The Mayor of Urhoboland and renowned ex-agitator, Eshanakpe Israel a.k.a Akpodoro, has expressed solidarity to the elder statesman, Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, on the invasion of his home by men of the Nigerian army in Kiagbodo, Delta State describing the action of the soldiers as rascality too many. He said such acts amounted to expression of brute force.
The Mayor’s reaction was contained in a statement he issued to journalists in Abuja, on Wednesday condemning the action of the soldiers who claimed to have gone to the elderstateman’s country home in search of a militant at large who was alleged to have been involved in regrettable massacre of 17 officers along Forcados River in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State.
According to him, the search of his house was unnecessary and most unwarranted of a man he described as the patriarch of the Niger Delta region.
He said: “It is a general knowledge that the ederly former Minister of Information with his standing in the society and as one of the living legends of the Nigerian state, Akpodoro said considering all that he represents in the annals “of our nation,” Clark could not have stooped so low to frolicking with a wanted criminal who committed such heinous crime.
The centenarian, Akpodoro noted, may have been deliberately embarrassed by the soldiers at the behest of those who do not like what the elder statesman represents in the life of the Niger Delta region particularly his hate for the looters of the commonwealth of the region.
He stated that Pa Clark deserves to be respected like his contemporaries in the North who can never be so insulted through such denigration in the guise of a security breach that was avoidable.
The Okuama incident, according to Akpodoro, was avoidable if the security agents had been proactive and been diligent in their duties to the nation.
Akpodoro maintained that before now, security in the creeks was compromised for pecuniary reasons and it is no news that the today’s suspects have always been hand-in-glove with security agents along that axis only for them to turn against those who gave them undeserved privileges.
“That search on Pa Clark’s home was an affront to all well-meaning Niger Deltans and it was meant to provoke thoughts and anger by demagogues whose stock in trade is conflict entrepreneurship but we shall pretend that nothing happened this time, but next time such action may provoke serious upheavals.
“Our own must be respected like his contemporaries in the North. The people of the Niger Delta cannot remain the underdog of the Nigerian establishment at all times. Pa Clark is like our king in the region and whoever insults him under any guise will have the youths of the region to contend with. Enough of the rascality of the soldiers.
“They have razed communities in acclaimed search of the attackers of the military, they have killed and maimed, leaving tears and sorrows behind. For how long will the Nigerian military engage in this barbaric actions? For how shall the residents of the region be under the siege of this army of occupation?
“We told them to deploy intelligence in lieu of brute force but they rebuffed that counsel and would rather raze down villages in search of few criminal elements in a manner that leaves sour taste.
“The 21st century soldering is more driven by technology and not brute force. The earlier the Nigerian military deploy more intelligence, the better for our nation.”
The Mayor, who doubles as the president of the National Coalition of Delta Ex-Agitators, NCNDE-A, stated, as he called on the Nigerian authority to institute a high powered commission of inquiry into the blood letting that claimed the lives of the 17 soldiers including four senior officers penultimate week.
