As the nation grieves the terrible murder of military men in Delta State, community leader Olorogun Sleek Oshare has said that the killings were motivated by a property dispute.
Last week, seventeen individuals lost their lives in the Okuama community of Delta State, an incident that has drawn widespread condemnation from Nigerian authorities.
Providing details about the incident on Monday, Oshare explained that the military personnel were present in the area as part of efforts to mediate a land dispute between Okuama and a neighboring community.
“The quarrel was just a land dispute between one family and another family and land disputes happen over and over again,” he said on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“One community felt that the other had a military connection and they were being pressured unnecessarily. The pressure is more on Okuoma and they don’t have anybody to speak for them.
“In the whole narrative, you don’t hear the name of the other community. Where is Okoloba? In the last two days, Okoloba has disappeared because they are also afraid.
“Sometimes, it is made to look as if it were an ethnic thing. It was just a dispute between individuals and Okoloba, which seems to have more connections.
“The families that were involved in the dispute are highly placed. Until we go into the real investigation, the truth will not come out.
“It is then the nation will come out to sympathize with the children, pregnant women, and old people who could have lost their lives in the random shootings.”
The community was razed following the killing but Oshare says there should be restraints.
“At this point, we should be careful whom we point fingers at, there might be some people who want to incite the authorities against the people of Okuama,” he said.
Following the incident, the Federal Government, authorities in Delta State, and the military have pledged to apprehend those responsible for the crime.
However, another guest on the show, Kabiru Adamu, emphasizes the importance of community involvement in facilitating the apprehension of the perpetrators.
”The community has a responsibility to support the Nigerian state in fishing out those responsible,” the security expert said.