The Nigerian Army on Tuesday denied carrying out a fresh invasion of the Okuama community in Ughelli South council, Delta State, saying it was on routine military operation.
It was reported that personnel of the Nigerian Army in several gunboats stormed the town on Monday which was being rebuilt following the return of the residents in July, with four persons allegedly killed by the army.
Okuama community was sacked, bulldozed, and occupied by soldiers for several months following the killing of 17 soldiers in March by criminal elements in the town who also carted away military weapons.
General Officer Commanding (GOC), 6 Division, Nigerian Army, Major General Jamal Abdussalam, who spoke while commissioning a newly reconstructed Transit Accommodation for soldiers at the 3 Battalion base, Effurun barracks, Delta state, built by Tompolo’s pipeline surveillance firm, Tantita Security Services Limited, said soldiers did not invade Okuama but were on a military operation.
Abdussalam who vowed to recover every weapon carted away by unknown Okuama residents in March, explained that it was wrong to say the Nigerian Army invaded the community when the soldiers were not foreign soldiers but Nigerian soldiers.
He said the Nigerian Army cannot invade communities in its country.
Maj. Gen Abdussalam said: “I don’t understand what you (journalists) mean by soldiers invading a place. This is Nigeria, if there are soldiers there (Okuama), and they are not from another country, why talk of invasion, If Nigerian Army soldiers go to a place in Nigeria and conduct operations why do you say invade? We are conducting normal military operations”, he said.
Asked if the “soldiers” who invaded were gunmen in military uniform he said, “we know there are criminals that use uniform from time to time but they don’t move in gunboats with guns mounted on them, painted with Nigeria Army green with the inscription Nigeria Army on them”.
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He lauded Tantita for the reconstructed Transit Accommodation base and furnishing it, saying the project was achieved through cooperation between both parties saying “For us in the Nigeria Army we have been cooperating with all security agencies and all private companies.
“Tantita is an example of such cooperation, we have a working relationship with them and we still have such a relationship and we’ll continue to do that
“And you can see this project is borne out of the good relationship both parties have enjoyed. If we are not having good relationship I don’t think this project will come to fruition.”
