Amidst Tensions, Okoloba/Okuama Faces Humanitarian Catastrophe – Right Group
UGHELLI/Nigeria: A Human Rights group, Citizens Rights Concern, Enhancement Initiative, CRCEI, also known as Human Rights Protection Congress, has expressed concern over what it described as avoidable escalated crisis between Okoloba and Okuama communities in Delta state, which during the weekend, resulted in the death of 16 military personnel including a Commanding Officer, two Majors, one Captain, and twelve others, including unknown number of civilians.
The Amb. Edewor Egedegbe-led group, in its condolence message during an interview with journalists via telephone, condemned in strong terms the killing of the soldiers by “local” hoodlums describing the incident as one absurdity too many, wondering why a land dispute could take such unfortunate dimension.
Egedegbe, who is the Chairman, Board of Trustee, BoT of the group, called on governments across tiers to promptly institute a high powered panel to thoroughly investigate the remote and immediate causes of the bloodbath in the communities, saying, “The Nigerian army deserves more better than it was treated by their killers.”
The group, while seeking explanations from the army headquarters as to what necessitated the invasion of Okuama community, charged the troop of soldiers deployed to Okuama community not to violate their rule of engagement in order not to worsen the already tensed situation.”
Continuing, the Amb Egedegbe-led group expressed fear over a possibility of a humanitarian crisis resulting from the sacking of Okuama community following the killings, adding that “The plight of women, children and the innocent citizens who may have been caught up in the cross fire is a reminder of the compelling need to protect them from any form of molestation, abuse, brutalization and other ill-treatments.”
The group expressed concern over a lasting military siege in the community, even as it described the crisis as worrisome.
“What is the plight of women and children in that agrarian community? Do they still have their rights to freedom in such a situation under armed conflict? “As a concerned Human Rights group, it is compelling for us to raise these salient questions,” Egedegbe stated.
The group continued, “When a community is razed down in a vengeful manner by the military in the case of Odi community in Bayelsa state, a couple.of years ago, women and children were severely vulnerable and suffered huge harm and unspeakable emotional trauma, hence we are very much concerned following the hurtful trend of development occasioned by this crisis.”
The group continued, “We are calling on the local, state and federal governments to send relief materials to the vulnerable persons in the conflict ridden community.”
According to the group, “The crisis would’ve been prevented if the government had heeded early calls by concerned citizens for urgent intervention to forestall imminent and devastating crisis,” noting that, “Due to the ‘traditional’ but poor attitude over issues of public concern, the agents of government feigned ignorance of the numerous call for action, hence we are now confronted with the sad situation staring us in the face.”
Continuing, the group wondered why the use of gunboat in a peace mission as claimed by the army, even as it questioned the rationale behind the invasion of Okuama, a small community with a population less than 5,000 people by no small number and calibre of military personnel.
They noted, “In the event of a peace keeping mission, it is imperative that the primary stakeholders should be part of the process.”
They queried, “Why were traditional rulers, and the President Generals (PGs) from both communities (Okoloba and Okuama) not made part of the peace mission?
The group also noted that the Police and the DSS were not part of the military’s peacekeeping efforts, stating that such practice was not in sync with the global best practice.
“The land dispute between the two community is age long and all hands must be on deck to resolve it. However, using the military to resolve the crisis shouldn’t have been the best option,” the group stated.
Egedegbe, while sympathizing with the families and friends of the deceased security personnel and civilians who may have lost their lives, called on the Nigerian army to withdraw its men from Okuama community to pave way for humanitarian assistance to be given to the needy persons being incapacitated by the raging crisis.
“Most importantly, the survivors need shelter over their heads since their properties including houses have been burnt down by the military,” the group stated.
The Citizens Rights Concern Enhancement Initiative (CRCEI ) is a registered nongovernmental organization driven by the vision of promoting a Nigeria society where Rights of Citizens are sacrosanct.
Its mission centres on building citizens’ capacity through enlightenment programmes, hands-on trainings, conferences, symposiums and building collaborations with critical stakeholders to promote transparency, excellence and rule of law to engender sustainable peace and development in society.
Its core values include discipline, dedication, courage and unquestionable excellence.
