Host Community notable Elders and Ex Militants Leaders under the aegis of Niger Delta Solution Platform (NDSP) have raised alarm over the sacking and destruction of properties worth millions of naira in Udoda Community, Ejirodi Clan in Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State by soldiers.
The Community leaders are accusing the military of intimidating, oppressing and chasing indigenes of the riverine community into the bushes and neighbouring communities to enable them use the community as a base for their illegal oil bunkering activities.
In a statement by Chief John Lawson Rufus, the spokesman of the community on behalf of the group called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Chief of Defense Staff, Lt.General Lucky Irabor to call the soldiers to order as tension has been heightened in the area which can snowball into a big crisis if not nipped in the bud.
According to the spokesman “the soldiers have pushed our people to the wall and we will be forced to fight back because we cannot continue to allow soldiers who ought to protect lives and property now engage fully in economic sabotage in our community, the havoc and environmental degradation cannot be quantified.
“The militarisation of the Niger Delta by the military authority has caused more harm than good to the people and communities, the federal and Rivers State governments should quickly intervene as the tension in the area could result into a major disaster.
“the soldiers in connivance with some miscreants have turned out community into an illegal oil bunkering base,intimidate,harass and oppress our people, they are causing pollution and environmental degradation,this cannot continue
“We cannot be chased out of our ancestral land and we will keep quiet,the federal government should come to our rescue,we cannot endure this hardship and displacement any more”.
The Army authority in Rivers State refused to comment when reached on phone, All efforts to reach the Army Headquarters in Abuja also proved abortive .