lucky Okodeh, a former Caretaker Chairman, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa, to give oral evidence in his N2 billion suit against the Nigerian Army.

    Justice Binta Nyako gave the order on Wednesday after the applicant’s lawyer, Mr Femi Falana, SAN, disagreed with the argument of the counsel to the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Mike Enahoro-Ebah, that the army did not, at any time, declared Okodeh wanted.

    Falana submitted that there was conflict of facts in the affidavits filed by parties before the judge, hence, the need for his client to clear the air on the matter through oral evidence.

    He insisted that the Nigerian Army allegedly published the claimant’s photograph among those wanted in connection to the killing of 17 soldiers in Okuama in Delta.

    He, therefore, prayed the court to allow Okodeh to come to court in the next adjourned date to give his evidence.

    Enahoro-Ebah, however, opposed Falana’s application.

    The lawyer argued that the COAS and the Nigerian Army did not declare Okodeh wanted at any time.

    He said the applicant was unknown to the COAS and by extension, the Nigerian Army.

    He said Okodeh was not a person of interest, hence, the suit was unnecessary.

    He urged the court not to grant Falana’s plea.

    Justice Nyako, in a ruling, granted Falana’s application and adjourned the matter until April 28 for Okodeh to give his oral evidence.

    Okodeh had filed the fundamental rights enforcement suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/590/24 against the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and COAS of the Nigerian Army as 1st and 2nd respondents.

    Okodeh, in the suit dated and filed on May 3, 2024, by Mr Falana, accused the defendants of allegedly publishing his photograph among those wanted in connection to the killing of 17 soldiers reportedly in Okuama, Delta State.

    He, therefore, prayed the court to award N2 billion in damages against the respondents for the alleged violation of his rights to personal liberty and dignity.

    The applicant also prayed the court to set aside his declaration and award the fine as compensation for damages suffered over the action of the Defence Headquarters Abuja.

    In the affidavit in support of the suit, Okodeh averred that the action of the defendants had affected his political career and made him to go into hiding.

    On March 14, 2024; 17 officers of the Nigerian Army were murdered by unknown persons in Okuama in Delta, causing the Defence Headquarters Abuja to declare eight persons wanted.

    Though Okodeh’s name was not published among the wanted list, his photograph was allegedly posted on a name which was not his, which he also said no member of his family or extended family bears.

    Okodeh, who was the chairmanship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the April 11, 2024, LG elections in the state, was forced to drop his name and substitute it with another candidate following the publication of his photograph in the wanted list.

    Other prayers sought in the suit include an order of perpetual injunction restraining the CDS and COAS from arresting him as he is a law-abiding citizen of Nigeria who had never had any criminal record right from childhood.

    He equally prayed the court to order the respondents to tender an apology which should be published on both print and electronic media, so that he could have his freedom to live his normal life.

    The COAS, in a counter affidavit filed on Nov. 28, 2024 by Enahoro-Ebah, prayed the court to dismiss the suit for being purely speculative and hypothetical.

    “On March 14, 2024, 17 officers and soldiers who were deployed on a peacekeeping mission in Okuama Community, Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State, were gruesomely killed.

    “The 17 officers and soldiers killed, comprises a Lieutenant Colonel, Two Majors, One Captain, and 13 Soldiers,” he said.

    He said that the COAS was aware of eight individuals who were persons of interest in the ongoing investigation connected to the killing.

    The lawyer said though the names and photographs of the eight individuals were published by the Nigerian Defence Headquarters, he said Okodeh was not a person of interest.

  • Army’s continuing war on Okuama – By Pius Mordi

    Army’s continuing war on Okuama – By Pius Mordi

    More than nine months after 17 soldiers were killed at Okuama during a mission the Army is yet to explain to Nigerians, the revenge operation in the community which left the community completely devastated with the indigenes forced to seek refuge in surrounding forests is festering. Two of the community leaders who were arrested by the military were reported to have to died in army custody after spending months in detention without trial.

    Before leaving Okuama community having levelled it to ground zero, Sheriff Oborevwori, governor of Delta State, had on March 18 visited the theatre of operations after previously sympathising with the military over the killing. Unfortunately, the army refused him entry into the village. Despite the disrespect, Oborevwori has at all times been cooperative with the army authorities. He visited the military high command in Abuja to further engage with them on the unfortunate incident. But despite having to deal with the humanitarian tragedy that become the lot of Okuama people who became internally displaced, the task of rebuilding Okuama and resettling its people have been entirely left to him while the army continued its hostile disposition.

    President-General of Okuama community development association, Pa James Achovwuko Oghoroko and five other leaders – Prof. Arthur Ekpekpo, Chief Belvis Adogbo, Pa. Dennis Okugbaye, Pa Anthony Ahwemuria, and Mrs Rita Akata –  were arrested between August 18 and 20, 2024. It was a brazen move that undermines civil authority and paper over the underlying factors behind the so-called ‘peacekeeping’ mission of the soldiers that unilaterally stormed Okuama on the fateful day without recourse to the local authorities, including the Police and the local government council.This December, Pa James Achovwuko Oghoroko, the elderly president general of the town, passed on while still under military custody.

    The army authorities have used the genuine sympathy Nigerians felt for the fallen soldiers to sweep under the carpet the real crisis festering in oiling producing communities from the activities of oil thieves. There are networks of cartels involved in what has become a thriving industry that involves uniformed security operatives ostensibly deployed to curb the ceaseless breaching of the economic lifeline of the country.

    In Fisayo Soyombo’s exposé while investigating the prevalent thievery in the harnessing of crude oil, the founder of Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) revealed what we have always known – that oil thievery cannot be checked because of the high level network of individuals involved in the business.

    Speaking on Arise Television after he was briefly arrested alongside oil thieves that was gleefully announced by the military, Soyombo said everything he told his interrogators was revealed to oil thieves within 24 hours.

    The carte blanche given the military to handle the investigation into the killing of the 17 servicemen was a grand betrayal of Nigerians. It was a farce. Its unlikely there was any genuine investigation beyond making the Okuama community the expendable pawns. And after two of the community leaders died while still under army custody, it is shocking that President Bola Tinubu is yet to stop the shenanigan going on within the military circle. He has not directed his Attorney-General to intervene and undertake a credible investigation into the saga. After Senator Ovie Omo-Agege called for an independent investigation into the circumstances that led to the death of the Okuama community leaders and Senator Ede Dafinone pleaded with the army to release the other detainees, the army said it would investigate the deaths. Do they really expect to taken seriously with their investigation?

    Okuama was not a war zone to make the community active combatants that could be treated as enemy combatants subject to only military jurisdiction. These civilians just got caught in the crossfire between highly placed godfathers of oil thieves. Whatever is the outcome the army’s ‘investigation’ cannot be taken seriously when they have failed to tell Nigerians the nature of ‘peacekeeping’ its personnel got into at Okuama ab intio.

    It’s already getting very late for civil authorities to step in and begin a credible investigation into the Okuama saga. If crude oil is said to be a curse, Okuama people are going through the hottest part of hell from the exploitation of the black gold within their land and their willful neglect by the federal government. Tinubu should save the oil producing community who are caught in a crossfire by powerful oil thieves. If the killing of the 17 servicemen is not utilised as an opportunity to restore a measure of sanity among security men deployed to protect oil platforms, sooner than later, another Okuama will happen somewhere else in the Niger Delta and the impoverished indigenes will be caught in the crossfire again.

    Postscript

    Yakubu’s farcical diatribe on Ghana elections

    Unlike his electoral umpire, Mahmoud Yakubu, President Bola Tinubu was effusive in his verdict on the recent Ghana elections where the incumbent government was voted out. While he called on other ECOWAS members countries to draw inspiration from the peaceful and credible conduct of the poll that saw the opposition candidate defeat the sitting vice president, the chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmoud Yakubu, was unabashedly exultant.

    He strangely ascribed the success of the Ghana polls as what he invented to conduct the 2023 general elections in Nigeria that was ‘copied’ by Ghana. His claim bordering on hallucination has left critics wondering what the folks at INEC smoke or drink.

    If his tales of phantom technical glitch to explain the failure to declare and upload results right at the polling units as well as the result sheets being mutilated through crude and fraudulent alteration of numbers were not enough, his infamous ‘go to court’ verdict in the dead of the night unravelled him.

    In subsequent elections held in some individual states, Yakubu could not redeem himself. In that of Edo State particularly, it all came apart for him. Its difficult to imagine what he was thinking to blurt what he did on the Ghana election.

    But we should take solace in what Tinubu said in urging the rest of ECOWAS to study how that country was not only able to conduct a peaceful poll, but also make it credible that the candidate and incumbent Vice President of the government threw in the towel even before the counting of votes was concluded.

    Going by his statement, Tinubu wants other countries, including Nigeria, I presume, to study how Ghana did it. But he cannot waste the opportunity by still keeping Yakubu at INEC. Yakubu cannot learn it, if he can, he is incapable of organising credble polls. He had two opportunities in 2019 and 2023, but failed on each occasion.

  • Just in: Another Okuama leader dies in army’s custody, 6 days after PG’s death

    Just in: Another Okuama leader dies in army’s custody, 6 days after PG’s death

    Six days after the death of Okuama community President General, Delta State, Pa James Oghoroko, in the Nigerian military detention, an 81 years old Dennis Okugbaye, Okuama community treasurer has reportedly died in the same circumstances.

    It was gathered that the news of the death of Pa Okugbaye which broke Tuesday has added to the severe tension in Okuama community.

    The late Okugbaye was arrested along late Oghoroko, Prof Arthur Ekpekpo, Chief Belvis Adogbo, Mrs. Mabel Owhemu and Mr. Dennis Malaka; all leaders in Okuama community were picked up on August 18 and 20, 2024 and have remained in military detention without trial.

    Pastor Akpos Okugbaye confirmed the news of his father’s death on, Tuesday.

    It was gathered that Okugbaye family had within Monday and Tuesday sent close to over N401,000 for Okugbaye’s medical treatment.

    Recall that shortly after the passage of Pa Oghoroko, the people had raised serious concerns over the failing health condition of Pa Dennis Okugbaye, and demanded for his immediate release before he gave up the ghost on Tuesday.

    A military medical report of the Late Okugbaye dated 6th December, 2024 sighted by an online newspaper however shows that Pa Okugbaye was recommended for release due to his deteriorating health and age, but the authorities refused to release him.

    Recall on Monday that hundreds of residents of Okuama community in the Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State comprising women and youths staged a peaceful protest against the torturng to death of their President-General, Pa James Oghoroko, by the Nigerian Army.

    The protest took place on Sunday.

    The aggrieved protesters had given the Nigerian government and the military authorities seven-day ultimatum to release five community leaders still being held captive in military detention, and the body of the late Pa Oghoroko.

    The protesters warned that failure by the Nigerian government and the Nigerian Army to effect release of the detained community leaders after the seven-day ultimatum will lead to their resorting to self-help.

    The deceased President-General, Pa Oghoroko, was arrested alongside Prof. Arthur Ekpekpo, Chief Belvis Adogbo, Dennis Okugbaye, Dennis Malaka, Madam Mabel and one other, between August 18 and 20, 2024, and had remained in unknown military detention facilities since then.

  • Omo-Agege demands probe of death of Okuama community leader in Army custody*

    Omo-Agege demands probe of death of Okuama community leader in Army custody*

    The Deputy President of the Senate in the 9th Assembly, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, has called for a thorough and transparent probe of the reported death in military custody of the President General of Okuama development association, Pa James Achovwuko Oghoroko.

    The late community leader had been in detention by the Army after his arrest alongside five other community leaders in August 2024.

    The former Deputy President of the Senate represented Delta Central Senatorial District where Okuama community is located from 2015 to 2023. He decried the handling of the issue by the military, saying that its approach to the arrest and detention of the community leaders of Okuama without arraigning them in court is illegal.

    “Pa James Achovwuko Oghoroko and the others are not soldiers, but civilians that ought to have been tried in a civil court. Failing to do so and this tragic development has cast a pall on democratic governance in Nigeria. Right now, the people in the area believe their leader was tortured, ultimately leading to his death. A thorough investigation by an independent body is imperative to dispel any inaccurate perception of the entire saga,” Senator Omo-Agege said.
    In a press release issued by Sunny Areh, his Media Adviser, the former Deputy Senate President said despite the sad and regrettable killing of some military personnel at Okuama, due proces should be followed in handling the incident. He said that in a democratic society as Nigeria, the legal platform should be used to secure justice for all parties and maintain peace in the area.

    He extended his condolences to the family of Pa James Achovwuko Oghoroko and urged the military to heal the ill will by immediately releasing the other five Okuama community leaders still in military detention.

    Again, he commiserated with the military on the killing of 17 of its personnel by yet to be identified gun men. Omo-Agege said it is time, however, to deescalate the situation by letting democratic institutions handle the search for justice.

  • NDDC lights up Okuama IDP camp – By Francis Ewherido

    NDDC lights up Okuama IDP camp – By Francis Ewherido

    “Light up” in the heading is figurative because the Okuama IDP Camp in Ewu, Ughelli South Local Government Area, Delta State, was not in pitch darkness. They have a generating set and solar providing electricity.

    But during the week the Niger Delta Development Commission stormed the camp the way no individual and no corporate body has done since the IDP camp was officially opened on May 27 this year.

    Beyond the foodstuff, relief materials and money that the Delta State Government provided at the beginning and still provides periodically to the camp, individuals and corporate organisations have been sending foodstuff, relief materials and cash donations.

    I have been very impressed, though I refrained from mentioning names of individuals and corporate organisations bringing these items and making donations because they are many and I don’t want to run the risk of leaving out any name. Moreover, some individuals and corporate organisations want to remain anonymous. But the NDDC show was on a different level; it was a tsunami.

    Let me digress briefly to state that I have not been very satisfied with the performance of the NDDC in the Niger Delta. I knew when the whole idea of NDDC came up because a friend and big brother in the corridors of power at the federal level told me in 1999.

    I also remember that when the discussion on where to put the headquarters started, I wrote a newspaper article rooting for Yenagoa. If I still remember, the title of the article was “Let Yenagoa Be.” My late brother, Sen. Akpor Pius Ewherido, who was then the Deputy Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, read the article. When we met, he challenged me: “Why Yenagoa? Why not Warri?” My thinking then was that Yenagoa was still largely underdeveloped and siting the NDDC headquarters there would accelerate its development.

    Anyway, in terms of infrastructural development, I feel that the Niger Delta would have been transformed by now with the establishment of the NDDC, but the NDDC has not met my expectations. There are too many shoddy jobs and abandoned projects, amongst others.

    But NDDC is not only about infrastructure; human capacity building and development are parts of its mandate. I cannot deny that they have done a lot in this area because I know some beneficiaries whose lives and that of their families have been transformed via intervention of NDDC through scholarships, trainings, sponsorships, etc. Still, more can still be done in this area. Anyway, today is not about an x-ray of the performance of the NDDC over the years.

    During the week, NDDC stormed the Okuama IDP camp in Ewu with five trailers filled with about 71 items amongst which are 400 bags of 25kg rice, 150 bags of 100kg garri, 121 bags of 25kg beans, 400 cartons of noodles, 90 tins of three-litre vegetable oil, 210 mattresses, 22 Canoes, 180 shovels, 75 wheelbarrows, five bicycles, nine cassava grinding machines, 200 rainboots, 400 nylon mats, eight sewing machines, 100 basins, 19 herbicide spray cans, 60 cartons of milo, 60 cartons milk, 400 cartons with each containing 20 tablets of soap, 215 blankets and a large quantity of drugs, amongst other items.

    When I saw the list of the items, I knew NDDC did not just wake up to do the presentation. A lot of thinking went into the immediate needs of Okuama people and what they will need when they get back to Okuama. The foodstuff and soaps, for instance, are for immediate and future use, while the canoes, cassava grinding machines, rainboots, sewing machines, etc., will become useful when they get back to Okuama. Honestly, the quantity of items was beyond my expectation.

    I believe the Urhobo saying that when a man comes back from his own farm, you greet him “doooo” (welcome back) not because you are obliged to, but it is just courtesy. Sometimes, “doooo” can also mean an expression of gratitude.

    In this regard, wekobiruo (you have done well) Rt. Hon. Monday Igbuya, the Commissioner representing Delta State NDDC. Igbuya ensured that all the five trailers arrived at the camp intact and waited for over four hours, ensuring that the right thing was done.

    To his other team members, I say “doooo” and “avwakobiruo” (you all have done well in Ewu dialect). Also, doooo and avwakobiruo to the leaders of Okuama, who helped in identifying the needs of the community to NDDC. This helped the NDDC, I guess, in their choice of relief materials which were very apt.

    The IDP camp committee did a wonderful job. I will continue to praise them. It is not easy to manage so many children and rural women. I thank the Chairman, Mr. Abraham Ogbodo, the Camp Commandant, Deacon Austine Ohwofaria, Mr. Henry Ediyo and other members of the camp committee for their dedication and sacrifices.

    Finally, I thank the Governor of Delta State, Elder Sheriff Oborevwori and the Delta State Government for initiating and setting up the IDP camp. I know what happened first hand and through Ogbodo. Ogbodo always talked about the governor’s support, understanding and encouragement. We cannot disclose everything here, but as an Ewu son, I say God bless you all.

    The IDP camp is closing soon. The people need to go back home. The planting season is about to begin and they need to prepare. They need to go back and start adjusting to their usual daily routines. Many of them have put on weight and look quite robust, but an IDP camp is what it is; a temporary refuge.

    There is still a lot of work to be done in rebuilding Okuama. The contractors handling the various projects are behind schedule, but Okuama people need to go home and keep an eye on them to ensure the projects are completed as soon as possible. The government gave Okuama people the freedom to choose their preferred contractors, so they should take responsibility.

    There are other projects that need to be done. The chairman of the IDP camp committee, Ughelli South LGA, as mandated by the state government, and others involved will hopefully ensure that these projects continue and get completed.

    As the Okuama people prepare to go home, I want to reiterate what I said previously that the Delta State Government needs to demarcate the boundary between Okuama and Okoloba. Once demarcated, the boundary should be respected by both parties. Both communities also signed a peace accord a few months ago.

    They have copies of the agreement and the details. Community leaders should drum it into the heads and hearts of people in both communities. They should stick to the agreement. Skirmishes had been on before the unfortunate incident of March 14 that led to the sacking of Okuama community. It is important that thunder does not strike in the same place again. Let peace reign.

    The aggrieved Okuama Community has sued the federal government and the army. That is the beauty of democracy. Let Okuama Community have its day in court to pursue reparations.