During an exclusive interview with Arise News, the President, of Ijaw National Council, Professor Benjamin Okaba claimed that some of the neighbouring communities to the Okuama community in Delta state have been under military siege since the murder of 17 military personnel in the Okuama community.
Okaba stated that saying that peace has been restored in Okuama and other neighboring communities such as Igbomotoru, and Okoloba among others is far from the truth. He added that many of these communities, particularly Igbomotoru have been under siege as no one has been allowed in or out of the community.
He said, “For the Igbomotoru community, the report we got just a few hours ago indicates that the people are under siege; no access from outside and those within the community do not have access, even to go across Igbomotoru 1.”
“(There has been) no food, water or telephone services within the area. So, that is the situation. People are starving. There is hunger and serious depression. We even fear serious outbreaks of some diseases because the only source of water is saturated with a lot of dead bodies.”
“The people usually depend on sachet water from Yenogoa but the boats carrying such essential commodities are not allowed to come near. So, if the situation continues like this in the next 48 hours, the death toll –rising from the people that were not immediately tortured or killed– will be on the increase”.
Although the killing of the Nigerian military personnel is heart-breaking, Okaba stated that he is worried that any form of reprisal attack would only lead to more loss of civilian lives. According to him, the suspects would have found a way to escape the community, leaving only the vulnerable to bear the brunt.
“The act of the criminals who gruesomely massacred 17 soldiers of this country is an attack we have and will continue to condemn. We have also called on the Federal Government and the Security agencies to leave no stones unturned in fetching out these persons and let them be dealt with according to the laws of this nation.”
“The second perspective is the issue of reprisal attack. Yes, in a situation like this, because of the pain, the provocations etc. there is no doubt there will be some extra-judicial killings mostly affecting persons who are innocent because in situations like this, the criminals will do what they want to do.”
“They are also aware that in no distant time, they will be attacked, so they will usually flee the community and allow the vulnerable –the young and the old, to be so affected. That is the situation in the Okuama community in Delta States.” –Okaba added.