Residents of the Okuama community in Ughelli South Local Government Area, Delta State, on January 1 returned from the Internally Displaced Persons, IDP, Camp in Ewu provided for them by the state government, disappointed, saddened and despondent. The state government shepherded them to the IDP camp for refuge after the military invaded their community, set it ablaze and occupied it following the killing of some personnel of the Nigeria Army purportedly on a peace mission last year.
The government said it would resettle and rehabilitate the people and urged them to comply with the directive to move into the IDP camp to enable it (government) to rebuild the community.
The soldiers had burnt down their homes, school, churches, business centers and other structures before exiting the community, reports Saturday Vanguard. Many residents hibernated in the bush while the army siege lasted and swarmed the camp in May 2024 with the hope that the state government would redeem its promise of building the destroyed structures to resettle them by the end of last year.
But on January 1 when they returned after the closure of the camp, the returnees were stranded as there was nowhere to lay their heads, and there was no school for their children to attend. Primary school pupils who have no school to attend since soldiers pulled down their classrooms resorted to farming or fishing while others were playing around. This is the stark reality of the Okuama people.
Governor Sheriff Oborevwori while inaugurating the Okuama IDP Committee headed by a former Editor of The Guardian Newspaper, Mr Abraham Ogbodo, in Asaba, over eight months ago, had said: “It is now right for government to set up a committee to plan their resettlement and rehabilitation ahead of their return. This is the minimum we owe our people, we have to reassure them to have a sense of belonging as we make adequate arrangements for their settlement and rehabilitation.”
But twenty-seven days after the Delta state government closed the Ewu IDP camp, the situation in Okuama remains appalling and pitiable.
Ongoing projects by govt
The ongoing projects of the state government which our correspondent sighted in Okuama-Ewu were the uncompleted primary school and town hall buildings.
The residents said the governor assured them last year that the primary school, health center and the town hall would be rebuilt within three months.
No contractor handling any of the projects was on site when our correspondent visited as the villagers said the contractors had all left the site.
Lamentations of the people
Makeshift wooden and thatched huts newly put together by the people littered the space while poorly dressed out-of-school children were fishing in canoes as others were roaming the bushy community.
The youths on their part surrounded the jetty in anticipation of good news from the occupants of any boat that berthed at the jetty.
The sight of half-naked women returning from the farm with their male counterparts in similar fashion made one wonder if they were freeborn or slaves in their own once-busy community which now looked like abandoned farmland. The lamentation of the people was loud as they expressed disappointment over the failure of the government to provide a habitable place for them before closing the camp.
It’s been tough since we came back — Ighorhiohwunu
A middle-aged man, identified as Aaron Ighorhiohwunu said: “I am a native of this community. I have been producing palm oil for a long time. I stopped it after the soldiers destroyed our community. Every piece of equipment and tools I used were destroyed. I just set up this makeshift that I am using now to enable me keep body and soul together. We are farmers and fishermen in Okuama and we also produce palm oil here. We are pleading that the government should help us to start all over again.
“It was tough when I returned from the camp, it hasn’t been easy. We started minor fishing to enable us to survive, some have started going to farm now. After the closure of the camp, we have no houses to return to as you can see, while people resorted to building wooden houses just to lay their heads. Our children are out of school because there is no school here. Nothing has changed ever since we were taken to the Internally Displaced Peoples Camp. I would have preferred to stay back in the community instead of going to the camp because none of the promises made to us by the government to convince us to go to the camp was fulfilled and we are just back to square one.”
Our community is still in ruins — Akemor, ex- councilor
Hon. Jacob Akemor, a former councilor, in a dismissive tone, said: “I am disappointed getting here and seeing the community still like this. I expected that the school should have been completed by now. Schools have resumed and our children are supposed to be in school but there is no school for them, they are now farming, this is taking them backward and sincerely we do not know when this project will be completed. We feel disappointed because the governor had promised us that within three months the school would be delivered.
“They gave us the assurance that within three months, before Okuama people would return from the camp, the town hall, the health centre and school would have been ready. But none is ready as you can see, we are honestly surprised. It has been over seven months since the people went to the camp, we do not know how long it will take to complete these projects, the camp has been closed and the people are back here. We are not sure if our children will go to school this term at all. The government asked our people to go to the camp so that the government would be able to start rebuilding some critically needed infrastructures that will enable Okuama people to start life again.
“But up till now, the community is still in ruin, the people are going through a lot as they have no shelter and people have resorted to building ramshackle wooden houses and thatched houses, many are living like slaves in their community, the condition of their living is terrible. Many people who cannot afford to build anything sleep outside, some just got a plank and set mosquitoes net over it in the open space and sleep. There is no water to drink, the only source of water is the river, what kind of life is this? We are calling on the governor to come to our aid and do the needful. The people are feeling so bad because they never expected to return and meet the community the same way they left it, they regretted going to the camp because it would have been better for them to have stayed back. They wasted seven months in the camp and now they have to start again with thatched houses”.
Why I returned to the bush — Oghenehwosa, women leader
Mrs Queen Oghenehwosa, Okuama Community Chairlady, noted that, “After the community was destroyed the governor said he was building a camp for us at Ewu, that we should go there while he commenced building the community. We refused the idea of going to Ewu and insisted that the camp should be built here so that we can settle down quickly but we were forced to go there. They insisted that once we leave, they would build the place quickly to enable us return and start on a good foundation.
“We were in camp until it was closed on January 1 and we were forced to return home. When I came back there was nowhere to stay, all they promised to build for us had not been done, so I moved into the bush. Since I left the camp, I have taken refuge in the bush, I only came to Okuama once to attend a Church service which was even in the open field. I will be going back to the bush because I have nowhere to stay here. The people who come to the farm see me there and they are worried for my safety but God has kept me. I call on the government to build the community for us, we also want them to release our leaders who are in military captivity.
We’ve no school to attend — Rukevwere, student
Master Godstime Rukevwere, a JSS 2 student in his lamentation added, “Uncle, there is no school for us, I am about to enter JSS 3, but now I am at home, just returning from fishing. I don’t want to be a fisherman. I want to go to school, I want to become a great man and support my community. We are suffering, all the children here cannot go to school, we don’t know how we will end up now,” he said.
Our suffering is too much —Aaron, widow
Mrs. Ishenevogho Aaron, said, “I am a widow, I have been in this thatched house built by my brother in-law. Our suffering cannot be quantified, I was very sick when I left the camp, I had to go to the neighbouring Urhobo community for treatment. The suffering is too much, our children have no school to attend, we have no house to sleep, we have nothing to start life with. This is terrible, all that we were promised have failed to materialize. We don’t know what to do next, it is sad”, she concluded.
Our living condition is hellish — Okrika, CDC chair
Mr. Emmanuel Okrika, Chairman, Okuama Community Development Committee, said: “Honesty, I am angry and confused returning to see that all these projects are still at this level after the camp has been closed. I weep seeing the condition of our people, I want the government, Urhobo Kings, leaders and well-meaning Nigerians to come to our aid. We have no house, no school, no health centre or anything, the living condition of our people is hellish.”
An Okuama opinion leader, Comrade Victor Akemor, said, “I don’t really know how to express how I am feeling, I want to thank the governor for his intention to rebuild Okuama but what the contractors have done so far is not what we anticipated. We thought by now, the projects would have been completed so that as the people were returning from the camp they would have a place to lay their heads. Some of the contractors have left the site. This is sad. I call on the governor to come and see things for himself ”, he noted.
Master Maxwell Donatus, a Primary 5 pupil speaking with our correspondent said, “Brother, please help beg Governor Oborevwori to complete our school. We are tired of going to the farm.”
Prof. Patrick Muoboghare, former Commissioner for Higher Education, Delta State reacting to the plight of the returnee Okuama people, said, “We have cried, talked and have done all the needful.
I will not blame the Governor because he is trying but you know contractors can frustrate you. What is left now is not to complain or cry but time for action. I shall be relocating to Okuama shortly to mobilise people to start rebuilding it.
People who can donate sand, cement, roofing sheets, rods etc should bring them, I will be there to talk to churches, Urhobo elites, kings, kind-hearted Nigerians and as people donate materials we will be there building. It is a task for every Urhobo person, we cannot be disgraced more than this. We must move into action and rebuild Okuama”, he added.
