…MTN, Glo, Etisalat, Airtel lines cut
In a desperate bid to contain spiraling bombing of oil pipelines in the
Niger Delta region, Nigerian military made a demand on residents of
Gbaramatu Kingdom in Delta State: produce Tompolo, Avengers or remain
incommunicado.
Government Ekpemupolo aka Tompolo is an ex-militant leader wanted by
Buhari’s federal government while the Niger Delta Avengers have claimed
responsibility for the sustained bombing of oil and gas installations in
the region in the past few weeks forcing oil companies to evacuate staff
and declare force majoure.
Pointblanknews.com has learned that all communication networks notably
MTN, Glo, Airtel, Etisalat and others have been disabled on the orders of
the military high command.
All movements in and out of the kingdom including all the waterways have
been blocked by the military.
Residents have raised alarm over human rights violations by soldiers who
have been accused of molestation, torture and abduction of the residents
in order to ferret information from them.
“They have cut all our communication lines. We cannot reach anybody. The
soldiers have blocked everywhere demanding that we produce Tompolo and the
militant avengers.
“We do not know how many people have been killed as many people cannot be
located after they started shooting everywhere. How do we produce people
we clearly lack knowledge of their whereabouts”, a resident told
Pointblanknews.com.
“Many people have relocated to the forest. This is unfair. How do we feed
our children. How do we go to the farm. How do you volunteer information
under torture?
“They dragged an 80-year old man from his house, beat him up and demanded
information from him while torturing him”, he lamented.
The residents appealed to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State and
President Mohammadu Buhari to call the military to order as they were
violating the rights of innocent Oporoza residents.
Nigerian Army is now notorious for human rights violation as shown in
their clash with Shiite Muslims in Kaduna State that led to the death of
380 people.
Rights groups, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have called
for the prosecution of military officers, who supervised mass killings of
innocent people in the ongoing confrontation with Boko Haram in the
north-east region of the country.