After more than one month of occupation, the army last week allowed the Governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori to visit Okuama community, Ughelli South Local Government Area where 17 officers and men of the Nigerian Army were killed on March 14, 2024.Similarly, the army opened the way for Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, to visit Igbomotoru community in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, which the army occupied, as they searched for Endurance Amagbein, the prime suspect in the Okuama killings.
From the images that emerged from the visit, Okuama had become a ghost town, where no human being lived. Everywhere was overgrown with weeds. The only significant structure standing was a church building, and the public primary school structures. In one of the pictures, Governor Oborevwori and his guides stood on the rubbles of a flattened house to view the rest of the settlement.
Though the army occupation may be coming to an end, the legal war with the community may just have started. In Warri, about 40 kilometres Northwest of Okuama, the people of the community have filed a suit in which they have demanded to be paid N200 billion damages for the forced occupation, killings and suffering the army subjected them to since the occupation on March 17.
Military Personnel at Okuama jetty
Specific details of the human and material losses during the occupation are still unknown with many community members still missing and in hiding. The suit filed by 17 members of the community on behalf of the rest of the community, prayed the court to declare as unlawful, the occupation of the community by the army and to order the army to vacate the community and stop cordoning it off.
It demanded N100 billion as general damages against the army, while asking for another N100 billion as exemplary damages against the army. The community alleged that apart from the Anglican Church and the public primary school in the community, all other houses were flattened.
During National Point visit in March 2024 to Delta State and the communities affected following the killings and resultant siege, the police in Asaba, who should have the full details of the tragedy in Okuama and other affected communities, said they could not investigate the matter because of the involvement of a sister organisation, the Army. The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Olufemi Abaniwonda, said the command would only move into Okuama and other communities after the army had finished its operations. Abaniwonda explained that this was why when the traditional ruler of Ewu, who was declared wanted by the army surrendered himself to the police, the police handed him over to the army.
The Defence headquarters under whose command the occupation of Okuama was carried out, denied destroying houses or killing the villagers. The Defence headquarters’ denial came after being indicted of serious human rights violations in its operations in other parts of the country.
The Okuama scenario appeared to be replicating the Odi massacre of 1999, where the military invaded and flattened the community, located on the River Nun in Bayelsa State, after militant youths took hostage of and killed 13 police and military officers. The community went to court to seek redress and claim damages. They eventually got an apology from the federal government and an out of court settlement compensation of N15 billion.
In all the emerging scenario, nothing has been heard of the hundreds of community members that escaped the invasion of Okuama and Igbomotoru by the army. According to Mahatma Gandhi, the strength of a nation is measured by how it treats its weakest members.
While the army is still deploying every available weapon and intelligence to track down the masterminds of the March 14 massacre of 17 soldiers in Okuama, hundreds of poor women, children, the sick and the aged from the community and Igbomotoru in Bayelsa State are trapped in the forests and bushes without any help from government, aid agencies and humanitarian organizations.
Even though the army had identified and declared wanted those who it suspected to have masterminded the incident, it has insisted that the refugees cannot return to their homes, which are feared to have been flattened by the army. The army has also barred communities and individuals from giving shelter to the refugees.
On March 17, 2024, a squad of the Nigerian military invaded Okuama, a small settlement located on the west bank of the Forcados River in Delta State in response to the killing of 17 officers and men of the 181 Amphibious Battalion of the Nigerian Army on March 14,2024.
Early images that emerged from the community after the army invasion showed houses burning with thick billows of smoke rising into the sky. Unconfirmed reports said many residents were killed as the military also went after those it suspected masterminded the killing of the soldiers and officers.
The military subsequently extended its search for the villagers and suspects in the March 14 killings to neighbouring communities, as it deployed every weapon available to it including satellite tools to track down the suspects.
Afraid for their lives, hundreds of families made up of women, children, the sick and the old escaped to nearby bushes and forests to avoid being cut down by the invading force. Scores of them have remained trapped in the forests and bushes as they continue to hide away from the prowling army.
Left at the mercy of the cold, hunger, disease, mosquitoes and wild animals in the open, their case has been worsened by rejection from neighbouring communities that the army barred from taking them in and offering them shelter.
Even indigenes of Okuama in the towns and cities have been too afraid to talk about their experiences or give out their identities and location for fear of being tracked down and arrested by the army. But one of them, who spoke on the grounds of anonymity, said those who ran into the bush had not been able to access any help from anywhere.
He said the people had no food, shelter or access to healthcare facilities. He lamented how they have lost some people to sickness, cold and snakebites in the bush and appealed to the Federal and State Governments as well as other good spirited individuals to come to their rescue.
The man disputed the claim by the Defence Headquarters that that the army did not destroy any property in Okuama. “There is no building remaining in Okuama. A few days ago, they carried two caterpillars (demolition vehicles) to Okuama. Today, the whole community has been brought down. When the governor of Delta State went there, they deprived the man access to the community. When a Commissioner of Police went to the community to go and visit, they deprive this man access to the community. Nobody has gone there to see what is going on. We appeal to the whole nation to intervene in this matter. They should come to Okuama’s rescue.”
He also called on relevant authorities to prevail on the military to allow the people return to the community to pick up the pieces of what was left of their lives.
Another Okuama indigene, who also pleaded to remain anonymous, lamented the failure of both the state and federal governments to respond to the situation of the displaced Okuama people. “Our people have died in the community and are now vulnerable; children and the elderly are dying in the bush and government is not doing anything about it,” he said.
“We are calling on the government to come to our aid. We are also calling on the international community to come to our aid. This is total oppression. They don’t want us to speak and people are only hearing one side of the story”, he added, saying the people had switched off their mobile phones because they were being monitored and tracked by the military.
The Secretary of Akugbene community, Mr. Larry Adagbabiri, told National Point at Akugbene that he would only talk to the press if he got clearance from the JTF. JTF is the Joint Task Force of the Military, police and other security agencies policing the Niger Delta mainly to stop illegal crude oil bunkering and artisanal refineries.
Despite criticism of its operations by human rights lawyers and civil society organisations who faulted their methods, the military have stuck to their guns, insisting on being allowed to finish what they had gone into the communities to accomplish.
Monarch of Ewu-Urhobo Kingdom
Patrick Biakpara, a retired air force officer, said what the military is doing in the communities is against their rules of engagement. “Government should be advised that they should not use the military in the wrong way. The military is not made to make peace. And if they make peace, they will kill everybody to make that peace,” he said.
The Kabowei of Patani, HRM Shadrach Erebulu, urged for peace because of the suffering the whole episode has brought on innocent people. “When things like this happen, most times it is the innocent people in the community that become victims,” he said.
An environmental rights activist, Mr. Morris Allagoa, called on the military to pull out of the occupied communities to ease tension, saying, “We should not commit a collective crime by allowing the military to kill more persons, especially law-abiding citizens via the bullet or starvation. Punishing the innocent for the crime committed by another is injustice.”
Prominent human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, who condemned the killing of the soldiers, called for compensation to be paid to their families and also to innocent residents of Okuama, whose members were killed or property destroyed. He said it was illegal for the military to handle investigations into the matter or declare people wanted as it was the duty of the police to do so. “If the Federal Government fails to call the Defence Headquarters to order, the case concerning the tragic murder of the soldiers will be completely bungled,” he said.
But the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, in his reactions said the villagers could not escape complicity in the killing of the officers and men even if they had not all been involved personally. “They cannot say they did not know what is going on there,” Gen. Musa said in a television interview .
He added that the people of Okuama and other communities where the army had carried out reprisal operations were lucky that the entire settlements were not flattened. “If you noticed again, our operation was highly regulated. Ideally before now, we would have been in a situation where we would have flattened all the communities within that area. But it was measured because we felt not everybody was involved. But we know that a lot of people knew what was going on and kept quiet. And so that makes them complicit,” he said.
Chief of Army Staff
Gen Musa also dismissed criticisms that the army had taken over the duty of investigation of crime by civilians from the police in the Okuama saga. He explained that the team handling the operation at Okuama and other communities was a joint task force, which includes the police and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Commission.
The Defence headquarters had earlier warned that communities and people that give shelter to refugees from Okuama and other communities it was investigating risked being treated as accomplices.
The military even raided several communities, where they suspected that Okuama suspects could be hiding. Some of the communities were Ughelli, Akugbene in Bomadi Local Government Area, Orere in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State, Igbomotoru in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State and Usokun in Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The army also broke into homes of citizens in Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers State in search of the suspects on the Okuama killings. One of the homes was that of Chief Edwin Clark, an elder statesman and leader of the Ijaws in the Niger Delta. On April 8th, it invaded the residence of former militant leader, Chief Sobomabo Jackrich at Usokun in Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State, arrested him, killing two of his aides in the process. The action of the military has therefore put everyone on edge, fearing that they might not be responsible to anyone.
When the news of the invasion of the communities was first broken, President Bola Tinubu endorsed the actions of the army in Okuama. He gave further mandate to them to seek out and punish the killers.
“Members of our armed forces are at the heart and core of our nationhood. Any attack on them is a direct attack on our nation. We will not accept this wicked act.”
“The Defence Headquarters and Chief of Defence Staff have been granted full authority to bring to justice anybody found to have been responsible for this unconscionable crime against the Nigerian people,” the President said. But he failed to mandate or clear the way for humanitarian aid to get to innocent victims of the army invasion.
He however showed some concern in his speech at the burial of the remains of the 17 officers and men in Abuja, when directed the military to ensure that innocent members of the communities did not suffer in the course their operations. But he said, “The elders and chiefs of Okuama also have a duty to help the military in fishing out the gunmen who committed the barbaric crime against our men.”
“We must all ensure that the innocent people of Okuama are not made to bear the punishment of the guilty and wicked among them,” however added. That was the closest the President went to secure relief for the ordinary citizens in the affected communities.
The military have however ignored the President on his appeal on protecting innocent citizens of the communities. They have rather gone ahead to hunt them, with the Chief of Defence Staff insisting that only military investigations could free the community of guilt. He also accused them of benefitting from proceeds of oil theft. “Those communities know those criminals. Some of them benefit from these criminals; these acts of criminality. And so, if they say they don’t know them or they are not aware then, they are far from the truth. But like I said, investigation will unravel most of these aspects and we remain very professional,” Gen. Musa said.
When the governor of Delta State, Mr. Sheriff Oborevwori, wanted to visit Okuama, the army at Bomadi cornered him to their base where they met with him behind closed doors and he retreated to Asaba afterwards.
After that visit, government media in the state stopped giving coverage to Okuama matters. Delta Broadcasting Service (DBS), which had reported a protest by indigenes of Okuama in Warri on the same day that the governor visited Bomadi, subsequently placed an embargo on stories from Okuama. A staffer of the station told National Point that Government House, Asaba asked the station to embargo further reports on Okuama.
With the army breathing down on everyone, it has been difficult, if not impossible, for assistance to come to the displaced persons. The difficult terrain where the people are, in addition to the blockade of the Forcados River by the army have constituted a barrier to reaching the refugees.
Army personnel at the Bomadi base of 181 Amphibious Battalion flatly told our reporters that Okuama was a no-go area. “Who will take you there in the first place?” a burly officer in an army fatigue asked National Point reporters. It’s security zone for now. Everybody will have to wait for when the army has finished what it is doing before they can allow anybody into the place,” he said.
What happened to those that were trapped in Okuama after the military invasion? There is no clear account yet. Some of those who escaped alleged that the army shot people on sight, a claim the Chief of Defence Staff denied.
Where are the Aid agencies?
Despite the cries by victims of the army calling for help, responses have failed to come from aid agencies; not even from the local governments where the communities are located.
Ughelli South Local Government at Otu-Jeremi where Okuama is located did not make any arrangements for sheltering and providing help to people displaced for the community, so also it was at Bomadi Local Government, which is even closer to Okuama and other affected communities. The absence of elected local government officers seemed to have made it worse. National Point was told at Bomadi Local Government that the area was headed by a civil servant, the Head of Personnel management, who could not arrange emergency response to the situation.
However the National Assembly members representing Delta South Senatorial Zone and Ughelli North and South/Udu Federal Constituency, Senator Ede Dafinone and Hon. Francis Waive, have appealed for prayers and mercy for the victims of Okuama crisis.
Senator Dafinone called for restraint from all parties to the crisis “particularly, the military authorities to prevent further escalation of violence and bloodshed.” He said the ceasefire should pave the way for the institution of an independent inquiry into what happened in Okuama and its neighbouring communities.
Hon. Waive said allowing the people to perish in the bush and occupying their settlement amounted to genocide. He said his call for clemency was not an admission of guilt. He said, “Since the people have been in the bush without food or water, I think there is a need to send relief to them in the spirit of our common humanity.”
The federal lawmaker said the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) should find a way of reaching out to the displaced people and offer them relief. “The number of people who have died as a result of the soldiers is huge. We can’t wipe out the entire village so that only those inhabitants of the village who are in the city would be the only ones alive. That would amount to genocide,” he said.
While condemning the killing of the officers and men, Hon. Waive insisted that the deep feelings and shock that came with their deaths should not remove the innocence of the women and children and old people now trapped in the crossfire. “What can a woman who goes to farm with her cutlasses and hoes know about killing soldiers or a child who follows his parents to the farm? That is why I am asking for clemency for them,” he said.
Similarly, in Igbomotoru community in Southern Ijaw Local Government of Bayelsa State, the people have been forced to seek refuge in the creeks after the army invaded the community in search of Endurance Okodeh, alias General Amagben, the prime suspect in the Okuama killings. The invading soldiers killed a number of youths in the process.
The army had shot indiscriminately as they made their way into the community, mowing down an unspecified number of people even though they were not able to find Amagben there. The rest of the community was forced to take shelter in the bush, as the soldiers were said to have shot at anything in sight.
The paramount ruler of Igbotomoru community, Ayibaikie Ofongo, who confirmed the raid on the community said many young men, mainly associates of Amagben were killed by the soldiers. He admitted that he had been on exile from the community for about three years now after militants took control of the community and unleashed a reign of terror.
After speculations were raised that the suspect could be receiving cover from Bayelsa State, given the role he played in the last elections in the state, the state government opted to be quiet on the matter. The governor, Senator Douye Diri, rather took the pacific way out by attending the burial of the slain soldiers in Abuja and making commitment to the welfare of the families of the deceased officers and men. Despite the cries from the displaced people of the community and outcry from stakeholders like the Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, no assistance has come for the victims of Igbomotoru invasion.
The Ijaw National Congress (INC) and the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), the two apex socio-cultural organizations of the two communities involved in the Okuama conflict condemned the killing of the officers and men of the Nigerian Army but called for independent investigation of the entire saga.
The President of INC, Prof. Benjamin Okaba, condemned the “senseless, brutal and coldblooded killing of military officers performing their legitimate duties in Delta State” and demanded that those found culpable should be apprehended, investigated and subjected to the dictates of the law. He however cautioned that innocent people should not be lumped together with the culprits.
The President General of UPU, Chief Ese Owe, condemned the manner in which the army has handled the saga. He said the army could not be the complainant, judge and jury in its own court. “I want to say here for those who want to know, if they don’t know what happened and what led to that event they should dig deeper. In digging deeper they should find out what actually happened,” the UPU President said. He called on both the Federal Government and Delta State government to intervene very urgently and restore peace to the communities and displaced people.
The Story In Between
Okuama is a small settlement of about 500 inhabitants straddled between two bigger towns of Akugbene and Okoloba on the west bank of the Forcados River in Delta State. While the Okuama people are of the Urhobo tribe and belong to Ughelli South Local Government Area, Akugbene and Okoloba are Ijaw communities in Bomadi Local Government Area.
The inhabitants are mainly fishermen and women and farmers whose livelihood is tied to the Forcados, one of the main distributaries of the River Niger. Those of them that are not farmers are engaged in water transportation; and then there are the ones that have migrated to places like Warri, Ughelli, Asaba, Lagos and other cities doing white and blue collar jobs.
Akugbene, an Ijaw Kingdom is the traditional owner of the land where Okuama is located. Investigations indicate that the Okuama community started off as a settlement of Urhobo people who engaged in farming mostly on the vast land and trading. The community grew over the years and became a settled space.
Access to the community is mainly through the Forcados River. But there are other not too motorable routes through difficult land terrains interspersed by marshland and thick forests.
Not very much was known about Okuama before March 14, 2024, when the world woke up to the grim tragedy of the killing of 17 officers and men of the 181 Amphibious Battalion of the Nigerian Army that had gone there in response to a distress call to rescue a certain Anthony Aboh from Okoloba that was allegedly kidnapped and kept in Okuama.
But the incident revealed a long running conflict between Okuama and Okoloba over farming lands and boundary, which has lasted for so many decades. Mr. Preye Kekai, a civil rights activist from Okoloba, told National Point that Okoloba had boundary with Akugbene, another Ijaw community until Akugbene gave out land to farmers mainly from Ewu Clan of Urhobo land, who settled at the place now known as Okuama. Over time, he said, the population of the settlement increased and they begin to encroach on Okoloba farmland.
From time to time when hostilities escalate between the two communities, Akugbene usually interceded and made peace between them. But, with the increasing use of arms, the conflict became a lot more difficult to handle. A few years ago, Delta State Government during the regime of Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa intervened and set up a panel to investigate and make recommendations. At the end of the work of the panel, Hon. Reginald Dombraye, a former Special Adviser to the Governor from Bomadi was given the task to mediate and make peace between the two communities. That was the last government intervention before the crisis escalated again.
Initial reactions to the Okuama incident were unruffled. There have been many fatal military civilian encounters in Nigeria. People almost easily dismissed the tragedy like one of the many incidents where engagements between security forces and armed civilians often led to losses on both the sides. But when the import of what had happened in Okuama dawned on the nation, it drew instant anger and condemnation for the murderers of the officers and soldiers.
But none yielded concrete resolution. The fact that the two communities were of different ethnic stock helped to put the intercommunity relationship always on edge; and which was worsened by their close proximity. People from both communities often ran into each other on the waterways, in the farms and other places and frictions between them too soon degenerated into intercommunity tensions.
So, when the military were invited by the people of Okoloba to intervene to rescue Aboh, allegedly kidnapped by Okuama people, they mobilized and went to Okuama with some Okoloba men, including a former supervisory councilor in Bomadi Local Government, Pius Aboh, who happened to be the elder brother of Anthony.
Sources said when the military arrived, they met with Okuama people in their community hall, where they asked for the missing boy. When the soldiers could not get any positive response for Okuama people, they insisted on taking away the community chairman, the youth leader and one other leader of the community to the Bomadi base of the army battalion but were resisted by the community youths. It was at this point that it was said that the army personnel attempted to forcibly take the said community leaders away, and fired volleys of shots to have their way.
On their way back to jetty they were allegedly ambushed and all of them were killed. The only people that escaped were the boat drivers, who happened to be from Okoloba, that were waiting at the waterfront. A source said an elder woman believed to be a witchdoctor was seen at the waterfront moments before the attack on the military men making incantations and pouring libation.
The following day, the Commanding Officer of 181 Amphibious Battalion, Lt. Col. Ali, mobilized other officers and soldiers to the community. But they were ambushed and killed, their bodies were dismembered and taken to different locations. Mr. Aboh, who had accompanied the soldiers to Okuama is still missing after the incident and is feared to be among those killed. In a reaction, an anonymous source claiming to be from Okuama, alleged that the soldiers were murdered in a case of mistaken identity. He said the community had of recent been attacked by people adorned in military uniforms and the people did not want to take chances this time around, only to realise too late that, those killed were actually military officers and soldiers.
The news of the tragedy shocked the nation. The last time such an incident happened in the Niger Delta was in 1999 when militant youths killed some soldiers and policemen in Odi, Bayelsa State. In the reprisal attack, the army leveled the town and killed as many people as they met during the invasion.
As people were still figuring out the correct spelling and pronunciation of Okuama, the military invaded the community on Sunday, March 17, 2024. They cordoned off the community, and blocked all exits and entries to it from the river and footpaths to neighbouring communities. Early images out of Okuama were of burning houses with billows of thick black smoke captured from the river. After then, Okuama went dead. No one could say what next was happening in Okuama except perhaps the military, which kept everyone away from the theatre of their operations in the community.
Military Denies
After pictures of the burning houses in the community leaked to the social media and went viral, the Defence Headquarters denied any involvement of the soldiers burning or destroying any house in Okuama. It came out with a denial that soldiers had levelled Okuama.
Maj. Gen. Augustine Agundu, in an interview with a television channel, alleged that the fire and smoke seen from the river was the handiwork of organised gangs bent on incriminating the military with it. “The burning of houses in Okuama community is not the hand work of the military. We have rules of engagement, and we have standard operating procedure,” Gen. Agundu said.
The denial of the military is understandable after it had come under serious condemnation by international organizations for gross human rights violations and extrajudicial killings during its operations in the past. Prompt denials of such violation of rules of engagement in its operations seem to be a clever way of the military avoiding the bad image it has accumulated during its internal security operations.
Governor of Delta State, Mr. Sheriff Oborevowori, who had scheduled to visit Okuama and Okoloba turned back, after a meeting with the military at Bomadi. Journalists have also been barred from visiting the communities.
Even the police could not move into Okuama. The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Olufemi Abaniwonda, said the police could only wait for the army to complete their operations in the communities before they can move in, even though the police were supposed to be the first to intervene in internal security situations.
He said, “When you have another sister agency conducting an operation, the reasonable thing to do is wait for them to finish,” adding, “for us to get to Okoloba and Okuama, you would need to get clearance. So, we are working on this so that we can ensure the safety of our people who are in those environments.”
Efforts by National Point to visit the two affected communities were futile as no boat driver was ready to risk taking the route to Okuama and Okoloba. At Bomadi, one of the boat drivers plying the Bomadi – Forcados stretch of the river, said “Nobody can go to Okoloba or Okuama. Soldiers have blocked the water.” One of the boat drivers suggested that the reporters could go round through a road bypass to Gbaregolor, cross over the river and take a commercial motorcycle to Okuama by road.
That long and tedious route however terminated at Akugbene, where the locals said they could not lead anyone to Okuama, which is just a few hundred metres away. They said they had been warned by the Joint Military task Force not to entertain any inquiries or visitors about or from Okuama. Efforts to speak with the Chairman of Akugbene community failed as he was not immediately available. The Mein (traditional ruler) of Akugbene was also not available. The Secretary of Akugbene Community, Mr. Larry Adagbabiri, told National Point, that he was willing to talk about how the incident at Okuama has affected life in Akugbene. “But you will have to get clearance from the JTF (Joint Military Task Force) at Bomadi,” he said.
Adagbabiri however admitted that because of the military blockade of Forcados River, the people have to travel through long alternative routes to get to their destinations instead of the much shorter route of passing just passing through the river in front of Okuama.
The following day, a scant crowd of people said to be from Okuama was shown on TV in Warri protesting the invasion of the community. That was the last that was seen or heard of anyone from the community.
After about a week after the Okuama killings, the army headquarters published a list of eight people wanted in connection with the incident. They are Amagben, Prof Arthur Ekpekpo, Clement Oghenerukeywe, the traditional ruler of Ewu Clan, Mr. David Akata, Sinclear Oliki, Clement Oghenerukeywe, Reuben Baru and Ebi Igoli.. The traditional ruler, who reported himself to the police was handed over to the army but was recently released by the army authorities. Musa said all those declared wanted to take a cue from the traditional ruler.
The Defence headquarters has also appointed a high powered military panel headed by Air Vice Marshal David Ajayi to investigate the Okuama tragedy. Ajayi said the panel was to “gather facts from security agencies, community leaders and community dwellers” that will help in civil-military relations and returning life to the affected communities.
Conflicting Reasons
While initial reports attributed the tragedy that occurred at Okuama to the boundary dispute between the community and Okoloba, some other views have traced it to a new form of conflict now prevalent in the Niger Delta Region: fight over territorial control of illegal oil bunkering and artisanal oil refining.
But Mr. Teifa, who insists that Okuama people had long plotted to attack Okoloba people said there was no pre-existing fight over oil theft or artisanal refinery in the area because there are no such facilities in the area. He told National Point that the entire Bomadi Local Government Area was not an oil producing area to warrant any existence of conflict over oil theft or refineries. The oil they see in Bomadi is the one conveyed in vessels from hinterland through the Forcaods River to the mother ship on the Atlantic Ocean.
But the army however says the prime suspect in the March 14 killings, Amagbein, is a militant who feeds fat on illegal oil bunkering. He said the March 14 killing and dismembering of the officers and soldiers was a strategy the militants adopted to demonstrate strength.
“Amagbein is actually the mastermind. He is the one who actually planned and executed this with his boys. And you know there is a lot of issues with cultism within the general area. They were making money illegally; they feel that they are above board. They have too much money such that they want and buy whoever. But the mistake they made is that they tried the wrong guys. And this time around, the full weight of the law is coming after him and his team. And that is why we want to appeal to Nigerians to please do not support them and provide them any logistics and don’t harbor them because during investigation, if we find out that you are also part of it, the law will take its course on you,” he said.
The Chief of Defence Staff said the militants have accumulated so much weaponry and arms that the army needed to search every cranny of the community to recover the weapons. “We are searching every nook and cranny within the community because we know that they have a lot of weapons. They have a lot of funds from illegal crude oil theft; they have bought a lot of weapons. During the disarmament exercise that was conducted, a lot of them didn’t hand over all they had and because it was the riverine area close to other countries, they had ways that they bring in weapons. It was because of the weapons that they were able to perpetrate this. So, it is for us to thoroughly clean the community and ensure that no weapon, no explosive, nothing is left there and that none of them is hiding,” Gen. Musa said.
Meanwhile, the women, children, the old and the sick that were driven out of Okuama, Igbomotoru and other communities in the wake of the military operations remain unreachable in the bush.
