June 2, (THEWILL)- Echoes of the horrors in Okuama, a sleepy town in Delta State, which the Nigerian Army recently ‘sacked’ after 13 officers and soldiers on peace mission were killed in a controversial ambush, reverberated across the five states in the South-East geopolitical zone on Friday.
Five soldiers of the OP UDOKA security unit at a military checkpoint at Obikabia Junction in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State were killed last Thursday, their patrol vehicles burnt, and weapons stolen by unknown gunmen.
Reacting to the killing, army spokesperson, Major-General Edward Buba, who identified the killers as terrorists of the Independent Peoples of Biafra, IPoB, a pro-Biafra separatist group and its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network, ESN, said, “It is absolutely imperative that the military retaliate against this dastardly act against troops,” adding, ”The military would be fierce in its response. We will bring overwhelming military pressure on the group to ensure their total defeat.”
Shortly afterwards, the army released the identity of the murdered soldiers, further heightening tension.
The deceased included two Sergeants, two Corporals, one Lance Corporal and six civilians who were killed in the crossfire.
The soldiers were identified as:
1. Sergeant Charles Ugochukwu (94NA/38/1467)
2. Sergeant Bala Abraham (03NA/53/1028)
3. Corporal Gideon Egwe (10NA/65/7085)
4. Corporal Ikpeama Ikechukwu (13NA/70/5483)
5. Corporal Augustine Emmanuel (13NA/70/6663)
The military signal further disclosed that the assailants also took away 5 AK47 rifles, razed two military patrol vehicles and injured two civilians.
The signal read, “Gunmen who were enforcing a Sit-At-Home order numbering about 30, stormed troops location in 3 black Toyota Land Cruiser SUVs and opened fire during which 5 x Soldiers were killed.”
The military declaration heightened tension throughout the South-East where the Nigerian Army has been on duty to curb insecurity linked with the separatist activities of IPoB, whose sit-at home orders on select Mondays to protest the detention of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu since 2021 and pressure the Federal Government to release him have negatively impacted the economy of the South-East as schools, banks, markets and businesses always shut down in compliance with the orders.
On Saturday, the Federal Government weighed in. It described the killing as barbaric and abominable and vowed to obtain justice for the dead.
Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, vowed that those responsible for the heinous act would be brought to justice.
The Minister, in a statement by the Director, Ministry of Defence, Henshaw Ogubike, said the killing of the military personnel was totally reprehensible and disheartening.
“The brutal assassination of the soldiers in Aba was without any provocation while on a lawful duty, protecting innocent citizens against the threat of non-state actors,” he said.
He condoled with the families of the deceased personnel and the Nigerian military, emphasized the role of communities in counter-terrorism and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to supporting the military in their efforts to defeat IPOB, ESN and other criminals in other regions of the country to ensure total security in the nationurging the troops not to be deterred by the attack.
Recall that the Obikabia Junction attack occurred a few days after the leader of the proscribed IPoB, Nnamdi Kanu, was denied bail on May 19, 2024, almost three years since his arrest and incarceration by the Department of State Services, DSS.
Drawing a parallel of his continued detention with the ongoing insecurity in the geo-political zone, foremost Nigerian security outfit in a recent security report dated April 2024, which was made available to THEWILL, said, among others: “It is assessed as credible that the unresolved nature of this high-profile case continues to hold the potential to escalate tensions and provoke unrest in the South-East region. This underscores the delicate balance between legal proceedings and regional stability, thereby necessitating continued monitoring and preparedness for response strategies to ensure the security of enterprises and individuals within the affected areas.”
IPoB did not help matters as it neither denied nor confirmed carrying out the attack as alleged by the military and instead went on to praise as successful the sit-at-home order it issued for May 30 in commemoration of what it called ‘Biafra Day.’
Media and Publicity Secretary of IPoB, Comrade Emmanuel Powerful, said nothing in relation to the attack in the lengthy statement he issued on Friday, shortly after the military issued its statement. In fact, he sounded hostile and threatening.
According to him, the total compliance with the sit-at home order, which was largely obeyed in many parts of the South-East is an indication that “the Noble family and movement of the great Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) ably led by the prophet of our time, Mazi Nnamdi Okwu Kanu, is in full control of the region as, IPOB remembers the genocide of over 6 million Biafrans murdered during 1967-1970 genocidal war.”
In a boastful display of audacity, Powerful added that the group had sent a strong message to the government that it “is a state actor that is fully in control of Biafra territory,” and lamented that the “continuous illegal detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu,” was enough testimony of the “persecution against Ndigbo. “
He asked why the Federal Government “dropped charges against a Fulani confirmed terrorist leader of Miyetti Allah militia and consequently freed him from DSS detention, … dropped charges against a Yoruba activist, Sunday Igboho, who called for the Oduduwa Republic and a former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, who was arrested and charged with treason for calling for revolution in Nigeria, has been released, yet Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who is Igbo, was kidnapped and extraordinarily renditioned from Kenya to Nigeria, still remaining in detention against local and international laws.”
WHO DID IT?
Although the army, which vowed to investigate the killing, has identified IPoB/ ESN as the culprit, some of whose members rode on three tinted Prado Toyota SUVs, while others surrounded the checkpoints. The President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, condemned the killing, saying, “The height of criminality is to kill soldiers who have been trained to protect the rest of us. “
He blamed the insecurity situation in the South-East on “criminals who broke away from the jail and now live in surrounding bushes with no means of livelihood and are ready to die for any cause.”
Generally, he identified the lack of moral and values among the younger generation who have lost anchor with the moors of their progressive forebears. He begged the military to refrain from carrying out their threat to retaliate and deal decisively with the yet-to-be identified killers, because “two wrongs do not make a right” and innocent persons would certainly be affected.
The Abia State Government in whose territory the killing happened immediately placed a bounty of N25 million on the head of the gunmen that perpetrated the attack.
The Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, among other things, said, “To underscore its resolve, the State Government is offering a N25 million reward to anyone with useful information that could lead to the location and arrest of any of the criminals connected to the unfortunate killings, and the subsequent state of apprehension across the city of Aba and environs.”
WAY FORWARD
Iwuayanwu on Friday night disclosed that he would soon summon a meeting of the five governors and elders in the South-East to chart a common front on this problem. As an immediate solution, he said the jail breakers who are majorly those behind the killing in the zone would have to be rehabilitated. Another immediate solution, he said, is for the Federal Government to release Nnamdi Kanu.
Recounting his three-hour visit to Kanu last week, the Ohanaeze president said the IPoB leader denied knowledge of the sit-at-home orders and made a promise that he would mobilise the youths to stop it if he is released. He described the long-term solution as constitutional and called on President Bola Tinubu to heed the call for political restructuring and initiate amendment of the Constitution to that effect.
The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 general election, Atiku Abubakar, while sympathising with the military over the killing of its troops, called for a political solution to the insecurity of the zone. Taking to his X handle during the weekend, he called for thorough investigation to unmask and separate those he referred to as criminals hiding under the separatist agitation from “legitimate agitators,” he said, “Without prejudice to the ongoing legal processes, I think the time has come to explore a political resolution to the Nnamdi Kanu and other associated issues.
“I believe that this will defuse the compressor cooker situation in the region. It will be a win-win for all parties,” he said.
Apart from resolving to work together with the security agencies and relevant stakeholders to address the insecurity in the zone, the five state governors who expressed sympathy with the military authorities, told the citizens of their various states: “We are after the perpetrators. Those who think we shouldn’t live should not live.”
A security expert who spoke to THEWILL on condition of anonymity, praised the South-East governors for rising to the occasion to condemn the killing, adding that if they sustained the joint action to work as a unit, they may be able to provide the necessary, bigger platform and support to security agencies and their citizenry.
“Individually, they have worked to address the insecurity in their respective states. But their individual efforts have not been and cannot be enough. That was why when insecurity infested Anambra, Governor Soludo, who rejected the theory of unknown gunmen and disclosed that home boys were involved, fought it and it appeared to migrate to other areas like Ebonyi, increased in Imo and now Abia. If they band together as they want to do now, they would achieve a lot of mileage in fighting insecurity in the South-East,” the expert said.
Amos Esele is the Acting Editor of THEWILL Newspaper. He has over two decades of experience on the job.
