Besieged residents of Okuama have sent a save our souls message to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to deliver them from hunger due to the sack of their communities by soldiers.
Apart from Okuama, neighboring villages have also pleaded with the president as the commander-in-chief to help them before they and their families are wiped of by hunger.
The communities have been under siege since the March 14, 2024 cold blooded murder of 17 soldiers who were on a peace mission by some irate youths in Okuama.
The murdered soldiers were buried last week with a renewed vow by the government to hunt down their killers.
In the quest to fish out those that committed the condemnable murder, security forces have surrounded many communities in the state, resulting in untold hardship for many families.
The Nigerian Army has however assured that they were not a reprisal mission in their efforts to bring the perpetrator to book.
The SOS letter sent by the chairman of Omosuomo Federated Communities in Ughelli South, Henry Abizor, pleaded with the state governor and President Tinubu to come to their rescue, adding that “our people remain in the bush for days running” and “are seriously in pain and psychological trauma” due to the military onslaught on their communities.
Abizor said in the letter: “We, the peace-loving people of Omosuomo Federated Communities, from Ewu Clan in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State, unequivocally call on the government of Delta State, under the leadership of Sheriff Oborevwori, and President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu to come to our aid.”
“Most of our people remain in the bush for days running, for fear of the military coming for another operation.
“Our people are seriously in pain and psychological trauma, receiving both native and unorthodox treatments to recover from the shock.
“We condemn taking of human life, especially that of innocents. We sympathize with the families of those military personnel killed at Okuama by some criminal elements. To the innocents who died during the ugly incident at Okuama, we sympathize and pray that all the departed souls, rest in peace.
“The invasion of Omosuomo Federated Communities twice on March 20 and 24, 2024, resulted in looting of residents’ properties, money amounting to millions of naira from locked-up stores as they came in with five war boats with uniformed men, who disembarked with sporadic shootings that sent residents running for their dear lives.
“Locked doors were broken as they searched homes and around without seeing anything they were searching for. The soldiers assembled those, who could not run away in the community town hall where the initial statement of peaceful visitation turned to mass beating, humiliation, and molestation of both the aged men and women.
“The young ones who could not take refuge in the communities were tortured to stupor. Our people are living very far from Okuama and Okoloba. We do not share land boundaries with any of these communities.
“Buildings were set ablaze, with properties worth millions of naira destroyed. This is painful and oppressive.”
Meanwhile, not a few Nigerians have continued to appeal to the military not to punish the entire communities for the crime committed by some misguided youths. This would amount to a collective punishment that cannot be justified, they insist.
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