Barely 24 hours after the Edo State Police Command paraded two suspects arrested in connection with the February 1 attack on Okumu Oil Palm Company, gunmen on Thursday attacked the plantation to an enthusiastic arrest and parade of the two suspects on Wednesday.
The February 1 attack on the workers of the oil Palm plantation in Okumu, Ovia South-West Local Government Area of Edo State, left two of the workers dead, while over 90 hectares of rubber plantation were burnt alongside three excavators.
Disclosing the latest attack, the company’s Communication Officer, Fidelis Olise, who spoke to journalists in Benin on Friday, said the gunmen had also carried out an attack on Tuesday, making it two attacks in the three days.
Olise stated that the gunmen, who he described as terrorists, carried out the latest attacks to avenge the arrest of two of their supposed members.
“The same terrorists, seemingly angered by the arrest of two of their supposed members, carried out further attacks on innocent workers on the Okomu Oil Palm Company’s property to avenge the arrest of their accomplices, who apparently confessed to the theft of rubber. They were arrested by the Marine Police on a boat after it had left the Okomu Ijaw Community on its way to Delta State.
“The killing of innocent workers who are performing their legitimate duties and have no conflict or disagreement with any person is strongly condemned and the powers that be should immediately take action against those terrorists responsible for these murderous crimes,” Olise said.
“Attacks on companies like Okomu, are also a serious note for concern as it seems that terrorists are now focusing on these types of establishments, intent on bringing them to their knees, and in so doing creating an environment that could show the Governor Godwin Obaseki led Government as weak. It also poses a great threat to current and future investments in Edo State and Nigeria as a whole, especially the agricultural sector, which is the focal point of diversification of both the Obaseki and the Buhari administrations.
“The time has come for the Buhari and Obaseki administrations to take concerted and decisive actions against these terrorists, otherwise the investment in the agricultural sector will be greatly discouraged just as was the case with pipeline vandalisation in the past, with the resultant negative effect on livelihoods and revenue accruing to both state and federal government coffers.
“The Police must immediately undertake a thorough investigation and bring all those linked to the heinous attacks to book, thereby showing that they are a force to be reckoned with, and reinstating confidence in their ability to fight crime. The army too should be deployed to ensure that this area of Ovia South-West Local Government Area is safe for all, while terrorists and cultists are rooted from this area for good,” he pleaded.
The Edo State Police Command, it would be recalled, had arrested two persons: Lucky Clark,52, and Destiny Tibhor, 22, who were allegedly involved in the theft of rubber lumps belonging to the company.
Parading the suspects in Gelegele, Ovia North East LGA, the Edo Police Public Relation Officer, PPRO, Bello Katongs, said, that the Edo State Police Commissioner, Mr Philip Ogbadu, in an attempt to unravel those behind the attack on the rubber plantation, where two workers were gunned down, lunched a manhunt for the perpetrators and on February 15, 2022, arrested the suspects at Okomu Water Ways.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents
In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state…24-hour after parade 24-hour after parade
Selfies, video calls and Chinese documentaries: The things you’ll meet onboard Lagos-Ibadan train
The Lagos-Ibadan railway was inaugurated recently for a full paid operation by the Nigerian Railway Corporation after about a year of free test-run. Our reporter joined the train to and fro Lagos from Ibadan and tells his experience in this report…24-hour after parade 24-hour after parade