Saturday, 3 August 2013

How JTF Burnt our town, threw us into poverty - Agge Residents



In the wee hours of August 4, 2008, the people of Agge, a bustling fishing and business town on the tip of the Atlantic Ocean woke up to the unwanted visit of hundreds of armed troops of the Joint Task Force tagged 'Operation Restore Hope'. One hour later the entire town with a population of about 4,000 was turned into a massive bonfire.  Residents say over 500 houses were burnt down.
SHOLA O'NEIL, who visited the town hours after the incident five years ago, returned to the scene of the destruction.




When our reporter returned to Agge, Kou Kingdom in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State on Tuesday morning relics of the devastation of half a decade ago dotted the landscape.
Stumps of burnt houses littered the ground. Most victims who have rebuilt their homes used fire-bronzed zinc sheets savaged from what was left of their old houses. Others mixed them with new ones to create an admixture that is neither new nor old houses. An indigene told our reporter "our houses are not new, they are not old; they are confused like us."
Most of the victims still sleep in the open - some inside the wreckage of their former homes or under roofs hurriedly thrown over them. In place of masses of charred roofing sheets, verdure grasses have sprouted.
In spite of their collective and individual misfortunes, the entrepreneurial spirit and zeal of these Ijaw people remain strong. New shops have sprung up on the same spot where older more stocked ones were either burnt or looted, five years ago. Music still blares from giant speakers in some houses. But their lives will never be the same again.
"We are determined to carry on with our lives," one resident said.
The Amananawei (traditional ruler), His Royal Highness David Isiaye, Itorogidi I of Agge and its federated communities, told our reporter that the schools in the town are deserted because teachers have absconded due to lack of accommodation.


Chief Clement Korus, father of 32 children - one of which has just graduated from the University of Port Harcourt - from four wives was one of the worst hit. Our reporter met him mending fishing nets and gears and cleaning his fishing boat fitted with 45 horsepower outboard engine.
The renowned fisherman said his entire assets, property and business worth over N30 million were extinguished within the blink of an eye. He is one of hundreds like him left to pick up the pieces of broken lives.
"I lost nine houses, including my hotel," he told our report in a deep baritone voice. "I only managed to rebuild one of the houses since that incident. I had three fishing boats like this; they were all burnt. Now I have just one boat that I bought with a loan from a cooperative society. I pay interest monthly and that is affecting me," he said.
Korus said his dislocated family were yet to recover from the trauma and pains from the incident. "My wives were scattered; one went to Ogulagha to live with her parents, the others went to Ogbeintu etc. That was how we managed to weather the storm."
 
Nevertheless, HRH Isiaye said his people were grateful that nobody died from the accident. "If they (soldiers) had wanted to kill us, they would have done so; but we thank them for sparing our lives, not for reducing my entire clan to ashes and visiting poverty on my people."
Recalling the sad day, the monarch said the troops came and encompassed the town as early as 6am. "They fired heavy mortar and shells into the air to scare away the people. The lucky ones were able to make it to their boats and scamper to nearby communities including Ogbeintu, Amazor and Amatu.
"Women with children on their back had to rely on their swimming skills to cross the river to safety. Children who were able to swim were left to fend for themselves while the young and old were either ferried on the back or helped to waddle to safety.
"The soldiers did not shoot anybody. But two days after, Youmo Mietuade died from heart related ailment as his blood pressure shot up during the invasion and he could not survive," HRH Isiaye recalled.

 Agge: 5 years on
 A member of Agge Community

White: military tagged the youths militants in order to invade and plunder it..Photo Shola O'Neil

For Mrs Iyadefegha Alfred, beyond the loss of property, cash and her home, the destruction of her childhood memorabilia and those of her children is very painful.
Speaking in Pidgin English spattered with Ijaw, she said, "All the black and white pictures that I had of my children, the handmade toys, the history and heirloom that my family handed down over the years are gone. They may not be worth much money but they are very expensive in terms of who I am. I intended to hand them over to my children as my mother did to me."
Not all the victims were lucky to lose their own assets. Mr Paul Ogedegbe, a famous outboard engineer mechanic in the area lost items worth over N50m, most of which belonged to his clients not only from the town, but from other riverside communities.
"I have customers from everywhere," he told our reporter in his new workshop in the town. "I was thrown into debt because nearly 20 (outboard) engines that were burnt in my workshop belonged to my client. Some of them were understanding and knew that it wasn’t my fault, others were not willing to listen to that excuse," he said.
Col Rabe Abubakar, who was Joint Media Campaign Coordinator of the JTF in 2008,  told newsmen that the operation was targeted at illegal bunkering syndicate in the town.
Col Abubakar denied that houses were burnt, insisting that the few houses razed down were those used to store illegally refined crude oil. The Nation's exclusive report and photographs of August 16, 2008, however, showed that hundreds of houses were burnt down.
The traditional ruler lamented to Niger Delta Report on Tuesday that the invasion of Agge by the JTF was based on flawed "intelligence report" that the town harboured illegal bunkerers and militants. 
"Look around this town, do you see any sign of such opulence and wealth that illegal bunkering brings. We are poor people who work hard for everything that we get. When the soldiers came, no single shot was fired from this town because we do not have arms," he added.
A local youth named Agge White said the soldiers merely gave the town a bad name to hang it.
"They say we are militants, criminals and illegal bunkerers." Pointing to a military post nearby, he said, "That houseboat with soldiers was there when they burnt down Agge. It was there years before it. How can we engage in illegal bunkering with those soldiers breathing down our necks? This should tell you something."
It did.
Our investigation revealed that all boats, including passengers boat, passing the  Ramos River are subjected to search by troops stationed at a comfy houseboats near the town. Oil industry experts say that it was impossible for bunkerers to operation in the area without 'settling' the soldiers there.
"Crude oil is not stolen with brief case; it is transported with barges and vessels. Even speedboats that pass through the river have to go close to the houseboat of the soldiers for clearance. So, it is impossible to steal crude oil or engage in illegal bunkering if the soldiers there do not allow it," our source, who asked not to be named, said.
High Chief Smith Mientuade, Tonkepa of Kou Kingdom, also flayed the attack, likening it to setting an entire building on fire to kill a tiny rat. The titleholder whose two wives lost houses regretted that no effort had been made the Federal Government to rebuild the town, five years on.
Also speaking, the Secretary of the Traditional Council, High Chief Lawrence Orukeme lamented that several petitions to the government failed to yield any meaningful result. "Our people are still left to suffer for sins they did not commit."
Mr. Timi Etuele, secretary to the monarch revealed that relief materials sent by then Governor Timipre Sylva were grossly insufficient. "What they gave even caused problems in the community because it set brothers against themselves. When people are hungry and desperate, tempers are usually short and angers are high."
Besides, sources said a prominent politician from LG council was accused of confiscating some of the relief materials, including outboard engines to her personal property.
Why Is Government So Wicked?
The anger of the traumatised people was unabated five years after. Monday Lugbeinwe, who lost property worth millions of naira is one of those yet unable to rebuild his house. His relatives said he has been turned into an itinerant man. He was was on a religious retreat in Lagos when the incident occurred.
Chief Williams Isiaye and Samuel Alla, among other victims decried the perceived abandonment of their community by the government.
Led by their monarch in protest, they said, "We did not commit any crime before they burnt down Agge. Today, communities in Gbaramatu and Ayakoromor (in Warri South West and Burutu local government areas of Delta State) that were razed as a result of militancy have been rebuilt."
The Amananawei lamented that government rebuilt those communities whose indigenes took up arms against the nation at various times but abandoned those who were victim of JTF's aggression.
"Those other communities were targeted because of some specific persons. In Ayakoromor it was John Togo, in Gbaramatu it was Tompolo. These persons were accused of killing soldiers, destroying the nation's assets yet their communities have been rebuilt because government appreciated that it was not the action of the entire community.
"We did neither; we were victims of flaw intelligence report. Still five years after not even a brick has been laid in Agge. Why the double standard? This is an injustice that they comfortably forget," he added.

Mr Osteen Igbapike, a lawyer and legal representative of the community, told our reporter on telephone that they might resolve to legal action if efforts to get the relevant authorities to rebuild Agge fail.
"We are encouraged by the recent Odi judgment. We can seek to enforce our fundamental human rights. Before then, we are appealing and begging movement to rebuild our town."
Igbapike decried the attitude of the various levels of government to the plight of Agge people.
                                                                                                                Igbapike

"We are located on the fringe of the Bight of Benin. May be        because we are far from government, they forget that we are a part of Nigeria. It is painful to note that a town of Agge statue lacks any form of government presence," he stated.

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