Prof. Patrick Muoboghare responded to yesterday’s events by stating, “Delta State is a unit in the federation of Nigeria.” Stated differently, it is a Nigerian federating unit. Therefore, Delta State, with its landmass and water mass, is a part of Nigeria. This Nigerian sub-territory is governed by the governor.
Human rights activist Femi Falana, SAN, and stakeholders in Delta State claimed yesterday that the Nigerian Army lacked the authority to deny journalists and Governor Sheriff Oborevwori access to the Okuama community in Ughelli South Local Government Area, where gunmen on March 14 killed 17 military personnel and an undetermined number of civilians.
They emphasised that when the military Board of Inquiry, which was established by the Defence Headquarters, entered Okuama last week, the Army used biassed standards and the “rule of force” rather than the “rule of law.”
Remember that ever since the incident, the Army had barred the governor, the chief security officer for the state, and journalists from entering the neighbourhood.
The stakeholders claimed that the Army’s occupancy of the community was unacceptable, and Falana said that there was no legal basis for the military’s cordon and search operation on Okuama.
Land disputes engulf Okuama, an Urhobo hamlet in Ewu Kingdom, and Okoloba, an Ijaw town in the state’s Bomadi Local Government Area.
On March 14, the Army travelled to Okuama, purportedly on a “peace mission.” However, the exact circumstances surrounding the shooting deaths of a Lieutenant Colonel, two Majors, a Captain, thirteen other military personnel, and an unspecified number of villagers by gunmen who were believed to be militants and oil bunkers remain unclear to this day.
As a result, since March 15, the governor, media, and community members have not had access to the village. Due to access issues, mothers who fled into the forests on March 14 with their kids have not gotten relief supplies from the appropriate government agencies.
Thus, according to those who spoke with Vanguard about the matter, including former commissioner and opinion leader in Delta State Prof. Patrick Muoboghare, Executive Director of the Centre for the Vulnerable and Underprivileged, based in Warri, Oghenejabor Ikimi Esq., facilitator of the Niger Delta Democratic Union, NDDU, and constitutional lawyer Dr. Akpo Mudiaga-Odje, among others, the Army is going too far in barring people from entering Okuama more than a month after the incident.
It’s subversive to hinder Oborevwori from any part of Delta—Muoboghare
Prof. Patrick Muoboghare responded to yesterday’s events by stating, “Delta State is a unit in the federation of Nigeria.” Stated differently, it is a Nigerian federating unit. Therefore, Delta State, with its landmass and water mass, is a part of Nigeria. This Nigerian sub-territory is governed by the governor.
“Whoever operates in Delta State is answerable to the owner of that sub-territory. The people of Delta State, the true owners of the sub-territory, put him there. Preventing the governor from accessing any part of the state amounts to denying Delta State its territory, which is treason.
“Allowing the military panel access to Okuama, while denying the governor access, confirms our earlier assertions that there was something sinister in the entire matter.
“Denying the press entry is a pointer to this. Or is it possible that the Army, having taken over the functions of the National Boundary Commission, is mapping out the boundary between Okuama and Okoloba?
Be rating the Army, CENTREP boss, Oghenejabor Ikimi, said: “Let me pay tribute to the soldiers and civilians that lost their lives in the entire saga. Let their souls rest in peace.
“The above episode began as a mere land dispute between Okuama and Okoloba last year, which later snowballed into the unfortunate incident of March 14.
‘’The state government should have nipped the issue in the bud, but owing to her lack of pro-activeness, it persists today.
“So, why did the governor or any other government official not visit the two warring communities before the March 14 event?
“However, denying the governor access to Okuama is wrong. What would such a visit have achieved if not medicine after death?
“What the Army is doing now in Okuama community is an aberration. The Army does not have constitutional powers to investigate a crime under our constitution. Furthermore, the Army, being an interested party, cannot investigate her case.
“Barring journalists and residents from entering the community tells you the wanton destruction going on there now. It is all a cover-up.
“The reasons given by the CDS are nothing but a cock-and-bull story. It is all about collective punishment, and as you know, in international law, it is a war crime. The vulnerable children, women, and elderly are dying daily of hunger.
“Abuja, I guess, allowed all these just to please the Army. Declaring invited suspects wanted is nothing but martial law. It is all a mad motive. This motive needs to end abruptly.
“My vantage position as a lawyer tells me that our law courts will soon set aside the work of the army investigating panel.’’
Reacting in a similar manner, constitutional lawyer, Dr. Akpo Mudiaga-Odge, said: “It is, indeed, very laughable that in a constitutional democracy like Nigeria, the Army is restricting a serving governor from movement within his state to assess the sad situation on the ground that severely impacts his state and her people.
“Lucidly pontificating, therefore, under our constitution, the Army has no power whatsoever, whether in crisis or in the aftermath, to restrict the movement of any Nigerian, how much more a serving governor for that matter.
“The military in our democracy, is to protect our internal sovereignty against external aggression, period. The Army must subject itself to constitutional order, allowing all Nigerians, including our serving governor, their unmitigated right of freedom of movement in Nigeria.
“That is why the very learned Nsofor JCA, in Buhari V Obasanjo, declared that any election in Nigeria, ‘where there is military presence is unconstitutional.’ And that is the law, as the military has no role in the administration of our constitutional democracy. except in cases of war.
“Indeed, it is the Police, under Section 214 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and Section 4 of the Police Act, that should investigate this unfortunate incident in Okuama community, not the Army.
“The cordon-and-search exercise by the army, as it were, has no legal basis or foundation, and as such, runs the obvious risk of being set aside by a court of law if challenged.
“Allowing the Board of Inquiry access to the community, while disallowing the governor and journalists from entering same is discriminatory under Section 42 of the said Constitution, and thus unconstitutional.
“It is our fervent hope, belief, and conviction that the military and allied forces will subject their activities and actions to our constitutional democracy to safeguard same from vicious infractions, which will eventually damage the rule of law.
“In Ojukwu v. Gov of Lagos State, the Supreme Court denounced in strong terms the application of the rule of force rather than the rule of law in Nigeria, even under military rule!’’
A legal practitioner and Urhobo ethnic nationality leader, Alhaji Mumakai Unagha, told Vanguard: “I do not see any reason or reasons the military should deny the governor of the state access to Okuama community. If what was reported is true, there is more to it.
