By Anote Ajeluorou
What would strike a first-time
visitor to Delta State Central Senatorial District is the ubiquitous military
roadblocks. The consequence of that presence is the inevitable snarling traffic
it causes on roads that are ordinarily free of potholes. Motorists are
constantly on the look out for such needless jams and they try their best to
avoid them by taking long and windy ways with more roadblocks.
Among these roadblocks, there are the
notorious ones that keep commuters for long before they can crawl through. The
first is the one just before the roundabout on entry into Warri from Benin City
on the famous East-West Road. Depending on the time of the day, it can keep
motorists on either side for as long as 30 minutes or more just to drive through.
The same applies to the other two on the way to Ughelli. First is the one on the
way to Agharho town just after the PTI Junction. Then, there is a second one
before Ughelli town.
At these points and others, the soldiers
watch the vehicles with a keen eye and are ready to pounce on any motorist, who
tries to outsmart the long queue. Old and young men have been made to sit down
on muddy waters just because they tried to jump the needless queues of vehicles
to get to their destinations. Others, especially okada riders and other young offenders, have also been made to cut
grass or sand fill defence bags at the military posts nearby under the watchful
eyes of military personnel.
Also on the Osubi Road towards Eku and just
before the road leading to the Warri airport, another roadblock checks
motorists’ smart quest to beat the main Warri-Benin City expressway. On the
Sapele-Eku-Abraka road, the story is the same. At almost every three
kilometres, a roadblock checks motorists’ progress. One or two have been
abandoned but the drums, planks and other materials that slow down vehicles
still stand.
Before entering Jesse, a town made famous by
devastating crude oil fire in 1999, a roadblock is also mounted. The soldiers
are jovial, as they even crack jokes with the locals and respond to greetings
in Urhobo language. They behave like regular town’s folk. Inside Sapele town,
there is a military checkpoint after Amukpe Market. It causes massive traffic
jam during peak periods.
Interestingly, despite all these roadblocks,
no serious checking of vehicles takes place. One or two soldiers just stand
guard and direct drivers to stay in line and behave. Beyond the occasional mild
rebuke, motorists are waved on. But even at that, precious time would have been
lost in the snarling jam before motorists get to the checkpoint proper. It’s
usually in exasperation at the aimlessness of the whole that some motorists try
to beat the long queue, causing them to trigger the soldiers’ anger and the
consequent occasional punishment.
Regarding the general security of the entire
Delta State, the military has this to say, “The Sector 1 Operation PULO SHIELD
under the command of Brig. Gen. Pat Akem is deplored in Delta State to ensure
security of lives, property and create a conducive environment for individuals
to go about their lawful business. The crimes in Delta State include kidnapping
and armed robbery among others”.
No doubt, this includes erecting of
roadblocks in the state, particularly Delta Central Senatorial District, which
seems to bear the brunt of this security necessity in the form of roadblocks.
IN a taxicab from Sapele to
Kokori through Okpara Waterside two weeks ago, a conversation suddenly ensued
among the passengers and the driver. The conversation confirmed the travel lore
that drivers, ferrymen and other transport operators are usually the
traffickers of local news. It is from them that you get firsthand insight into
vital information that reveals the underbelly of communities.
And so it was that one of the ladies in the
cab remarked rather regretfully about the burial that would take place that day
of one Darlene (Darlington) in Sapele. For her and the other two men in front
plus the driver, Darlington’s death was one of those mystifying events that
defy logic. In his hey days, they all agreed, Darlington was one of those
fellows, who courted trouble with glee and saw to it that trouble fled from him
in trepidation. He was that tough. But of late, they also said, he’d apparently
calmed down and went about his business without molesting anyone as he was wont
to do.
This, then, was why they couldn’t fathom why
it had to be him that met death in the tragic circumstance that he did, and in
the hands of soldiers endlessly patrolling the town to maintain peace.
Darlington and many others were at a party
enjoying themselves when a military patrol vehicle pulled up. The party wasn’t
without a little trouble though, but it had simmered down, it seemed, when the
soldiers pulled up and sought to know what was amiss. As the party organisers
were assuring them that everything was under control, Darlington and a few
others told the soldiers to mind their own business.
When Darlington and his friends didn’t stop
even as the soldiers were moving back, one of the soldiers’ guns went off in
apparent self-defence. Darlington was hit in the eye. The sight, they said, was
simply horrifying and gory.
In amazement, the driver couldn’t help
wondering what the soldiers were doing in the entire area (Delta Central) and
how ubiquitous they had become. Working among a people that stare down and dare
a man with a gun, who are not afraid to say their minds even when guns are trained
on them, the driver said, the soldiers would have a hard time doing whatever
security job they had been detailed to do in Delta State, especially his part
of Delta.
That same day in Ughelli (Thursday, December
5), two young men, both okada riders,
were shot. The main target died on the spot while the soldiers rushed the other
one to hospital. What was the offence? The offending okada man reportedly failed to heed the warning not to cross a
certain point, where the soldiers had mounted watch over a construction
company. When a soldier accosted the okada
driver, the latter was said to
have seized the soldier by the collar and also hit him with his helmet.
Sensing that his colleague was in trouble,
another soldier shot the okada rider.
But just at that moment, another okada
rider, who was appalled at his colleague’s brazenness, and was rushing to
separate them, was also hit. He was the one rushed to hospital.
Almost on a daily or weekly basis, news of
soldiers’ brush with the locals is becoming rife. So also is the number of
casualties. This is to the apparent discomfort of citizens of Delta Central
Senatorial District, who have suddenly found themselves under heavy military
siege.
WHILE ordinary folks complain
about the inconveniences of these military checkpoints, especially motorists
that ply the roads (such as the taxi driver mentioned earlier), many others are
actually pleased, especially prominent Deltans, that the presence of the
soldiers has brought a measure of security to the area, which had become
volatile with the upsurge of militant activities for resource control and lately,
kidnappings for criminal intent. In the recent past, Edo and Delta States
became playgrounds for kidnapping activities, with state functionaries and
prominent persons as targets.
According to a local media consultant and
community leader from Jesse, Prince Oma Whisky, the inconveniences of the
roadblocks are nothing compared to the security needs of the area, which he
said the military had come to enforce and maintain. Before the presence of the
military and the roadblocks, Whisky said kidnappers made life unbearable for
many citizens of the area and other parts of the state.
Said he: “The people bear the
presence of the military because of the high level of insecurity in the area.
People were usually taken away with impunity. But now, it’s difficult for any
person to be adopted and taken away. So, it’s a way of addressing insecurity.
The inconvenience caused by insecurity is worse than the presence of the
military and roadblocks. In any case, roadblocks are in other parts of the
state such as Patani and others.
“Kidnappers are now forced to go into the
hinterland and even that is not easy. I have been kidnapped before; the horrors
of the experience is better imagined”.
Efforts to get Delta State Government to
comment on the matter proved abortive. Telephone calls to the Commissioner for
Information, Chike Ogeah, and the House of Assembly member, representing
Ethiope, O.J. Oshevire, were neither picked nor returned before press time.
However, Chief Press Secretary to the governor and chief security officer of
Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, Sunny Ogefere, said it was strictly a
security issue for which he had no competence to make comments and referred this
reporter to the military formation for clarification.
But whatever the security needs of Delta
Central Senatorial District or those of the entire state are, it must be
managed with care and should not be seen as a siege against the people.
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