Survivors of Nigeria’s Okuama community in Delta State on Friday marked the first anniversary of a military assault that destroyed their village, killed scores of residents and left four community leaders still in detention.

The 14 March 2024 operation was triggered by the deaths of 17 Nigerian soldiers who had travelled to the remote Urhobo settlement for what the army later described as a peace mission over a land dispute with the neighbouring Ijaw community of Okoloba. The soldiers were killed after leaving Okuama, prompting a week-long retaliation that flattened the village and forced hundreds of residents to flee into forests and swamps.

Residents say civilian casualties were under-reported and that the army’s assault claimed the lives of elderly villagers and children. Many died from hunger or snake bites while hiding in the bush. Within days, Okuama was reduced to rubble, with every building, school and public facility destroyed except for the Anglican church founded by Bishop Agori Iwe in the mid-20th century. The church remains the only surviving structure and now serves as a shelter for the survivors.

The federal government, through President Bola Tinubu, held an elaborate state funeral for the soldiers, praising their courage and promising a full investigation. But residents say no progress has been made in identifying who authorised the mission and why the army, rather than police, was first sent to handle what they insist was a civil dispute.

Following the attack, the army declared several community leaders wanted, including the king of Ewu Kingdom, HRM Clement Ikolo, and Okuama’s president-general, Professor Arthur Ekpokpo. Ikolo was released after a month, but Ekpokpo and three others — Chief Belivis Adogho, Dennis Malaka and a woman identified only as Mabel — remain in custody. Survivors allege they are being held without trial in harsh conditions, sleeping on bare floors and denied access to phones.

One detainee, octogenarian Pa James Oghorokor, died in custody last December. Another elderly man was released in near-death condition and has since lost his sanity. At the commemoration, community leader Emmanuel Okirika displayed a banner listing the dead, including Oghorokor, and urged the government to release the detainees, return Oghorokor’s body for burial and rebuild Okuama.

Women’s leader Queen Oghenuosa appealed directly to President Tinubu for food aid, reconstruction and the release of the detained leaders, describing them as “the eyes of the community.” Many residents remain displaced, with the state-run camp for internally displaced persons now closed. Children have missed an entire academic year, with no sign of schools reopening. Livelihoods, once tied to farming and fishing, have collapsed.

One survivor, Edokpa Godwin, returned to Okuama for the first time since the attack to honour his wife, Tejiri Dorcas Godwin, who was shot dead on 15 March 2024. He recounted how she was killed while trying to warn a neighbour about nearby soldiers.

“My wife met her death when she tried to notify the wife of Mr. Segun Simeon, the youth secretary of Okuama, Mrs. Helen Omololu Adeniyi, of the presence of the military in the neighbourhood on 15 March 2024. They were trying to escape from the youth secretary’s house when the military tried to stop them, and my wife tried to run, but she was murdered in cold blood while I was watching with the children from afar.

“The wife of the youth secretary sustained injury, but luckily, she was rescued by some youth and escaped through the waterway. I also escaped with my three children into the bush, where I hid for several hours before some youth helped me to escape with a boat,” he stated.

In Abuja, federal lawmaker Ejiroghene Waive called on the army to release its investigation report, charge the detainees in court or free them, and begin rebuilding Okuama. He also directed the House Committee on Defence to respond within four weeks.