Several of women and children of Okuama community, Ewu Kingdom, in Ughelli South Local Government Area, Delta State, who fled for their dear lives when troops of the Nigerian Army started flattening the community over the killing of 16 soldiers last Friday have been stranded for six days without food in the forests.
This is even as a young man from one of the warring communities, suspected to be a militant, dared the Federal Government to declare him wanted in a viral video yesterday, saying the soldiers were killed because they allowed commanding persons to use them to oppress the people of Okuama.
At the coastal town of Igbomotoru in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, the siege imposed by troops on the manhunt for a militant leader suspected to have masterminded the killings is pushing the community towards starvation. It could trigger a humanitarian crisis if it persisted.
Some days ago, the Okuama women cried out that they fled into the forests when soldiers allegedly opened fire on the villagers in the town hall after the community refused their attempt to take away the community leaders.
As of yesterday, Okuama is out of bounds as only the military could enter in and out of the town. The place is deserted, the state governor, Rt. Hon Sheriff Oborevwori confirmed he could not visit the place because of the situation.
Vanguard reports that the neighboring communities to the abandoned Okuama refused to accept the fleeing residents as refugees in their homelands because of the persecution by soldiers, who come around searching for the perpetrators of the heinous crime.
Because of how they escaped into the forests, the women could not take food items with them, and they could not return to the community either, as soldiers had taken over the town.
One indigene of a bordering community in the Ewu Kingdom said the situation of the victims of the military onslaught on culprits of the Okuama killings was pitiable.
“Hunger is taking a toll on them, especially the children they are carrying. This is a humanitarian crisis, and the government has to open a refugee camp for these people and provide them with food.
“Soldiers molest innocent people in neighboring communities of Okuama in Ughelli South Local Government Area. As I am speaking with you, soldiers are still in the Orere community in the Ewu kingdom, molesting innocent people in the search for perpetrators.
