Okuama-Ewu: We do not have any connection to or link with oil — Community

By Bisi LAWAL

Okuama-Ewu community in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State, is filled with people who are poor farmers, and do not have any connection to or link with oil.

A leader of the community, who fielded questions on the raging disagreement during visit to the refugees in the forest said.

The people of Okuama-Ewu denied inviting runaway militant leader and oil bunkering player, “General” Endurance Amagbein, amid controversy over how he (Amagbein) allegedly appeared unsummoned, on March 14 in the riverside community.

Defense Headquarters, Abuja, had on March 28 declared Amagbein and seven others wanted in the aftermath of the killing of 17 military personnel in Okuama-Ewu.

“It is a pure lie that General Amagbein is from Okuama-Ewu community; he is not from the Okuama-Ewu, he has no relationship with Okuama-Ewu, either paternally or maternally.

“Therefore, we do not know anybody called Amagbein in Okuama-Ewu and did not invite him to our community at any time. Amagbein did not come to Okuama-Ewu.

“When the Army mentioned Amagbein, they were talking about someone with a connection to oil bunkering business. Their issue is not Okuama-Ewu, it is not an issue with our people, who are poor farmers, and we do not have any connection to or link with oil.

“The Chief of Defense Staff, CDS, knows it is an oil bunkering matter, and Amagbein attacked his men. Okuama people do not have a hand in the killing of the soldiers or inviting Amagbein.

“Our youths have no connection to Amagbein, and there is nothing like that. When you get to Okuama-Ewu, you will see that all the youths are struggling for their life. You will see some of them working in palm oil production, some are farmers and anglers, and do different works to survive. So they do not have any connection with anybody called Amagbein.

“As I said, because we do not have any contact with or any relation to Amagbein, I cannot attest that Amagbein came on those boats. I do not know who came, so I cannot mention that anybody did this or that.

“Okuama-Ewu has no issue with Amagbein, we only have a problem with Okoloba. Therefore, I can say that arrangements might have come from Okoloba and not from Amagbein.

“We went to court because, as you can see, the Okuama-Ewu community is no more, so we have to claim and declare our stand so that the community can go back and rebuild again.

“Yes, on the buildings destroyed in Okuama-Ewu, we have more than 2000 buildings because you cannot just assess what we have never counted. Before we can get the total number of buildings destroyed in Okuama-Ewu, there should be an enumeration on the ground.

“Whatever figure anybody is bringing cannot be the correct one. There is no building left; the army destroyed all the buildings, but we have to get there and do the assessment because different families own the buildings. We cannot assess now.’’

‘On why the community, which shunned the sitting of the military Board of Inquiry into the Okuama-Ewu crisis, also spurned the House of Representatives investigative hearing on the killing of 17 military personnel, he said: “We planned to attend but the military is still chasing our people everywhere.

“So, it is difficult for us to submit our memorandum. We have made our write-up but because of fear, we have not been able to submit it, but we will do so.”

In a related development, the management committee for the resettlement and rehabilitation of displaced Okuama-Ewu residents, headed by former Editor of The Guardian Newspapers, Mr. Abraham Ogbodo, inspected and has been working on the Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, camp for Okuama-Ewu refugees at Ewu.

It was learned that the committee is working round the clock to move the refugees from the forest to the camp within the week.

However, the refugees, among them a farmer, Mrs Evuarhere Joseph, last Friday, said they would not stay in an IDP camp outside Okuama-Ewu.

They said taking them to an IDP camp outside their community would mean succumbing to an enemy plan to destroy Okuama-Ewu and banish them from their homeland, instead, they vowed to march en-masse from their location in the forest to Okuama-Ewu on Saturday, daring the soldiers, whom they had asked the governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, to tell to leave their land, shoot or kill them.