1 Shot, 6 Missing as Gunmen Attack Ogoni Community
MOSOP Condemn Attack, Says Ogoni Attacks Won’t Go Well With Perpetrators
An Ogoni community this morning, March 1, 2024, has come under heavy attack from gunmen. The attack which is ongoing at the time of this report is on Ledor community in Tai local government area of Rivers State. Eye witness report says the community has been completely deserted.
Other eyewitness accounts confirmed the shooting of Chief Nule Yarakor, the deputy paramount ruler of the Ledor community who is said to be in a critical condition and had been taken to a safe place for medical attention.
Community sources further report that the attack is coming barely four days after representatives of the NNPC Limited came into the community to force the laying of gas pipelines and were turned back because their identity and mission could not be properly verified.
The source also reported that 6 persons have been confirmed missing and efforts to reach them by phone and through their family members have been fruitless as there are still no clues regarding their whereabouts.
The attack is coming barely 31 years after the community was attacked by Nigerian soldiers on the orders of the former military government under General Sanni Abacha leading to the death of hundreds of people.
Meanwhile the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has condemned the attack describing it as “the return of barbarism”. President of MOSOP, Fegalo Nsuke while reacting to the incident this morning warned against violent attacks on Ogoni residents. Nsuke warned that the Ogoni people will want to maintain good relations with businesses and their neighbors calling for all efforts to bring the conflicts under control.
Nsuke regretted that the attack was coming at a time MOSOP was engaged in frantic efforts to find a lasting solution to the Ogoni problem and called on the Ogoni people to defend themselves in the best ways possible”.
“The reported attacks on the residents of Ledor in the Ban Ogoi axis of Tai local government area signals the return of barbarism and oil company backed attacks against Ogoni. It is unfortunate that this attack is coming at a time we are making frantic efforts to resolve the Ogoni problem and we hope that it does not escalate to jeopardize our conflict resolution efforts”.
Meanwhile, the MOSOP president has called on the people to take all measures necessary to defend themselves. He said at this time, “the most important thing is to protect yourselves”.
“We will call on our people to adopt all measures possible to defend themselves. It is important that they do so as a matter of right and I approve of all means including traditional measures to protect the people from further attacks.”
The MOSOP leader called on the Rivers Governor, Siminalayi Fubara and the federal government to take immediate steps to bring the situation under control noting that it is pertinent to get the NNPC to stay action in order not to cause a further deterioration in the security situation.
“We call on our governor, His Excellency, Siminalayi Fubara and the federal government to take immediate steps to address this problem. We will further call on the Nigerian authorities to immediately take the necessary security measures to protect our people” he concluded.
