I am reliably informed that on 16/10/17 at about 6.00am, men and officers of the JTF invaded, for the umpteenth time the peaceful land of Egbema Ijaw Clan, precisely Ajakurama town and its satellite communities wherein several houses and properties were burnt down. This is one too many occasion where the JTF will have the audacity without recourse to the laws of the land to wreck havoc and cause a large scale destruction of lives and properties worth millions of naira.
The world needs to be reminded that in 1999 the people of Ikenyan and Opia communities of Ogbinbiri community in Egbema Ijaw clan were attacked by the JTF and burnt down many houses with reckless abandon. They killed four prominent sons of Egbema Ijaw Clan in the person of Late Pa Agbagbaidi, Messrs Shedrack Lawuru, Braemi Idabor and Wonigha Bigha (I was there and would have been killed when I was shot at).
Again in 2004, the Ogbudugbudu town and its satellite communities were burnt down and up till today no compensation has been paid for these killings and wanton destruction of properties. Here we are again in 2017. One common fact in all these invasion is that the military would always claim that their operation is to fight crime in the region. But in the end we don’t get to see any criminal prosecution coming out of their operation. This clearly shows that their hidden motive is to cow the good people of Egbema and silence opposition. I want to ask, is this what the JTF was set up to do in the Niger Delta Region? We expect the current military echelon to be more proactive in handling their operations in the region. I dare to say that the act of war foisted on the people of Egbema Ijaw Clan is unlawful and amounts to an infraction of the people’s rights to property and human dignity to mention but a few. This act of war foisted on the people of Egbema Ijaw Clan ought to be condemned by all lovers of democracy and free society. I therefore call on the total withdrawal of the JTF from the communities currently under siege in order to pave way for the provision of humanitarian needs. It is hoped that this ugly incident will not rear its ugly head again in Egbema Ijaw Clan.
Signed
Barr. N. S. Egin, LL.M
Human Right Activist
#BoycottAnambraElection
#NAProduceMNKDeadOrAlive