IN yet another agonizing phase of unabated history of exploitation, deprivation and gruesome exposure of the peoples of the Niger Delta to intensified sorrowing, brazen injustice in an ever flowing streams and tears of blood ,the death of two leaders of Okuama community Pa James Oghoroko 84 and Pa Dennis Okugbaye 81 in a military facility in Port Harcourt, Rivers State brings to mind the painful experiences of Isaac Adaka Boro and Ken Saro wiwa in the hands of agents of oppression and organized tyranical repression. Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Nine were a group of activists who fought for the rights of the Ogoni people and environmental protection of the Niger Delta region and eventually paid the supreme price on November 10, 1995. Twenty Nine years after, the deaths of the presumably innocent Okuama community leaders in military facility therefore marked another ostensibly huge price being paid by the Niger Delta region for bearing in its bowels the oil wealth which has provided the fragile sustenance to Nigeria’s social economic unity. Their reported death and especially the circumstances of not being brought before a court of competent jurisdiction ha s continued to generate vile and virulent condemnation from groups in and around the Niger Delta region.
President General of Okuama Community, Pa James Oghoroko was reported to have died on December 6, while Pa Dennis Okugbaye, the community’s Treasurer was also said to have died last Wednesday. Both leaders were arrested August 18, 2024 and even with deteriorating health condition, were kept in military facility in Port Harcourt. The basis of the current anger and deepening protests in the region is the widely held perception that the military is bent on gradually killing the arrested community leaders without a court of competent jurisdiction having convicted anyone of them for alleged role in the March 2024, killing of 17 soldiers said to be on a very doubtful and overtly controversial peace mission in Okuama.
Findings have since confirmed that as condemnable as the killing of the soldiers stand to be, theirs was a classic case of the levels of involvement of the military in the deep seated activities of crude oil theft in the Niger Delta region and the inter community squabbles that come as aftermath.
The death of the community leaders in military detention has received wide range condemnation across the various parts of the world where it has been seen as a major stain to Nigeria’s claim to rule of law and civility. It is indeed a dangerous development for the military of any nation to see itself as operating above and outside the constitution which is the grundnorm. It is equally very painful and regrettable as Nobody is expected to die in the hands of either the military or the police
One recalls with great pain that the current development of death of community leaders is happening nine months after crisis escalated on 14 March when 17 soldiers, including Colonel Abdullahi Hassan Alli, were murdered in Okuama as part of a prolonged dispute between Okuama and Okoloba communities.
The Nigerian Army had, in a far reaching retaliation bid, raided and demolished parts of the community, declaring it a military zone and restricting access. This was followed by the arrest of Oghoroko, Okugbaye and four other community leaders were in what was supposed to be a step to facilitate the investigation of the deaths of the military officials.
The community leaders had since been detained under intolerably inhuman conditions that have now led to their death in the hands of the military. Both individuals were detained without trial, in direct violation of their constitutional rights to liberty and a fair hearing.
The ugly scenerio playing out further highlights the Nigerian army’s failure to uphold international standards on the treatment of detainees, as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Convention Against Torture.
These incidents further reveal systemic abuse and no doubt demand accountability from state institutions responsible for safeguarding human rights. For how long more will the blood of patriots and leaders of the Niger Delta region be spilled for the purpose of watering the withering tree of the Nigerian state?
The military in allowing the community leaders to die in their custody have undermined public trust and demonstrated complicity in human rights violations by failing to address these deaths or providing transparency on the treatment of the detained Okuama leaders.
According to media reports, the community residents are currently staging protests and have issued ultimatum to the Nigerian Army to release all of the remaining arrested leaders. Alternatively, they should be brought up for trial before a court of competent juridiction.
The community has also demanded for accountability, including the return of the bodies of the deceased. The military must of necessity take steps to redeem its name from this embarrassing scenerio. It is also expedient for the Nigerian Army to respond to allegations of torture and inhumane treatment of detainees, ensuring compliance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Convention Against.
