Palpable fear has enveloped the Okomu Community in Ovia South West local government area as residents of the community have cried to the state governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, to come to their aid and save them from annihilation and subjugation by the Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc.
According to their disclosure, the people of Oweke, a community in the locality, woke on Thursday morning to behold the gruesome murder of one Ogomu Edema, allegedly by soldiers on guard duty at the Okomu Oil Palm Plc facility.
“Not only that, his wife and employees were arrested for no cogent reasons whatsoever. This was a man who was fighting for the emancipation of his people from the shackles of modern-day slavery.”
The petitioners stated that the incident shocked them when, just recently, “We openly notified Governor Godwin Obaseki, the multinational oil companies and the security agencies of our intention to embrace peace, drop our arms and ammunition.
“We took this peace option in view of our resolve not to be labelled as the aggressors who are not interested in the peace and progress of our community and our brothers, a narrative that our traducers have been peddling all around just to blackmail us.
“The prompt intervention of Governor Obaseki will guarantee that the peace and reconciliation that we’re seeking is within reach in a short while.”
In his response, Captain Chinonso Oteh, Army Public Relations, APR 4th Brigade, Benin, said- “The fact is that on Thursday, our people received intelligence. You know that over time, we have been deployed to that general area because the Okomu Ijaw militants have been terrorising the community and, by extension, the Okomu Oil axis, which has been on the news.
“Our troops have been there to ensure protection of lives and properties within the general area. So, on Thursday, they received a call. During that time, they were there with some vigilante members of the Edo State Security Network. Those militants engaged them. After the engagement, somebody escaped with a gunshot wound. You cannot certify if that person died because you didn’t see the corpse.
“Terrorists have a way they operate. But we have two people, a man and a woman. They are presently in our custody for preliminary investigation, after which we will hand them over to the DSS. We recovered guns, arms, ammunition and other military communications gadgets like radios. The community people are happy that the military is protecting them and facilities in the general area.”
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