ISSUES IN THE OKUAMA TRAGEDY

Government could do more to stem violent communal clashes

In recent times, the Nigerian armed forces have suffered heavy casualties from criminal gangs who now seem focused on laying ambushes for their troops. In the latest of such madness, some gunmen in the creeks of Okuama, Ughelli South local government area, ambushed troops of the 181 Amphibious Battalion in which the commanding officer, a Lt Colonel, two Majors, one Captain and 12 Soldiers were gruesomely murdered. In a statement he personally signed, President Bola Tinubu condemned the killing of the soldiers who were on a peace mission as “unconscionable crime against the Nigerian people” while authorising military authorities to fish out the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

We commiserate with the Nigerian army and families of the fallen heroes, even as we hope that they will be accorded the needed attention at this most difficult period. We also join in the call that those who killed our troops be apprehended and made to pay severely for their crime. As the Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori warned at his meeting with traditional rulers last Thursday, shielding the culprits would amount to courting danger. But restraint on the part of the military is important so that innocent people within the communities would not be punished for the crime committed by a few.

However, if gunmen could ambush our troops to kill them in such dastardly manner, it is very telling of the boldness they have mustered to thumb their noses at authority. That this has become a consistent pattern is why the military should be concerned. Last August, 36 military personnel were killed after being ambushed at Zungeru-Tegina Road and Chukuba area of Shiroro, both in Niger State. In July 2020, a Captain and four soldiers of the Guards Battalion, were killed following an ambush during a patrol in Bwari area of the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT). The list of military personnel killed after being ambushed by criminals is long and deeply worrying. Yet, we do not need to enlist in the security agencies to realise the efficacy of pre-emptive and preventive intelligence. 

Military operations in such a volatile and complex environment as we have in Niger Delta must be intelligence-driven to prevent this kind of tragedy. But more importantly, political authorities must also do more to resolve many of these land disputes that ignite violent eruptions. From Aguleri and Umuleri communities in Anambra State to Erin Ile and Offa in Kwara State to Wanikade and Wanihem communities in Cross River State to Lamurde Local Government Area of Adamawa State, communal clashes have become a serious national security problem.  

The problem is compounded by millions of illegal Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALWs) in the country. The ease of access to these weapons has made individuals and communities more fortified and hence less amenable to entreaties to make peace. Many communities are self-arming to protect themselves, to go on the offensive or for reprisal attacks. The frequency of these clashes demonstrates that we are teetering towards a lawless society, with all the frightening implications for peace and security in the nation.  

We therefore call on authorities in Abuja and the 36 states to arrest this rapid and steady slide into anarchy by addressing the conditions that make violent attacks tools of expressing grievances between and among communities. We also enjoin them to devise effective conflict resolution mechanisms, create an early warning system that would alert of a brewing crisis, equip security agencies with modern intelligence gathering tools and promote policies that encourage peaceful coexistence and social harmony. Community and religious leaders must rise to help in promoting peaceful co-existence among our people.

Above all, we must accept that the insecurity confronting the nation is no longer a series of random and opportunistic attacks. Drafting in military troops to theatres of violence arising from land disputes has over the years proved to be no solution. The time has come to realise the severity of the threat to our national security by reassessing the current strategies which have become ineffectual and costly. 

quote:

Drafting in military troops to theatres of violence arising from land disputes has over the years proved to be no solution. The time has come to realise the severity of the threat to our national security by reassessing the current strategies which have become ineffectual and costly—