Bloodbath: Count Us Out, Go After The Perpetrators In Okuama-Urhobo Community – Ijaw Community, Okoloba Declares

The Okoloba Federated Community (OFC) has washed it hands off the last week Thursday bloody attack against men and officers of the Nigeria Armed Forces in Okuama community, an Urhobo enclave in Ughelli South local government area of Delta State.

Dissociating the Ijaw Community Okoloba from the onslaught, chairman of the federated community, Mr. Clement Koki, raised serious concerns about the false narrative presented by a national daily which wrongly attributed the killings of 16 soldiers to irate Ijaw youths.

In a petition to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu which was copied relevant security agencies, Koki expressed shock over what they called deliberate misrepresentation of facts in the murder of an army commander and soldiers in a gun battle in Delta State.

OFC, in a strong worded petition, said that the story credited to the newspaper was a deliberate attempt to shift blame onto the peaceful and law-abiding Okoloba community, in Bomadi LGA who have long been victims of aggression and violence from the neighbouring Okuama-Urhobo community.

Mr. Clement Koki, Chairman of Okoloba Federated Community, who signed the petition, maintained that it is important to clarify that the conflict that led to the intervention of the Joint Task Force (JTF) is not between two Ijaw communities in Bomadi LGA, as falsely reported.

He disclosed that Okoloba is an Ijaw community, while Okuama is a neighboring Urhobo community in Ughelli South LGA.

According to him, the gun duel took place in Okuama community, where the soldiers were tragically killed.

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Continuing, he said that the dispute between the two communities has caught the attention of the Delta State Government, which has made efforts to promote peace.

However, he said that the Okuama-Urhobo community recently defied the peace deal by kidnapping and later killing an Okoloba community member.

This incident, according to him, along with previous threats and attacks, prompted OFC to send an SOS to the security agencies for intervention.

OFC therefore condemned the deliberate “misrepresentation by the newspaper” and calls for an immediate retraction and apology.

They maintained that the Ewu Kingdom Monarch, HRM Emmanuel Okolo, had publicly acknowledged that the killings occurred in Okuama, a community within his kingdom.

Furthermore, OFC commended the sincerity of the Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, for properly stating the location of the killings and for his efforts to maintain peace in the state.

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The community appealed to the Federal Government, Delta State Government, and law enforcement agencies to take decisive action against the aggression displayed by the Okuama-Urhobo community.

They extended condolences to the families of the brave officers who lost their lives in the line of duty and urged authorities not to overlook the horrific carnage carried out by the Okuama-Urhobo community.

OFC, in the petition forwarded to the relevant authorities, including the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, National Security Adviser, Chief of Defense Staff, Chief of Army Staff, Inspector General of Police, and Department of State Security Services, averred that their plea for justice and security in the area is urgent to protect the defenseless and peace-loving Okoloba Ijaw people.