From Rhoda Godwin,
Yenagoa
There is a palpable tension in Azuzuama community over alleged plan by military to invade the communities in Southern Ijaw Local Government area following the killing of a soldier by gunmen last Monday.
Newsmen gathered that the military officer is engaged in pipeline surveillance in the area, before he was killed by his assailants.
A source in Azuzuama Community told our correspondent that some citizens and residents have started fleeing the community for fear of a reprisal attack by the military. He said, “People have started running away from their communities for fear of reprisal by the military, because they have heard what happened to other communities where such ugly incidents have taken place in the past.
Meanwhile, the Movement for the Survival of the Ijaw Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta (MOSIEND) Southern Ijaw Chapter has condemned the killing of the officer.
MOSIEND described the killing as barbaric and promised to assist in the investigation to fish out those behind the dastardly act. The body appealed to the military authorities not to carry out any reprisal attack on the communities, as those behind the killing will be brought to justice
In a welcome address, the President General of Isulo Development Union, Sir Sam Oguagbaka, said that the coming of the university to Isulo will change the landscape and development trajectory of the community for good.
He implored the state and federal government to reciprocate their gesture by increasing infrastructural presence in the community.
The member representing Orumba South at the State House of Assembly, Engineer Emma Nwafor, his Orumba North counterpart and the House Majority Leader, Honourable Emeka Aforka, and Caretaker committee Chairman Orumba South Council Area, Mr. Cyprain Okereke, stated that it will transform and stimulate intellectual and economic development of Orumba South and its environ.
On his part, a former Rector, Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Professor Godwin Onu and Chairman of Nzukoha Orumba, a Non Government Organization who committed to the development of Orumba, thanked the federal government for considering it worthy to have a branch of National Open University of Nigerian in Isulo.
