Panic is sweeping across Bayelsa communities as the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) amplified its manhunt for killers of 17 officers and soldiers of the Nigerian Army, who were murdered in Okuama, Ughelli South local government area of Delta State on Thursday 14, March. Anxiety in the oil-rich state was heightened by the broadly acknowledged association of some purported state officials with the prime suspect in the gruesome act. It is alleged that he is close to some key officials of the state government. At present, the fate of the soldiers has pitted Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa against one of his predecessors and former minister of state for petroleum resources (Oil), Timipre Sylva. Diri has blasted Sylva for politicizing the dastardly incident. The authorities in DHQ have narrowed down the investigation into the heinous crime to the suspected leader of the Okuama killer gang, which murdered the troops, including the commanding officer of 181 Battalion of the Nigerian Army in Bomadi, the headquarters of Bomadi LGA of Delta state, Lt. Col. A. H. Aliu. Outraged troops of the Nigerian Army had on Sunday stormed an Ijaw community in Bayelsa State, Igbomotoru, in Southern Ijaw LGA, the paternal home of the alleged ringleader in a futile search for him. Okuama, the center of the wanton killing, was regarded as the suspect’s maternal community.
Although the suspect, acting on a tip-off, fled the community before the arrival of the troops, the invasion left in its trail large-scale destruction of life and property. No fewer than 11 indigenes of the community are feared dead in the incident. The alleged relationship between the top levels of the state government and the wanted prime suspect has forced some stakeholders in the state to insinuate that he was being protected and shielded by the authorities. The suspect was linked to the campaigns and re-election of Governor Douye Diri in the recent gubernatorial election in the state. To this end, one of the sources in the security circles said that the troops are on a manhunt for family members and political allies of the suspect in the state. The chairman of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, Lucky Okodeh, a sibling of the wanted suspect, was said to have been under surveillance by detectives seeking information to nab the suspect. Similarly, another ally of the suspect, who is the chairman of a state committee, is said to be under the radar of the detectives investigating the killings.
