By Samuel Ogude
If there is any day to forget in the history of Nigeria is not Thursday last week where 17 Military Officers including Commanding Officer of 181 Amphibious Battalion, two Majors, one captain and 12 personnel among others that were murdered during their peace mission as a result of the crisis over land disputes involving Okuama Community in Ughelli South Local Government Area and its neighboring Ijaw Community, Okoloba in Bomadi Local Government Area, Delta State.
It is obvious that the age- longed dispute was neither provided permanent solutions to, by Elders and Chiefs of both communities, the Local Government Council Chairmen nor the Delta State government before it degenerated to this level where high ranking military officers, the father of children, lost their lives. Do we now blame the government, the various local government Chairmen and the Elders of the various communities for their seemingly delay in wading into the matter before now?
What is paramount at thi s point is not the crisis itself but the gruesome murder of the military officers. Although,reactions anchored on condemnations, condolences and pieces of advice from persons and authorities among whom are President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, the immediate past Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, Urhobo Traditional Rulers, UPU, a legal Practitioner and national issues commentator, E E.Alpor-:Vaughan Esq., Ijaw Women Connect, World-wide led by Mrs Rosemary John Oduone, among others, Nigeria has lost gallant soldiers who were to protect the country against external aggressors, can not be brought back to life.
Many have called for the setting up of panel to look at the remote and immediate causes of the crisis of the communities especially the gruesome murder of the officers to fish out the culprits, what is begging for answer is, if those who committed the heinous crime are fished out and prosecuted, will that bring back to life the dead officers? Why does Nigeria government always wait for dispute over land matters to degenerate to bloodbath before coming out with solutions?
Many who spoke to Bailout Magazine blamed those who carried out the heinous crime saying, the Military Officers are not the cause of their land dispute, they only came to maintain peace, why vent their(killers) anger on them(Military Officers). On his part, the Chairman of the Committee for the Defence of Human Right(CDHR) , Delta State Branch, Comrade Jonathan Giama opined that the Military Officers wouldn’t have gone for such a peace mission alone but involved the two local government Chairmen and elders of the two communities adding that, such peace movement supposed to be convened in a separate place where both village’s representatives, the local government officials and state government’s representatives were present.
His words:” What prompted those high military officers to go to such community in peace talks in the absence of the two local government council Chairmen as part of the peace talk?.
Comrade Giama however expressed sadness over the killing of the officers saying that the military personnel are not the cause of the communities’ problem. He condoled with the federal government, the entire families of murdered soldiers just as he sympathized with the Okuama people for the lose they have encountered and called for peace between the communities. .
He charged the set -up Senate Joint Committee comprising of the Army, Navy, Defense, Air force chaired by Ahmed Lawan to investigate the gruesome murder of the officers to go about their work to fish out the culprits just as he charged the various communities to provide useful information to enable them achieve their mandate.
His words:” While I condemn the action of the killers of the military officers, l urge the Senate Joint Committee set up to investigate the matter to be diligent in their findings to enable the perpetrators be brought to book”.