Majemite Condermns Killing of 17 Soldiers, Calls for Investigative Panel
Delta State State governorship aspirant in the last governorship primaries and two time Commissioner, Olorogun Barr. Fred Majemite has sympathize with the Nigerian Army and his peace loving Governor, Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori, on the loss of 17 soldiers and the burning of Okuama as well as alleged killing of Okuama people and other Ijaws in Igbomotoru by the military.
Expressing his sadness over the weekend, Majemite said in Lagos while talking with Journalists, that he condermns the dastardly act but calls for proper investigation to unveil the cause of the killings as well as those responsible for the inhuman act.
Majemite commended President Bola Tinubu for calling on the citizens of Nigeria to express his grief over the needless death of gallant soldiers. He equally commended the President for granting the military full authority to bring to justice anybody found to have been responsible for the unconscionable crime against the Nigerian people.
According to him ” This directive of the President is in tandem with the tenets of democratic principles and it is a warning to all Deltans and other states across the country that are crises prone.
Furthermore, Majemite, a legal icon noted that not less than three individuals suspected to be involved in the tragic incident that claimed the lives of 17 soldiers from the 181 Amphibious Battalion of the Nigerian Army, have been apprehended. The arrest of the suspects should form part of the basis for thorough investigation, he noted. He however called on the federal government to go further to constitute an independent panel that will include the Red Cross, Non Governmental Organizations, NGOs, Members of the National Assembly, retired Justices, Historians and the Police to find out the cause of the dastardly act as well as those responsible. He noted that the Army need not be part of this investigation panel especially as they are party to tragic incident. That way, both the highly placed persons that invited the military personnel, the representatives of two warring communities from Ijaw and Urhobo communities as well as their kings should be invited including representatives of the military. The report of this panel should be justapose with the report of the military to know those responsible for the grusome killing of 17 soldiers which necessitated the alleged military burning of Okuama and killing of the people as well.
While calling on President Tinubu to quickly set up the panel, he called on the the good people of Ewu kingdom and the nearby Ughelli Kingdom to remain extremely peaceful despite the demolition that is on going and the rumour being spread that the military plans to construct barracks on the land of Okuama community.
” Such action if true, implies that there is more to the peace keeping on the part of the military much as the killing of its’ personnel under any guise is highly condemnable,” Majemite stated.
He called on the federal government not to allow any community in Delta State particularly Urhobo land to go extinct under any guise but requested the federal government to rebuild the community for the remaining people to return to their Homeland in the not too distant future. He noted that the Federal Government equally needs to save innocent victims who go about their legitimate businesses but have been displaced or injured as a fall out of the killing of the 17 soldiers. Accordingly Majemite urgued the federal government to set up Internally Displaced Persons, IDP, camps in Ughelli town to accommodate the vulnerable victims that may have ran into the bush and Savannah.