Search for militants: Women, children, trapped in Delta forest

… Stop Harassing Innocent women and Children, IYC tells Military.

Following the military siege to Ijaw communities in Delta and Bayelsa states over the killing of a soldier, last weekend, the leadership of Bilabiri community in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State has said that the suspected militants were not from the community.

Similarly, Ijaw Peoples Development Initiative, IPDI, a rights group, yesterday, appealed to the Nigerian Army to lift the siege to the waterways of Letugbene, Bilibiri, Amatu and other riverine communities in Bayelsa and Delta states, saying that many women and children were still trapped in the forest and denied access to food, five days after soldiers barricaded the waterways in search of suspected militants that killed a soldier, last Thursday.

Chairman of Bilabiri Community Development Committee, CDC, Mr Ebimobowei Deboh, in a statement in Yenagoa,  while reacting to insinuation in some quarters that some of the perpetrators are from the community, said that the community has no militant camp as they do not harbour criminals and militants.

Deboh, who called on the security agencies to carry out their investigations properly with a view to fishing out the perpetrators where ever they maybe, however, appealed to the military authorities to resist the temptation to invade the community under the guise of searching for the militants.

He said: “It has come to the notice of Bilabiri community that some of persons said to be from the community are been fingered in connection to the killing of a soldier at Ogbeibagbene military base, we want to state categorically that those mentioned are not from Bilabiri community.”

The newly-elected Chairman of IYC, Central Zone, Mr Tare Porri, also told journalists in Yenagoa that many of the women and children affected by the action of the military are now residing in the bushes.

Describing the attack on the military as unacceptable, Porri, a lawyer, stressed that molesting the women and children in the communities was equally condemnable, as there was no basis for invading an entire community and arresting people indiscriminately in the guise of looking for suspected criminals, adding that the military only applies this tactics in the Niger Delta region especially Ijaw communities.

“We condemn the act (soldier’s murder) in its entirety, but the military should not also take the laws into their hands by invading the communities. As we are talking, the five communities have been invaded. This will call for serious crisis, if they continue like this, we know our boys and we would no longer be able to guarantee peace in the region.

“While we condemn the action of those who perpetrated this evil, we are also against the action or inaction of the Nigerian military molesting women and children.

“As I speak with you, most of the communities have been sacked by soldiers, some of them are in the bush and some of them have moved out of the communities,” he said.

The Chairman who was flanked by other executive members of the IYC, called for the intervention of the Chief of Army Staff before the crisis would escalate.

“The idea of continued invasion is unacceptable to the Ijaw nation and we appeal to the Chief of Army Staff to intervene because the moment it gets beyond this level, we cannot guarantee the needed peace in this country.

“The Ijaw people are not weak, we are law-abiding. We will support the military to fish out those bad eggs, but this is not the best approach. Investigate and bring the perpetrators to book, not going from community to community to intimidate our people.

“It is not those women who carried out the attack. Businesses have been shut down. The entire routes have been shut down. OPDS commander should call his men to order. We are under military siege,” Porri said.

- With Excerpts from Vanguard.