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Tony John, Port Harcourt
The conscience of Ogoni People (COOP) has appealed to the Buhari administration to urgently set up a special task force to tackle the violence and insecurity ongoing in Ogoniland, Rivers State.
COOP, formerly known as Ken Saro Wiwa Associates (KSWA), in a six-page open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, signed by its Leader and Spokesman, Gani Topba, maintained that until there is swift action by the Federal Government, the Ogoni people might not be free from cult-related violence.
Topba said apart from the clamour for Ogoni rights in the operation of natural resources, the ethnic nationality has suffered so many deaths from cult-related activities.
He said in the process of cult clashes, unquantifiable property and lives have been wasted and so many communities sacked.
COOP recalled that it took the efforts of a joint security team to restore peace in some areas of Ogoniland, pleading that the rate of killing and maiming in the area by different cult groups, has increased, hence the need for federal government intervention.
Topba stated in the petition:
‘We wish to bring to Your Excellency’s attention the sudden resurgence of violent crimes which have engulfed Ogoniland in recent times, particularly between February and May 2020.
‘There has been unusual intensity in cult clashes and counter-cult clashes which have consumed countless Ogoni people, mostly youths in their primes, leaving on their trails colossal destruction of property and the sack of countless communities.
‘Against the foregoing background, we request Your Excellency to direct the Chief of Army Staff and other service chiefs to swing into action by drafting a special joint task force to Ogoniland to uproot and dislodge the criminal elements, as well as to mop up all illegal arms currently in circulation in order to restore peace and security to Ogoniland for the greater good of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
‘We believe that the grave security situation in Ogoniland calls for extraordinary measures if peace must be restored to the land. In view of the sufferings of the Ogoni people in the hands of these criminal elements, we assure you that the people are willing to offer Joint Task Force the support and cooperation needed to rid Ogonilland of criminal elements.
‘It took the intervention of the Nigerian security forces, in particular the men of the Nigerian Army, 6 Division Port Harcourt, the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services, to successfully dislodge the criminal elements which held Ogoniland and the entire Rivers State under siege.’
He called on the Federal Government to declare late Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni sons executed in 1995 innocent of charges against them by the then military government.
He added that if the Federal Government upturns the judgement against the nine Ogoni leaders, then there would be a free operation of oil activities in the area.
