•Soldiers aiding illegal oil bunkerers -LG chair
From Tony John, Port Harcourt
There was tension in Rundele Community, in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State, recently, as the military laid siege on the area in search of two Nigerian Army uniforms and AK-47 rifles seized from their men.
Soldiers stormed the community in full force on Sunday in search of the two uniforms and two rifles, which were taken from two officers allegedly shot by suspected members of Rundele Security Peace and Advisory Committee (RUSPAC), a local vigilance group, in the community.
Although it was gathered that normalcy had returned in the area on Monday evening, after the intervention of the council chairman, Chidi Lloyd, and the recovery of the carted items, the residents would not forget the 48-hour military onslaught on the area.
It was alleged that two soldiers were shot on Saturday, April 15, when some suspected members of the RUSPAC, led by their commander, confronted them and made away with their uniforms and AK-47 rifles.
Daily Sun also gathered that the soldiers, who were deployed to guard crude oil pipelines in the area, were shot after an altercation with the RUSPAC commander and some of his lieutenants in the community bush.
A source who spoke on the condition of anonymity said even though the soldiers did not die, the incident created panic in the community, which resulted in many villagers fleeing their homes for fear of repercussions.
The source further disclosed that, later in the evening (Saturday), soldiers stormed the community in their numbers and blocked the only access road, preventing residents and visitors from either entering or leaving the area.
The source noted that the villagers took refuge in the bush in fear following increased number of soldiers on Sunday: “The way it is here at home, nobody can run to any neighbouring community because the soldiers have blocked the only road leading to the community.
“Many people are hiding in the bush, especially men and teenagers. A few people who noticed what happened earlier, escaped to a neighbouring communities. After the attack, the soldiers invaded our community in full force,” the source said.
Another indigene of the community, Chuku Dennis, told Daily Sun that despite calls for calm by the paramount ruler, Damian Ejiowhor, that the community leadership and council of chiefs were working to find a lasting solution to the situation, many natives were still fleeing the community.
He said: “The soldiers addressed the community on Sunday, when the royal highness arrived. They said the curfew will continue in Rundele until their uniforms and AK-47 rifles are recovered. As I speak now, the community is completely shut down; all business activities shut, not even a shop is opened.
“They asked the community, especially the youths, to comb the forests or reach out to the RUSPAC commander with whichever means they could to return the uniforms and guns, and that the curfew will continue till the items are recovered.”
He called on the Rivers State government and the Emohua council chairman to intervene. He appealed to the Nigerian Army not to punish innocent Rundele people for a crime committed by some miscreants.
“The perpetrators of the said act are traceable, trackable and arrestable. Therefore, they should do same to this case.”
Ejiowhor confirmed to journalists that there was tension in the community. He said that the RUSPAC commander in the community was alleged to have had confrontation with the soldiers and that the Army came over for their seized rifles and uniforms. He described the situation as unfortunate.
On Monday evening, it was learnt that normalcy had returned to Rundele community, following the retrieval of two guns and uniforms of two soldiers which was seized by leader of disbanded RUSPAC (vigilance) group.
This was after the soldiers had burnt some houses, including the building belonging to the commander of the vigilance group, who had an altercation with soldiers on Saturday.
Chairman of Emohua LGA, Llyod, in a radio programme monitored in Port Harcourt on Monday, confirmed the development. He expressed shock that untrained civilians could disarm trained military troops. The council chairman said he was embarassed at the development.
Lloyd said the development had justified his claims that the soldiers were aiding illegal oil bunkerers in the LGA. He stated that the soldiers were disarmed and their uniforms collected following a disagreement between the soldiers and the commander of the disbanded RUSPAC.
He said: “That incident at Rundele made me feel bad and ashamed as a Nigerian; that a civilian has capacity to disarm full Nigerian soldiers, collected their rifles, remove their uniforms. And these (soldiers) are people who are trained to protect the territorial integrity of this country.”
Deputy director, Army Public Relations, 6 Division, Nigerian Army, Lt. Col. Iweha Ikedichi, did noo respond to text messages sent to his WhatsApp.
