Following the killing of 17 soldiers in the Okuama community area of Delta State, residents who fled for fear of reprisal have decried snakebites and hunger in the bushes where they ran for cover.
One of the fleeing residents on Sunday told PUNCH on the condition of anonymity that children and elders were dying in the bush where they took refuge. This was as the lawmakers representing the region sought an independent probe, dialogue and humanitarian aid for innocent residents.
A community source said, “The bush our people ran to for safety, snakes are now biting our children and elderly ones to death and hunger is killing others.
“The state government is not responding, our people have died in the community and are now vulnerable, children and elderly ones are dying in the bush and the government is not doing anything.
“They have not set up a commission of inquiry, no support, our people are going through pain. We are calling on the government to come to our aid.
“We are also calling on the international communities to come to our aid. This is total oppression; they don’t want us to speak and people are only hearing one side of the story.
“As I speak to you now, everybody is switching off their phones because they are monitoring our calls.
“You know that our king is now before the military. It is very terrible what we are going through.”
The source urged the government to, as a matter of urgency, set up a panel of inquiry to ascertain what happened in the community.
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