It’s Wrong To Prevent Oborevwori From Accessing Okuama — Lawyer

A Nigerian lawyer, Frank Oseya has faulted the military for disallowing Delta state governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, from accessing Okuama community.

Oseya while speaking with Vanguard over the killing of 17 soldiers and other related crimes in Delta state opined: “The role of the Army in the aftermath of the ugly incident so far leaves a stale taste in the buds.

“To have razed the Okuama community (scene of a crime) and to have gone ahead to burn neighboring communities along the coastline down to Bayelsa State is not only an erasure of critical evidence, it is an act preemptive ( wrongly so ) of investigation.

“To have disallowed the Governor of Delta State- the Chief Security Officer- of the State from gaining access to the community for on-the-spot assessment of the situation is patently discourteous of protocol.

“I have looked at our laws, just to be sure I did not miss the latest amendment, and I am yet to find where the Nigerian Army is donated with investigative powers. The police have that power. It is a strange procedure that the King of Ewu, declared wanted by the military authority, turns himself in, and the police hand him over to the Army. For the Army to do what exactly?

“Let it be made clear that the Army is an interested party in this whole brouhaha, it cannot be the investigator, the prosecutor, and the judge in its cause. As spooky as the events of March 14th and 15th in the Okuama community, we cannot say for certain- at least for now – who the masterminds were. There are still too many accounts, and no less grey areas and questions begging for clarification and answers.

“This is a clarion call, therefore, and a reiteration of the call for the Federal Government to set up a high-powered investigation panel or a commission of inquiry to unravel the immediate and remote causes of the Okuama sad event.

“Meanwhile, the muted idea to turn the Okuama community into a military barrack must be roundly condemned too, as that would amount to ethnic cleansing. The Federal authorities must be careful in going about this whole thing not to worsen an already bad situation.

“Fish out the few unscrupulous elements that killed those officers, and men of the Nigerian Army, yes! However, in doing so, we must not set the children’s teeth on edge because their fathers have eaten soured grapes.”