Army denies fresh invasion of Okuama, says it’s routine military operation

The Nigerian Army, yesterday, denied carrying out a fresh invasion of the Okuama Community in Ughelli South Council, Delta State, saying it was on a routine military operation.

It was reported that personnel of the Nigerian Army in several gunboats, on Monday, stormed the town, which was being rebuilt, following the return of residents in July, allegedly killing four people.

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, 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 that 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 soldiers were not foreign but Nigerian soldiers.

He stressed that the Nigerian Army cannot invade communities in its country.

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 soldiers go to a place in Nigeria and conduct operations, why do you say invade? We are conducting normal military operations.”

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.”    The army chief lauded Tantita for the reconstructed Transit Accommodation base and furnishing it, saying that the project was achieved through cooperation between both parties.

“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 continue to do that,” he said.