TheCable

The Niger Delta Integrity Group (NDIG), has cautioned stakeholders and indigenes of Okuama Community in Ughelli South LGA of Delta State to refrain from spreading misguided assumptions against the “peace-loving” people of Okoloba Community in Bomadi LGA of the state.

Boma Horsfall, convener of the NDIG,  in a statement issued in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Thursday, was reacting to the aftermath of the recent killing of military officers.

Last Thursday, 17 military personnel — comprising a lieutenant ​colonel, two majors, one captain, and 12 soldiers — were killed while on a “peacekeeping mission” in Okuama, Bomadi LGA of Delta.

“There is a conscious and deliberate attempt by the Okuama Community to divert the attention of Nigerians away from the truth about the events that culminated in the gruesome killing of gallant officers of the Nigerian Military last week.

“It is no longer news that the Okuama Community has been oppressing the peace-loving people of Okoloba Community. For the records, while both communities are in Delta State, Okuama which is predominantly of the Urhobo ethnicity, is in Ughelli South Local Government Area, the Ijaw-constituted Okoloba Community is in Bomadi Local Government Area,” the NDIG said.

He added that, “Nigerians and the world should be informed that it was the law-abiding Okoloba Community that made the distress call to the law enforcement agencies, including the Army and Police, in the wake of long-standing oppression and attacks from the Okuama Community.

“There has been a grand and well calculated scheme by Urhobo kinsmen aimed at spreading lies and falsehood against the good people of Okoloba Community and their Kinsmen, especially the many lies that have been told against Dr. Patrick Akpolobokemi, the former DG of NIMASA, who is an advocate of peace and a man of great repute,” the statement reads.

The Delta state and federal governments had condemned the incident while promising that perpetrators would face the wrath of the law.