Invasion of Opu Nembe: The Hard Truth

Marie Ebikake writes that there is no basis for the recent invasion of Opu-Nembe community in Rivers state by fierce looking policemen.

The stream of spurious, face-saving lies, adduced by the police authorities, for the, widely condemned, August 12th, 2023 Gestapo-style armed invasion of Opu Nembe, is fallacious and clever by half. It seeks to

introduce the element of pipeline vandalism, a perennial problem, deep-rooted in politics.

These violent armed attacks carried out by known non-state actors, at the behest of political masters, with renowned disdain for the ballot box, have become the modus operandi of these political animals.

Therefore, the reference to pipeline vandalism is, not only, ridiculous but also a lame attempt to legitimize what was outrightly extra-judicial.

But let’s admit that version is true, and admit also that diligent investigations preceded the raid.

The scope and manner of the operations still beg the questions as to why the whole community had to be sieged; and why the youth leadership was the prime target.

If the SWAT teams were, actually, in Opu Nembe only to arrest 11 suspected pipeline vandals, would not a convoy of 24 Hilux vans and six Hiace buses, filled with trigger-twitchy officers, be an overkill?

And weeks after the arrest of the alleged suspects, the prolonged presence of the SWAT team, in the community, has begun to raise fears of perpetual domination, and if Opu Nembe was, finally, a conquered territory. For which same prize, have similar other forays been embarked on?

Mayhem, where a contingent of Nigerian soldiers and some NSCDC officers, with links to a notorious pipelines surveillance contractor, allegedly invaded Opu Nembe and overran the community on the eve of the 23rd February 2019 elections.

Then the February 15th, 2023 recorded twin attacks, both of which, reportedly, targeted the youth president of Opu Nembe.

Significantly, there were no federal troops to fish out the perpetrators, who were mainly non-state actors and were apparently above the law. Under whatever guise, the operations and the aftermath, point toward politics rather than a crime.

Furthermore, the mission could be adjudged successful, considering the arrest of 11 non-resistant youths, one POS operator, the loss of one life, and the utter devastation of a community.

What remains worrisome, however, is the prolonged presence of the SWAT team, several weeks after, and the residents are rightly concerned that they have overstayed their welcome.

If the Police are right about this, would not the immediate recall of the SWAT team, and the prosecution or,  release of the men languishing in their custody, by the IGP,  be a constitutional step in a constitutional direction? Section 215 (3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic, as amended, stipulates the category of persons with powers to order by the IGP, and the scope of such order.

Certainly, those fanning the embers in Opu Nembe do not qualify, statutorily, for this role, just as playing an army of occupation, is not a statutory duty of the Nigerian police force.

-Hon Ebikake represents Brass-Nembe Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.