A community leader in Delta State, Olorogun Sleek Oshare has attributed land dispute between two highly placed families to the gruesome murder of some military personnel.
Seventeen soldiers were killed in the Okuama community of Delta State last week in what has continued to generate condemnation from Nigerian authorities.
Giving insights into the killing on Monday, Oshare said the military personnel were in the area as part of measures to settle a land dispute between Urhobo speaking Okuama and Ijaw speaking Okoloba, a neighbouring community.
“The quarrel was just a land dispute between one family and another family and land disputes happen over and over again,” he said on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
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- “One community felt that the other had a military connection and they were being pressured unnecessarily. The pressure is more on Okuama and they don’t have anybody to speak for them.
“In the whole narrative, you don’t hear the name of the other community. Where is Okoloba? In the last two days, Okoloba has disappeared because they are also afraid.
“Sometimes, it is made to look as if it were an ethnic thing. It was just a dispute between individuals and Okoloba, which seems to have more connections.
“The families that were involved in the dispute are highly placed. Until we go into the real investigation, the truth will not come out.
“It is then the nation will come out to sympathize with the children, pregnant women, and old people who could have lost their lives in the random shootings.”
The community was razed following the killing but Oshare called on the military to exercise restraint.
“At this point, we should be careful whom we point fingers at, there might be some people who want to incite the authorities against the people of Okuama,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Delta State Commissioner of Police, Olufemi Abaniwonda, has addressed the seeming absence of the police force in the community amidst the ongoing efforts to maintain peace and security in the troubled Niger Delta community of Okuama.
In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Wednesday, the Commissioner said that while the police haven’t been able to get into Okuama because “it’s an ongoing military operation,” they are working hand in hand with other security agencies to make sure that those who murdered 17 soldiers are caught.
“In the Okuama incident, we have an ongoing military operation there. We have been on ground, we have been supportive. We have not been missing in action. Technology has been an integral part of present day policing. These individuals are being tracked. Effort is being made to ensure that the perpetrators of this heinous crime are brought to book. We are working in conjunction with other security agencies and I can assure you that we are making progress.”
Regarding the current situation within the Okuama community, Abaniwonda said he would only provide a limited amount of information on the condition of the area.
“Most of the places are deserted. I would not like to say more than that. It’s an ongoing military operation. I think when these things are ongoing, it is better that things are not said that might aggravate or pass information to those who are looking for.”
Addressing why the police haven’t gone into Okuama, he said there is a sister agency already in operation in the community and it would not be reasonable to go in while another agency is in operation.
“We have not been able to move into this community. Yes it is our responsibility as the primary line of defense in internal security. But when you have another sister agency conducting an operation, the reasonable thing to do is to wait for them to finish.
“We have not been able for now to get into Okuoma because of the volatile nature of what is presently ongoing around that environment.”
However, the commissioner assured that soon, the police would be able to enter Okuoma, as they are working on clearance to do so, adding that regardless, the police is offering their full support toward ensuring the safety and protection of life and property in the state.
“I can assure you that very soon, we will be able to get in. For us to get to Okoloba and Okuoma, you would need to get clearance. So we are working on this so that we can also ensure the safety of our people who are in those environments.
“But we are on the ground, we are in our divisions, we are in our outpost, we are in our various formations. We are rendering our services, which is what the mandate of the inspector general of police is protection of lives and property. We are doing this. Not just in this community but all over Delta state.”
