The Delta state governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, has described the incident in Okuoma community, Ughelli South council area of the state, as a strange occurrence that has no semblance to what Delta is currently all about.
Governor Oborevwori was speaking on the killing of 16 military personnel by some community elements in Okuoma, saying the state never bargained for the unfortunate incident, but further giving assurances that the situation had already been brought under control.
The governor stated these while speaking to journalists at the State House, Abuja, after briefing President Bola Tinubu on developments.
According to him, he had to visit President Tinubu to update him on what had happened in the state, giving assurances that those who had no part in perpetrating the crime would be protected, while those found to be culpable would not escape justice.
The governor, who said his focus and agenda, right from the beginning of his tenure, had been focused on prioritising peace and security, explained how he had worked with other stakeholders from Okuoma and Okoloba to address the age-long rivalry between those communities.
“You know the happenings in Delta State since the 14th of this month, and it is necessary for me to brief the Commander-in-Chief, and that’s what I’ve come to do—the full details of what happened.
“People may not have knowledge of what we’re doing since I came on board, since last year, we’ve been enjoying peace in Delta State and we commend all the security agencies, but an unfortunate thing happened last week: people who don’t have the knowledge have started talking
“The two communities in question have been having issues for years, and last month, on the 7th of February, they were invited by the state government; the two communities, the members presenting those two local governments, the council chairmen, and the leaders of those communities, agreed to work together, signed a peace accord.
“When this unfortunate thing happened, it was very sad because Delta State is governed within the tenets of the rule of law and decency. So what happened is not in line with what we’re doing in Delta State because I have promised Deltans that I’m going to be governor for all Deltans, and we’ve been enjoying peace, and one of my MORE Agenda is that we’ll enhance peace and security, and that’s what we’ve been doing.
“So I decided to come here to brief Mr. President on all the things we’ve been doing to maintain peace, and Mr. President has assured me that he’s in support of the peace, and we both condemned the killing of the officers and the soldiers because they were there on a peace mission.
“What is happening now is something that we did not bargain for, but we want to assure everybody that there’ll be no more attacks on the villages, if there’s been anyone that has happened in the past… But we know that those who are culpable will be brought to justice, but innocent citizens will not be attacked,”, he said.
Asked to clarify claims about the military’s alleged punitive action against the community in response to the killings, the governor said, “Yesterday I was in that local government, I was in Bomadi for a security meeting, to get full details and a briefing.
“So some of those issues are security issues that you can’t say publicly, that’s the truth, and we’re managing the situation. So the issue of whether a place has been burned down or people have been killed has happened, but what is the way forward?
“The way forward is in two ways: for the people that have been killed, the officers and soldiers, we must see how we can find succor for their families and give them a befitting burial. Also the community, anything that has happened in the community in the past will not happen again, we assure them, but the people who are culpable will be brought to book,” he said.
He said while his government has met with the military, it has not been able to meet with the community because it has been deserted.
“First and foremost, the community people… the place has been deserted, so the issue of whether we’ve been able to see the community leaders, no. We’ve only gotten full briefing from the Army and we’re on it because this week the traditional council is going to meet and discuss. I’m going to invite stakeholders, we’re on top of it,” he explained.
On the way forward, Governor Oborevwori emphasized: “Like I said, we had a meeting yesterday with the security heads where the General Officer Commanding of 6 Division was there, the JTF Commander was in attendance.
“We’ve all agreed, all the security agencies are putting heads together, we’re on the same page to fish out the real culprits because innocent people will not suffer for it and they have assured us that no innocent person will be victimized.”