House Condemns Military Invasion of Bayelsa Community

The House of Representatives has condemned the alleged military invasion of Bilabiri community in Bayelsa State by men of the Joint Military Taskforce on January 18, 2020, urging the Chief of Defence Staff to immediately halt any further aggression by soldiers.

This followed the adoption of a motion moved by Hon. Agbedi Yeitiemone Fredrick, titled: 'Military Invasion of Bilabiri Community in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State' at plenary yesterday.

According to Fredrick, the men of the Joint Military Taskforce allegedly stormed Bilabiri community in reprisal following an earlier killing of four Naval personnel on January 2, 2020, at Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production Company site at Agge by unknown gunmen.

He noted that recently, there had been several invasions of various communities in the Niger Delta area by men of the Nigerian army who claimed to have been on security operations in such communities.

 

The lawmaker expressed concerns that the socio-economic lives and wellbeing of the people living in and around the affected areas could also be adversely affected as people would vacate the area in search of safety and other conducive business environment.

Fredrick called for a prompt and immediate cessation of hostilities by the Joint Military Taskforce in Bilabiri and any other community in the local government area to avert further hardship on the innocent people for the crimes of a few miscreants.

He admonished that a globally respected military force such as the Nigerian army cannot afford to exhibit such “uncivilized and reckless behaviour even in the face of the provocative and mindless killings of members of the armed forces,” adding that rather, it should have used efficient defence intelligence to conduct thorough investigation to bring those miscreants to justice.

Adopting the motion, the House urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to provide relief materials in terms of medical and social needs for the innocent victims of the community.

It also directed its Committees on Defence, National Security and Intelligence to investigate the invasion of the community by military personnel and report back within six weeks for further legislative action.