Tribune / Nigeria: The House of Representatives Committee on the Army has said the Nigerian Army has explanations to make over the killings and destructions that took place in some Ogoni communities between January and February.
To this end, the committee said the army would be invited by the National Assembly to explain their alleged involvement in the said killings.
The committee said this on Tuesday, shortly after it visited some of the communities devastated during the army invasion of some Ogoni communities, in Gokana and Khana local government areas, last February.
It will be recalled that the military had invaded some suspected criminal hideouts in Yeghe community, Gokana Local Government Area, leading to the death of 24 people.
The soldiers, who had reportedly visited to curb arms proliferation in the area and in search of an ex-militant leader, Chief Solomon Ndigbara, also demolished several buildings, including that of Ndigbara.
Subsequently and following a petition by the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), the House of Representatives’ committee was in Port Harcourt, on Monday, on a two-day fact-finding mission.
Several people who spoke at a public hearing on the issue indicted the army, pointing out that many of their people were shot and killed, allegedly by soldiers, during the invasion.
Addressing newsmen after the fact-finding tour of the affected two local councils, the chairman of the House of Representative Committee on Army, Honourabke Rimamde Shawulu-Kwewum, said the army would be invited for questioning.
According to him, the invitation became essential for the security agency to be given the privilege of fair hearing on the matter.
He disclosed that after the committee had heard from parties involved in the petition sent to it by CLO, the matter would be forwarded to the floor of the House of Representatives for debate.
He also promised that adequate measures would be taken to implement the findings of the House after the reports were adopted by the house.
“We have come for a fact-finding visit in the areas affected. We have seen two buildings that were vandalised and bullet-ridden walls. Our meeting was mainly with the stakeholders, the victims and some government officials from the area.
“We will go back and we are going to invite the security agencies that were mentioned in the petition and hear their part of the story and then we will report back to the House.
“We have heard from them and we have seen what they have shown us. So, we will go ahead with the investigation by inviting the other groups involved. What we wanted to find out is, if anything like that took place and to hear from the victims.
“Our coming here today (Tuesday) shows that the government, which the National Assembly is part of, is lending a hearing ear to them (Ogonis) and the reports will be debated and adopted and appropriate measures will be taken,” he said.
Shawulu Kwewum urged the Ogoni people to embrace dialogue to restore peace and order in the area, adding that guns do not resolve problems and enjoined them to avoid using politics to cause unrest, stating that political party was transient.
“The point we have to make to every person or group, particularly our Ogoni brothers, is that this is not the first time they have faced a serious challenge like this.
“Every group of people should always learn to live together. Guns don’t win battles; every battle is always resolved at the table. Life is beyond political affiliations, so you need to resolve your challenges through peace.
Meanwhile, Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) resumed their hostilities over the House of Representatives Committee on the Army’s fact-finding mission on the alleged invasion and killings by soldiers in some Ogoni communities.
The state APC chairman, Dr Davies Ikanya, in a statement issued on Tuesday, alleged that the visit by the federal lawmakers was contrived and sponsored by Governor Nyesom Wike.
He further said it was part of an alleged plan by the governor to blackmail and stampede the Nigerian Army out of Ogoniland before the conclusion of the outstanding rerun election in Rivers South-East Senatorial District.
However, his PDP counterpart, Mr Felix Obuah, denied the allegation, saying he was not surprised by the attitude and statement of Ikanya over the killing of over 24 people during the army invasion of Ogoniland, last February.
He said the statement by Ikanya on the fact-finding mission by the House of Representatives’ committee was an admittance that APC actually deployed soldiers to Ogoniland and the entire state during the March 19 rerun to do everything to deliver its candidates in the election.
