After 45 days of horror in forests, Okuama residents head to ‘Oborevwori camp’
Governor Sheriff Oborevwori activated the hope of the victims of the military invasion and occupation of the Okuama-Ewu community in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State when he inaugurated, on Wednesday, in Asaba, the state capital, an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Management Committee to resettle and rehabilitate the villagers. Many believe that his choice of a former Editor of The Guardian newspaper and Urhobo leader, Mr. Abraham Ogbodo, as chair of the committee, is a calculated plan by the governor to make the working group tackle the assignment head-on.
However, there are grumblings that when Oborevwori, who had condemned the March 14 killing of 17 soldiers which led to the sacking of Okuama-Ewu, visited the community on April 20, he did not denounce the Army for destroying the homes and other properties of residents.
This came as the residents were spending their 45th day in the forests where they had fled after the military, hunting for the killers of the soldiers, who laid siege to the community.
Blameless villagers will return
Inaugurating the committee, the governor said, “We will do everything we can to reduce to the barest minimum the attendant effects on the common man in the Okuama community.
“Innocent people have been displaced, their homes and properties destroyed; this was and still is an unfortunate and most unexpected development.
“Like I said when I visited Okuama the other day, the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and the military agreed that innocent people in Okuama should not be made to suffer needlessly.
“This is why we sincerely believe that sooner than later, the innocent ones will be allowed to return to their homes.
“It is now right for the government to set up a committee to plan their resettlement and rehabilitation ahead of their return. We owe our people this minimum; we have to reassure them to have a sense of belonging as we make adequate arrangements for their settlement and rehabilitation.
“Note that you have been carefully chosen based on your previous antecedents, we are, therefore, confident that you will do a transparent, thorough, and selfless job that not only the people of Okuama but every Deltan will be proud of you as you make adequate arrangements to receive them and lessen their pain. Vanguard
