Panic as military men storm Gbaramatu communities

Men in military gears, believed to be operatives of the Joint Task Force (JTF), code-named Operation Delta Safe (ODS), on Saturday stormed two Ijaw communities in Warri South-West council area of Delta state, including Oporoza, the headquarters of Gbaramatu Kingdom.

Although the mission of the men on the operation was not officially confirmed, The Nation  gathered it would be in connection with recent escalating militant activities in the area, resulting in the destruction of some critical oil facilities.

Though efforts to get confirmation that the operations were carried out by the military were unsuccessful, it was gathered that the men broke into several houses in search of targeted persons, sending panic round by communities and causing residents to desert their homes and seek cover in the bushes.

The soldiers were said to have arrived Oporoza at about 8am on Saturday in speedboats and gunboats, and immediately made their way into the community. The second community they reportedly visited was Tebujor.

Chairman of Kokodiagbene community in Gbaramatu Kingdom, Comrade Sheriff Mulade, confirmed the incident when contacted on phone, noting that many residents fled to the bush upon sighting the armed soldiers.

Mulade, who is also the National Coordinator of the Center for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ),  told The Nation that many of the people who fled into the bush for cover including, women and children, had not been seen.

He called on the federal government to halt incessant harassment of their kinsmen  as many of them were already traumatised and finding it difficult to cope.

Efforts to get spokesman of the ODS, Lt Col Olaolu Daodu, to confirm the operation, was unsuccessful.

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