Crusaderhotnews
June 27, 2019
By Don Silas
From 2004, escalating armed and violent conflicts between gangs and bent against government, oil companies and security personnel increased the level of militancy in the Niger Delta region.
Particularly well-known militant groups including the the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), and the Niger Delta Avengers including cult based militia groups reared their ugly heads.
In the wider context of underdevelopment, widespread oil pollution, lack of livelihood options, and a largely unresponsive government, militants targeted oil pipelines and kidnapped foreign oil workers for ransom. This militancy affected oil production to the extent that the price of oil rose above USD$100 per barrel for the first time in world's history.
There is still every-day insecurity within areas of the Niger Delta, where cultism, kidnapping, extortion, piracy, corrupt security personnel, and destabilising economic activities are rife. 20% of households in the Niger Delta were affected by conflict—with 1/20 experiencing a bereavement due to conflict over that period.
Selfishness, greed, injustice, do-or- die politics, love of money, primitive accumulation of wealth, revolt, repression, immorality and ignorance became rife. One or more of these factors brought about every violent event that has taken place in Niger Delta
The police are not capable of controlling the militants/gun men, who recruit members in port Harcourt Rivers state of Nigeria. They forcibly recruit young boys and the average age for recruitment is 16 years, their policy is meant to groom the young recruits.
Somiari Tamunotonye who refused recruitment by the militant/gun men was attacked more than twice but was lucky to have escaped death by the whiskers. And he has been their target, the militants/Gunmen reportedly accused him of being an informant to the security agencies.
Somiari Tamunotonye troubles eye witness said, started after he witnessed how one of his friends was shot and killed in the neighborhood after he refused to join the gang. It was a violent attack on Gabriel. So he hid beside the house only to see Gabriel being dragged out and shot dead. He couldn’t stand the shock as he screamed and ran for his life. He was chased by the men but was able to escape. These men wouldn’t stop looking for him since he saw their faces.
In October 2018, the hoodlums, were said to have invaded the community in about 10 speedboats. They were allegedly on a mission to take over the community and deal decisively with Somiari Tamunotonye and a few other young boys: Iyene Innocent, Kehinde Harrison, Gift Lucky and Henry Etukudo who are marked as disloyal to the killer gang in their refusal to join them.
They reportedly torched over 20 maje-shift houses otherwise called batchers in the Port Harcourt squalor, including Somiari Tamunotonye parent's house. This attack led to the death of four people including one Mr George Somiari who was reported to be a senior cousin to Tamunotonye. The suspected cult members / gunmen who carried out the killing came from a camp in the creeks to carry out this killings.
"The people killed are not cult members but the attack is believed to have been carried out by cultists who may have been paid to eliminate the likes of Somiari Tamunotonye and other young people in the community", said an eye witness .
Tamunotonye was caught and beaten but was able to escape the attack due to distractions by neighbours who came out screaming while also trying to run for their dear lives. A local vigilance group it was learnt was resilient in the battle to repel the invading gunmen.
A source said: “As I speak with you, many people are fleeing the area and many parents are sending their sons into hiding .many houses have been burnt down. The target, nature, and extensive reach of violence and impunity in this region have given entire families and specific groups no alternative but to flee in search of safety.
It would he very difficult to find a place where a person could be sure of not being identified by militants because gang members have some influence within the government and in police circles, they can prevent themselves from prosecution
However, on the 25th, June, it was reported he was attacked again few months later by these unknown gunmen /militants, and was beaten seriously.
According to an eye witness "`He was left bleeding from cuts on his hand, legs, and other parts of his body. The attackers left him for dead before some good Samaritans, who heard him groaning rescued him and took him away.
The attack left him with a limping leg, and some scars all over his body despite the many treatment he has undergone to correct his twisted flesh and bones..
When contacted, the spokesperson for the State Police Command, Nnamdi Omoni, confirmed the incident, saying investigation is ongoing.
"The Commissioner of Police, Ahmad Zaki, has directed the Port harcourt Area Commander and the Divisional Police Officer to commence investigation into the incident to apprehend the perpetrators and make them face justice," He stated.
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