The board of inquiry constituted by the Defence Headquarters to investigate the 17 soldiers killed in Okuama Community, Ughelli South Local Council of Delta, met with stakeholders on Wednesday in Warri at about 5:00 p.m.
But journalists, who swarmed the Government House Annex at Edjeba, in Warri, the venue of the inquiry, were barred from covering the meeting.
Stakeholders from the Okoloba Community, in Bomadi Local Council, attended the meeting, but Okuama Community was, however, not represented.
Before the hearing/meeting commenced, the Director-General of Security Services in Delta, David Tonwe, informed journalists that they would not be part of the meeting, as he ushered the stakeholders into the venue.
The development has elicited concern among stakeholders, who said that banning the media might affect fairness of the inquiry.
‘The Chairman of the board of inquiry, AVM David Ajayi, who met Governor Sheriff Oborevwori earlier last week, had urged the governor to assist the board in its assignment to ensure that relevant stakeholders were invited to give accounts of what led to the crisis.
Ajayi said: “We are here on a fact-finding mission, and not to apportion blame. We are here to gather facts from security agencies, community leaders and community dwellers.
“This report will also help to ensure healthy communication that will enhance civil-military relations and ensure that economic activities thrive again in the affected communities.”
The governor told the panel that the state government would provide them with useful information, but warned that innocent citizens should not be made to suffer any further.
Oborevwori said that the state would come up with its position paper to be submitted to the panel before it leaves the state, saying that the position paper would guide the inquiry on the role the state government played.
Meanwhile, the umbrella body of Ijaw youths worldwide, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), while urging the military inquiry to do a thorough and fair job, demanded an end to the invasion of Ijaw communities in the Niger Delta region, as well as the arrest of their kinsmen since the killing of the military personnel in Okuama happened.
The IYC condemned the invasion of the Osokun Community, Degema Local Council of Rivers State, on April 8, 2024, at 3:30 a.m. where an Ijaw leader, Sobomabo Jackrich, popularly known as Egberipapa, was arrested, while two of his men were killed.
In a statement, the IYC spokesman, Binebia Princewill, warned that the Ijaw people are not second-class citizens in the country. He stressed that the Ijaw people had sacrificed a lot towards the growth and development of the country, and would not tolerate being treated as a conquered people by the Nigerian state.
