Amagbein In The Picture: How 17 Murdered Soldiers Fell For Mercenaries, Bunkerers
Fresh insights into the March 14 massacre of 17 soldiers in Delta State challenge the prevailing belief that a dispute between Okuama, an Urhobo community in Ughelli South Local Government Area, and Okoloba, an Ijaw town in Bomadi Local Government Area, was the primary cause.
According to Saturday Vanguard, multiple sources suggest that a group of oil bunkerers, possibly hired as mercenaries, may have orchestrated the violence.
While the Army conducts extensive searches across Delta and Bayelsa States to apprehend the culprits and recover stolen weapons, no formal announcement regarding the capture of the perpetrators has been made.
Acting on intelligence, soldiers laid siege to Okuama since March 15 and subsequently raided the Igbomotoru community in Bayelsa State on March 17, targeting a suspected militant leader and oil thief.
This operation drew attention to an alleged militant leader and oil thief, whose father is a retired army officer. Controversy surrounds his ethnicity, whether he is an Ijaw from Igbomotoru or has maternal ties to the community. His purported involvement in the Okuama killings prompted the army’s deployment to Igbomotoru.
A major clue suggesting oil bunkers’ involvement surfaced when a supposed militant claimed in a trending video that the soldiers were killed due to their support for rival oil bunkerers.
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The individual stated in the video: “That is why the action (assassination of the soldiers) took place but people say the soldiers came for peacekeeping. Point of correction – no army came for peacekeeping. They are(sic) fighting in support of somebody (names withheld), who ordered them to do.”
However, within the week, another militant group, the Amagbein Force, in a trending video, pledged allegiance to its leader, who coincidentally was the same militant leader sought by the army in Igbomotoru.
Could it be a coincidence? The group member, who spoke, did not make a direct claim that they participated in the killing of soldiers at Okuama but implied that oil bunkering would not stop unless the government settled the matter peacefully.
Amagbein, previously accused by the army of being a militant and oil bunkerer, has persistently evaded authorities.
Many expect that the army, which confirmed narrowing investigations to ‘persons of interest and their cohorts’, will release the outcome of its investigations shortly.
Questions arise regarding the presence of alleged bunkerers in Okuama, a non-oil-producing community, during the soldiers’ peace mission following the abduction of an Okoloba indigene.
“How did they get to the Okuama community? Who invited them? Who authorized them to intervene on behalf of the community when the soldiers decided to take away the community chair and other leaders?”
While rumors circulate about oil thieves manipulating soldiers into Okuama, the veracity of such claims remains uncertain.
On March 14, the Commander of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Bomadi, Major Saffa, led his men to Okuama following reports of the abduction of Anthony Aboh, allegedly by Okuama youths.
Suspected mercenaries ambushed the JTF commander and a soldier, holding them hostage when they attempted to apprehend community leaders.
Tragically, the former supervisory councilor, Aboh’s brother, was reportedly killed on that day, with Aboh’s body later found in the River Forcados.
In another incident, Lt. Col. A.H. Ali, from the 181 Amphibious Battalion, embarked on a peace mission to Okuama upon learning of Major Saffa’s abduction.
Despite mobilizing his men to rescue their comrades, Lt. Col. Ali met a similar fate as Major Saffa.
An eyewitness described what transpired, stating: “When the armed youths came out of their hideout after the peace talks in the community hall, as the soldiers were forcing the community chairman to the waterfront to board their boats, they signaled the community chairman to stoop and lie low on the ground.”
“The commander and his men did not notice the signal. This was after the incantations by the juju priestess and priest. It was after the chairman laid down that the shooting started. The soldiers could not return fire because of the powerful incantations.”
The brutal attack resulted in the deaths of Major Saffa, Lt. Col. Ali, and their colleagues.
There was also the story of how the mercenaries asked Lt. Col. Ali to ask his men to drop their weapons if he did not come for war, after which they collected the weapons, and opened fire on them, killing all of them.
