Thugs attack Annkio Briggs, other protesters in Bayelsa.

A peaceful protest embarked upon by a coalition of Ijaw interest groups in Yenagoa on Tuesday ended on a sad note as thugs allegedly attacked the protesters.

Annkio Briggs, a Niger Delta rights activist, was reportedly among those rough handled during the protest against the donation of land to cattle grazers.

The rally christened “Love for Bayelsa, Love for Ijaw land, Love for Niger Delta, Love for Nigeria” had barely began when the heavily armed thugs invaded the take off point of the rally at the Tombia junction, a witness said.

Thugs reportedly beat up and inflicted bodily injuries on the protesters, mainly women and youth, including one of the conveners, Ankio Briggs.

The presence of the police officers at the scene did not deter the thugs as they carried out the violence while the police looked on to the chagrin of the protesters.

While others sustained minor injuries, one Christy Odiko, a member of Ijaw Women Connect, IWC, was reportedly hospitalised due to sustained injuries.

Speaking to journalists shortly after the attack, Ms. Briggs who said she lost her phone in the cause of the melee, described the action of the police as “unacceptable”.

“All what we are saying is no to Ijaw land being ceded to Fulani people under any circumstance.

“At the rally, thugs came into the Tombia round about field, they invaded the place push me down, one particular boy collected my Samsung phone, my Identity Card was ripped off my neck and some people secured me and moved me away from the location.

“I told the police DPO that this rally was not against the Governor of Bayelsa, but against the decision he has made.

“It is unbelievable, I am an Ijaw person, I have fought for the Ijaw nation for as long as I can remember.

“I have been called a bigot because of my stand on Ijaw issues and if today I can come to Bayelsa, and Bayelsa children some of them are old enough to be my children, whether it is Gen Africa, and others; so if today they have appointments and positions and think that people like me no longer have the right to speak on Ijaw matters, that is a sad day for them and not for Ijaw nation.”

When contacted for comments, the spokesperson of the Bayelsa Police Command, Asinim Butswat, asked for more time and promised to call back. He did not call back before the report was published.

Why We Can’t Hand Over Tompolo To JTF, EFCC —Ijaw Elders, Youths

IJAW elders in Delta State, yesterday, said it was impracticable for them to hand over the former General Officer Commanding, GOC, of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, to security agencies because they neither have the power to do so nor know his (Tompolo) whereabouts currently.

They also said that they do not have any information that Tompolo was involved in the three-day bombing of crude oil and gas pipelines in the state, while many see the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC’s case against him as a form of persecution.

The Federal Government, last weekend, asked Ijaw communities to hand over suspects  involved in the bombing, alleged to be hiding in their areas, to security agencies, while the Joint Task Force, JTF, had earlier threatened to hold community leaders responsible for further acts of pipeline vandalism in their communities.

Chairman, Ijaw (Izon) Okosu –Otu (Ijaw Council of Elders), Delta State, Chief Bare Etolor, said, “It is unfair for the Federal Government to ask Ijaw communities to handover suspects that carried out the bombing because we do not know them. In addition, I do not see how anybody expects us to handover Tompolo to security agencies because we do not have the power to do that, except they want to humiliate us.”

Another Ijaw leader in Gbaramatu Kkingdom, Chief Godspower Gbenekame, who re-echoed Etolor’s position, said it was impossible for them to handover Tompolo to the government.

Some Niger Delta and Ijaw youth groups, including the Niger Delta Security Watch Organszation of Nigeria, NWSON and Ijaw People’s Development Initiative, IPDI, threw their weight behind the elders, saying that the understanding of many Ijaw people was that the government was persecuting Tompolo because he refused to join the All Progressives Congress, APC.

However, Executive Director of Centre for the Vulnerable and Underprivileged, CENTREP, Warri, Delta State, Mr. Oghenjabor Ikimi, said there was nothing wrong in the residents of the affected areas and ex-militants giving useful information to security agencies to unmask the culprits.

Ijaw Youths, OPC Clash In Arepo Over Pipeline, Pregnant Woman, Many Killed

Culled From Punch;

Members of the Oodua People’s Congress and some suspected pipeline vandals have clashed in Arepo, in the Obafemi Owode area of Ogun State.

It was gathered that the Wednesday clash caused pandemonium, which led to the killing of a pregnant woman, Mrs. Damilola Fajana, and another pedestrian. It was learnt that a suspected vandal had earlier been killed on Tuesday by some OPC members.

The Wednesday incident happened in the Unity Estate, around 3pm.

Punch Metro gathered that a passerby was hit by bullet in the leg and was rushed to the hospital.

When our correspondent visited the community on Thursday, he observed that all shops in the estate were locked.

The road leading to the estate was also deserted as a few motorcycle riders were seen plying the area.

Around 11am, there was panic as some women suddenly took to their heels, saying the fight had started again.

Punch Metro learnt that the clash had been on since Monday.

A resident said, “The fight has been on for some days now. It is between some Ijaw youths and OPC members that the Federal Government employed to protect pipelines.

“But yesterday (Wednesday), it took a new dimension as they faced one another in broad daylight. There was heavy exchange of gunfire.

“A pregnant woman was in a car with her husband. A bullet pierced through the windscreen and hit the woman in the neck.

“Her husband was devastated and begged people to help. The woman did not survive the gunshot. She died there. We were told she was six months pregnant.”

Another witness told our correspondent that the second victim was walking by the roadside when he was hit in the stomach by a stray bullet, which killed him.

“The man was hit in the stomach and died. Another person was hit in the leg and was rushed to a hospital,” he said.

Our correspondent learnt that the OPC members and the vandals took the battle to the premises of a primary school in the area.

A large number of people were said to have been injured during the clash.

A source told Punch Metro that earlier that day, the OPC members had combed some streets in the estate, searching for the suspected vandals.

He said, “They went to three different streets where the vandals usually sold fuel to residents. They met resistance on Ebute and Akinsanya streets. There was a serious clash on Ebute Street.

“It was after that clash that the OPC members launched a major offensive in the afternoon.”

Our correspondent gathered from another resident that the suspected vandals had sought to pacify the OPC members.

It was learnt that the wife of one of the suspected vandals had sought audience with the ethnic militiamen, but the meeting did not go well.

He said, “This fight started after the suspected vandals sent a woman to the OPC members so they could come to an agreement.

“But the OPC members refused and attacked the woman. That was how the battle line was drawn.”

It was learnt that people in the community are constantly disturbed by gunshots which start late at night into the early hours of the morning.

A woman said, “As from 3am, they would start their shooting which would continue till dawn.

“Everybody is scared. This area has always been peaceful until now. And I believe the vandals have increased their activities due to the fuel scarcity in the country.”

Punch Metro gathered that text messages and letters were being sent to residents to stay indoors as there would be more attacks.

Our correspondent was told that the information was to reduce the number of casualties.

A resident said, “I have just received a text message from my church that there will not be service today until Sunday because of the unrest.”

A community leader, Mr. Victor Olajide, condemned the actions of the OPC men, adding that the government should withdraw them from the area.

He said, “On Tuesday, they raided the home of an Ijaw woman. She is neither involved in vandalism nor an accomplice. But after ransacking her house and destroying her things, they shot one person dead there.

“Yesterday (Wednesday), a stray bullet killed a woman. These people are not educated and they don’t have the technicality to handle the kind of job they have been given. The government should train the police better to handle the job and the OPC members should be withdrawn.”

However, the OPC National Coordinator, Gani Adams, denied that OPC members fired the shots that killed the victims.

He said, “What happened was that in less than 24 hours that the police were withdrawn from the pipelines, our men intercepted about 50 jerrycans, each containing 60 litres of stolen fuel. They were loaded in three vehicles.

“We were able to arrest one of the vandals, but the second person jumped into the water and escaped.

“The fuel was taken to the NNPC depot at Mosimi.

“But the hoodlums protecting the vandals came against our men and began shooting into the community.

“In the process, two people were shot dead on Wednesday.”

The Police Public Relations Officer, Ogun State Command, Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the incident.

He added that the corpse of the pregnant woman had been deposited in a morgue.

He said, “The bullet hit the pregnant woman in the neck and she died.

“We just heard that there was exchange of gunfire, so we don’t know who exactly fired the shot.”

Tompolo, Ex-MEND Commanders Hold Secret Meeting in Asaba

Ex- militant leader, Chief Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, held a meeting in Asaba, Delta State, with former top commanders of the defunct Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, from Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers states.

A dependable source, said: “The meeting was convened by Tompolo to deliberate with his former colleagues on next month’s presidential election as it affects President Goodluck Jonathan, who is an Ijaw indigene.

“They also reviewed the support of the nonoperational MEND for the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd), and agreed on ways to mobilise ex-agitators in the region for the PDP presidential candidate.”

The ex-MEND commanders reportedly left Asaba after the meeting for their respective states.

Credit: Vanguard Nigeria