Nigerin army caught between ethnic militias in battle to save Port Harcourt

….Oyigbo is battleground, even as pockets of cult groups commit looting

TRACKING______Nigerin army caught between ethnic militias in battle to save Port Harcourt
By Ignatius Chukwu on October 23, 2020

The fight to save Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital and headquarters of the south-south, is taking ethnic coloration and nothing near the ENDSARS or good governance demands.

It has turned to burning of police stations, killings, and huge rioting which is now along ethnic divide in the boundary town between Rivers and Abia states.

The violence at the heart of the city, Mile One to Mile Three seems to be between cult groups and the police in the apparent attempt by the hoodlums to raze the Mile One police division buildings.

Shooting has been going on in Diobu in the past three days even after curfew was imposed in the area by the state government.

Banks have remained closed for over three days, but the governor, Nyesom Wike, has ordered the ones hosting the state government accounts to reopen or face review of their relationship with the government.

The main battleground, Oyigbo, has been boiling, frequently spilling into Iriebe up to Eleme Junction and nearby communities such as Elelenwo, Woji, and Rumukwurushe.

Residents have fled into calmer communities as youths from ethnic groups charge for action and threaten attacks on various settlements in a kind of mutually assured destruction fashion.

Distress calls raged all of Thursday night from Oyigbo where residents said soldiers were shooting indiscriminately.

Many families said they fled into nearby bushes as they said persons were being shot by uniformed men.

Other security sources said youths from Aba area were pushing to attack Oyigbo. Pockets of looting have been reported in Oyigbo.

A very senior police officer of eastern origin hinted to this reporter’s source that the invading youths (he called them IPOB) pushed all night to overrun Oyigbo.

He said the security agencies withstood them. “We did many things to save Oyigbo this night”. He refused to disclose what they did.

The Army Public Relations Officer of 6 Army Division in Port Harcourt, Charles Ekeocha, who never picked calls most of the night said Friday morning that the soldiers were there to protect innocent lives.

Military sources said reinforcement would come Friday morning. This appeared real as soldiers have lined up all roads in northern PH, trigger happy.

Rumours seem to have taken over. Families call each other raising hell. The most rampant is ‘revelation’ of one ethnic militia or the other planning to attack one community or the other.

So far, some persons have been killed in Oyigbo and Eleme Junction areas and their wares looted.

Sources said about three soldiers were killed last night.

Both police and military spokesmen have so far not issued any statement. They have also not been ready to brief the press on happenings.