The forth-coming elections will produce some of the most expensive  legislators in Ogoni history. Over 35 lives had been lost in Ogoni just  to produce legislators for the state and national assemblies.
Just after the annulment of the parliamentary elections held in 2015, a  series of military depredation had led to the death of over 35 persons  in Ogoni. In the embroilment that followed, a polytechnic lecturer and  many others including John Gbarazia, lost their lives.
Immediate responses to the raids came from the leading political parties  in the state. The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State argued  that the 2015 elections which were largely won by the Peoples Democratic  Party (PDP) were remarkably violent. With little sense of morality, the  leading opposition party in Rivers State to a large extent defended the  actions of the army in Ogoniland. The argument is that the raids are  intended to flush the area of armed bandits whom they accuse of being  used by the PDP-led government in the Rivers State, an area covering  Ogoniland.
With an open mind, I have analyzed the representations of the army  authorities since the recent raid on Ogoniland began in February and  during their presentations before parliament in November 2016. I still  cannot detach the motives of the raids from being politically induced.
On the night of the first raid, the home of Chief Solomon Ndigbara was  destroyed in Yeghe. Armoured tanks were deployed in the raid and in what  appeared to be a reprisal, the senatorial office of the APC was  destroyed. In Bori, at least 10 persons were killed the following day,  September 23, including a polytechnic student who had come to collect  his call up letter for national service, three indigines of Ebonyi state  who were traders in Bori were also killed. In Zaakpon, at least one  person was shot dead and an old woman of about 70 years was brushed  down, she fractured her arm as a result. In Yeghe, a pregnant mother, a  clergyman and at least 12 others were killed in the raids.
In a quick response, the Rivers State government said the raid on  Ogoniland was targeted at armed bandits The APC added a different  dimension to it saying Governor Wike’s call on the people not to vote  their party in the re-run elections which was then scheduled for March  led the people to protest.     It still does not resonate with me how a mere expression against a  governor’s comments became an issue for the army. Besides, there was no  report that any protests turned violent within the period. Who were the  armed bandits and who were the protesting party supporters? These  questions seriously beg for answers.
While the APC and the PDP were joining issues,army authorities reported  that the raid was in response to the kidnap of its informant in Rivers  State, Mr. Pabby Koryene whom the army alleged was buried alive by a  cult group. No name was immediately given to the cult group. Another  twist was added to it when it was revealed that Pabby Koryene was  actually a chieftain of the APC in Yeghe. His connection with army  intelligence remains shrouded till date.
Few days later, the army declared Solomon Ndigbara wanted for gun  running and kidnapping. We began to move away from Governor Wike’s  approval to raid bandits in Ogoni, from the protest occasioned by  Governor Wike’s call not to vote a particular senatorial candidate, from  the burial of an informant of the army and we began to see a media  campaign against a former ally of the security forces – Solomon  Ndigbara.
As soon as the army declared Solomon Ndigbara wanted for kidnapping and  gun running., the camp of one of the contestants for the federal house  of representatives released photographs of arms recovered from the home  of Solomon Ndigbara. A critical examination of the images showed they  were generated from the internet and intended to misinform the public.
While I do not intend to hold brief for Ndigbara, I see significant  inconsistencies in the statements of the politicians and the authorities  on the raid on Ogoniland since February 2016. It also worries me that  the political parties do not care about the rights and safety of our  people in their determination to win the forth-coming rerun elections  scheduled for December 10.
Given the intensity of the defense for the raid by a section of our  political class, I suspect fowl play in the search for Ndigbara. I have  seen it before in 1995 when politicians connived with the military  against Saro-Wiwa and the MOSOP leaders. Saro-Wiwa and eight others were  falsely accused and eventually hanged by the government of Sani Abacha  to silence a peaceful uprising and well coordinated opposition to state  backed rights violation by Shell against the Ogoni people. The  unanswered questions about the recent raids on Ogoniland and  particularly on the community of Yeghe compels me to believe that the  story of Ken Saro-Wiwa is being replicated in the hunt for Ndigbara.
From the point of view of a layman like me, the fact that there was no  immediate report of kidnapping in the area and Solomon Ndigbara was not  in hiding or previously declared wanted should raise some suspicion  especially given the fact that a re-run election was ahead, I want to  believe the uncoordinated position of the army, coming up with different  defenses at different time, points to an attempt to seek an escape route  for their crimes against the Ogoni.
There had been issues of kidnapping in Ogoniland but I believe the raid  on Ogoniland in February was not about kidnapping. Ogoni people need  clarifications on how Ndigbara who in November 2015 accompanied these  same security men to Kaani to rescue a kidnapped victim suddenly became  a kidnapper. Has Ndigbara ever been invited, quizzed by the Police for  kidnapping or gun running since the federal government granted amnesty  to Niger Deltta fighters which included Ndigbara? For someone like  Ndigbara who had been collaborating with the Police to deal with  security problems in Ogoni, if there be any security issues he needed to  clarify, I want to believe that a simple invitation would have been fine  and so for me, the raid on Yeghe which involved armoured tanks was much  more than an attempt to arrest a known ally of the security men.
It is my conviction that if Ndigbara was the target of the military  raids on Ogoniland, Mrs Ledee, a pregnant mother, would not have died.  Alice Naanee Diginee. a 77 year old woman who died of shock as a result  of the raids would probably be alive. I have a deep conviction that the  raids on Ogoni needs an open investigation with public hearing held in  Ogoniland (not Abuja) because I am convinced the truth has not been  unraveled about the real motives behind the raids. I so maintain because  if I were a police officer, I do not think I will fire a single shot to  arrest a civilian ally found wanting.
It is regrettable that the army appear to have been be so easily misled,  probably misinformed and maneuvered into this political game causing so  much pain to Ogoni which will live with us for a very long time and  continue to re-enforce our believe that the attitude of the Nigerian  military towards Ogoni even in the civil dispensation may not have  changed. Recall that the military dealth one of the most devastating  blows to the Ogoni when on November 10, 1995, military authorities  sniffed life out of 9 innocent Ogonis including Barinem Kiobel, Rev John  Kpuinen and Ken Saro-Wiwa. They did nothing but spoke against state  repression against the Ogoni people. Between 1993 and 1999, over 3000  others wee killed by state-sponsored repression against Ogoni activists  calling for the respect of their fundamental rights.
An army who should protect us has become complicit in an attempt to  suppress and destroy our peace.     Nigeria under President Muhamadu Buhari needs to address this level of  perceived complicity of the army in prosecuting injustice in our system.  The President as commander -in-chief needs to rise to protect the  integrity of our armed forces. There cannot be multiple commanders for  our army and politicians cannot so arrogantly boast about deploying the  military even to crises areas. Our soldiers must be protected from such  political influence. The army cannot be allowed to slide into further  degradation and abuse the same way they have abused the police,  withdrawing policemen who should be providing security for the people  and making them private security men. I call on the president to save  the Nigerian army from all forms of political abuse.
The elections are here again. December 10, Ogonis will choose  parliamentarians. Elections which should enrich our democracy has become  dreadful for our people. Many wish that day would never come for it  appears to carry sorrow and trauma. A simple and civic responsibility to  choose representatives has generated so much tension and killed so many.
There is the likelihood that politicians will malign their opponents to  justify another military invasion. This cannot be allowed to continue.  We will all be watching. One thing is sure, someday, we will seek  justice for the killings and today’s perpetrators of crime against the  people will surely be punished.
Written by Fegalo Nsuke, the Publicity Secretary of The Movement for the Survival  of the Ogoni People (MOSOP).
