A non-governmental organization, Foundation for Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Crusade, (FHRACC), has stated that the military garrison currently stationed in Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South West LGA of Delta State at the wake of the destruction of crude oil pipelines by some faceless hoodlums is an act of war against the defenceless citizens.
In a statement signed by Alaowei Cleric, the group’s National President, he said “the invasion of some of the communities in the Kingdom by the military in the name of searching for the perpetrators of the said illegal act which led to the people completely deserted their communities is callous and highly condemnable. These communities which have hitherto been victimized psychologically through the destruction of the ecosystem occasioned by the bombing of the oil facilities in their domain should be protected by the military and not to be made a sacrificial lamb.”
The statement read: “We feel very disenchanted in reading reports from some national dailies as well as some eye witness accounts that the military tried to coarse some of the villagers to admit guilt while some were ordered to produce the perpetrators. How on earth can an armless man catch someone who probably must have been armed? It is regrettable that the military is reported to have warned that the communities will be held responsible for any further destruction of the crude oil facilities by the unidentified criminals.
“This is a manifestation of their plans to wipe out the entire Kingdom by justifying it with the acts these economic saboteurs. The military siege in the Kingdom is not the solution to the problem particularly now that Tompolo has laid a weighty allegations on some highly placed personalities in the Niger Delta region. The FG should look into Tompolo’s allegations line by line. Perhaps they may help the Government to fish out those saboteurs. The proliferation of arms to some miscreants to ferment trouble in the just concluded Bayelsa guber election by some of those he accused is still very glaring. The military should not target its actions to the innocent riverine dwellers. These people who may be victims of crossfire should the military engages the hoodlums in a shoot out need their protections and not invasion.
“We are also aghast or rather disappointed that the military is planning to ban the use of 200 Horse Power outboard engines in the creeks. That’s most condemnable. There is no where car is banned from plying the roads because armed rubbers used a particular car to rub. The entire Burutu and Warri South West LGAs of Delta State have not been connected with road networks to the uplands. The only means of transportation in these LGs is the use of flying boats mounted with 75 to 200 horse power outboard engines. If the people should not use these boats to transport their goods and services from one place to another, it is as well means that the people should die of hunger for being in a difficult terrain. This is an economic sanction which should only be applied in a situation of war. The Ijaws are not war with the FG. You can’t made the entire race to suffer from the sin of one man.”
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