…demand creation of Ijaw LGA in Edo State
Ijaw Freedom fighters have wreaked havoc on Okomu Oil Palm’s neighbouring community in Ovia South West Local Government Area of Edo State. The attack resulted in the death of one of the community members with seven vehicles and three houses burnt while other members of the community suffered various degrees of injuries.
A few days ago, The Nigerian Observer reported that there was an attack on Okomu premises which led to the death of three plantation workers. According to the members of the community, this latest attack is connected to last week’s attacks on Okomu Oil Palm’s facilities which left three of the company’s plantation workers dead.
Some eyewitnesses who pleaded anonymity told our correspondent that they believed the attack on the community was because the majority of the residents of the community are workers of the company.
The eyewitness revealed that the attackers arrived at the community at about 12:15am on Monday morning, shooting sporadically into the air before unleashing terror on the community.
They added that the attackers thereafter went around the community where they burnt down two trucks used to convey workers from the community to Okomu, one 15-seater bus, and four cars.
The attackers also razed down three houses belonging to members of the community, macheted a prominent community leader who is currently in critical condition in the hospital and killed a man who was relaxing in front of his house.
One of the victims who gave his name as Peter, whose car was burnt by the attackers said he was woken up by the heavy gunfire in the community. He added that the attackers later broke the windscreen of his truck, and deflated the tyres before setting it ablaze.
Peter said, “initially when I woke up, after hearing the heavy gunfire, I looked through the window and all I could see were armed men going towards my truck, destroying the glasses before setting it on fire.
“When I heard them coming towards my house, I had to run by scaling through the window into the nearest Catholic Church for safety until the early morning.”
The attackers after macheting the victim left a note on his body with a list of demands addressed to the Edo State Government.
According to the note, they are demanding the creation of an Ijaw Local Government Area in Edo State; recognition of their right as not slaves to the Bini people; the call for the Binis to leave Ijaw land and a call for the board of Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc to accord them their rightful place in the company.
According to the letter the attackers who claimed to be members of Ijaw Freedom Fighters said they are ready to unleash more mayhem on the local government area if their requests are not immediately attended to.
It was learnt that some members of the community deserted their homes while others who said they have nowhere to go are calling on the state and federal governments to immediately send security personnel to the area as they are afraid the attackers could return to unleash mayhem as promised in the note they left behind.
