Ogoni chiefs condemn alleged army’s abduction of Yeghe traditional ruler

Local chiefs from various communities in Ogoni land, a volatile oil producing area where a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on environmental clean up is pending, has condemned what they described as the “abduction of the paramount ruler of Yeghe community, in Ogoni land, HRH Barinaadaa T.D. Gbaranee by men of the Nigerian Army stationed in Bori.”

The chiefs, under the umbrella of Council of Ogoni Traditional Rulers (COTRA), alleged that men of the Nigerian Army stationed in Bori abducted Gbaranee on Monday.

“We strongly condemn the humiliation of the Ogoni traditional institution and demand the immediate release of Chief Barinaadaa T.D. Gbaranee,” the Ogoni chiefs stated in a statement on Tuesday, signed by its chairman, Mene Suanu Baridam.

It is recalled that Gbaranee had spoken out and vehemently condemned the February 14 and 15 invasion of his Yeghe community by soldiers, in which over 20 people were reportedly mowed down by a hail of bullets, when the army said they were looking for Solomon Ndigbara (aka Osama bin Laden), an ex-militant leader.

Baridam said they “consider the abduction of Chief T.D. Gbaranee a desecration of the highly respected traditional institution, and strongly reject the humiliation of an Ogoni traditional stool by the Army.”

As a result, the COTRA chairman said they “demand the immediate release of Chief Barinaadaa T.D Gbaranee, and expect that if there be any issues regarding his conduct, he ought to be treated with respect, decency and in a dignified manner, with an invitation; if that fails, the issue should be brought before the Council of Ogoni Traditional Rulers; if that fails, the issue be brought before the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers, the failure upon which further actions can be taken.”

He noted “the abduction and embarrassment of Chief Barinaadaa T.D Gbaranee, a government-recognized traditional ruler and member of the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers, a member of the Council of Ogoni Traditional Rulers, is unacceptable to the entire Council of Ogoni Traditional Rulers.”

He also accused the army of “dubious intentions” and alert the Nigerian people and the international community of clear genocide intentions against the Ogoni people and particularly the Yeghe people.

The local chiefs also noted that the actions of the Nigerian army in Ogoniland in recent times following the raids and killing of over 20 persons and subsequent raids on the peace and law-abiding citizens of Yeghe calls for serious questions regarding the credibility and intentions of the army’s presence in Ogoni land.