Men of the Nigerian Army have been accused of accomplicing murder and arson in Okomu community, Edo State.
The allegations followed a brutal attack and shooting in the community, leading to the paramount ruler of Okomu kingdom, Kalasuo sustaining a severe bullet injury.
This is as an eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity debunked a report making the rounds that Chief Lawrence Yanbor carried ooutthe bloody attack against the military and some affected communities in Okomu kingdom.
In a plea to the public to disregard and ignore the earlier mischievous publications accusing Lawrence of being behind the attacks, the community source accused the military and some enemies of the Okomu kingdom of being behind the killings and destruction of houses in the kingdom.
It was learnt that there was a gun dwell between soldiers from Makilolo checkpoint and boys suspected to be loyal to Chief Lawrence Yanbor in the Okomu kingdom in Edo State, leading to the death of one person and several people sustaining varying degrees of injuries in the penultimate week.
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According to the eyewitness, the attack occurred on June 7, 2024 at the Okomu town, the administrative headquarters of Okomu kingdom.
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He maintained that chief Lawrence Yanbor and his boys who are committed to the peace of the kingdom went to the community to attend a peace talk meeting which was summoned by the paramount ruler of the kingdom on that ill-fated day.
According to the source, when Lawrence and his boys arrived for the meeting, they proceeded to the chief Lawrence’s compound which was earlier destroyed by the security agencies and they were clearing grass in the compound when the military took them unaware.
The eyewitness further said, “They were clearing the compound because it had been taken over by grasses, while they were doing that awaiting for the meeting time, suddenly information got to their disposal that the soldiers in Makilolo community had arrived with a gunboat.
“At that point Chief Lawrence replied that himself and his boys do not have any problem with the soldiers, so he advised his boys not to panic, but to continue with their work. After some minutes, the soldiers who went straight to the palace on their arrival, surrounded chief Lawrence’s compound and started shooting at them directly, then the boys scampered for safety and ran towards the Egbesu house (the house of the deity) in the community waterside for cover and on getting there, the soldiers gunboat in the waterfront started shooting at them again and immediately one of the people running to take shield was gun down instantly while several persons got injured on the spot.
“This angered some of the Lawrence boys to come out to resist the continuous attack on their persons. The soldiers who sighted the boys directly, immediately drove back to their base at Makilolo community with their gunboat, and at the process of the attack, the king sustained flying bullet injuries which were suspected to have been released by the soldiers.
According to the eyewitness, the Palace of the Kalasuo is meant to be sacred but the soldiers who had been used by some persons to intimidate the aboriginal people of the kingdom have desecrated it.
The statement reads, “We will at due time hold the military accountable for the assaults on our king, massacre and burning of our communities.They will not go unpunished.
“We are facing these continuous attacks and killing because some of the patriotic elites of the Kingdom have decided to resist attempts by some Benin enemies to grab and steal Okomu forest reserves which belong to Okomu people.
“The houses of those who say no to this betrayal and orchestrated plot to grab Okomu land were burnt down unjustly. But we are not troubled, very resolute to defend the God given land of our forefathers and mothers.
“The people of the Okomu Kingdom are begging the Ijaw nation especially, governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa state, governor Simi Fubara of Rivers state, Ijaw National Congress and the Ijaw Youth Council to intervene on this issue”.
However, the concerned stakeholders of the kingdom also pleaded with High Chief Dr Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo, alias TOMPOLO, to come and help the Okomu Kingdom to settle the lingering misunderstanding in the kingdom.
