The people of the Okoloba Community in Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State have raised an alarm over an attack by armed youths from the Okuama Community in Ughelli South Local Government Area on their fishermen.
In a statement on Friday, Mr. Clement Koki, Chairman of Okoloba Community, alleged that on Thursday night, armed youths from Okuama shot at fishermen from his community, injuring three people and leaving two others missing.
Koki lamented that the fishermen from Okoloba were fishing on the river near the community when they were shot at by armed youths from Okuama.
He also stated that three fishermen sustained bullet wounds but managed to escape to the community later that night, where they are currently receiving treatment due to the security situation on the waterways.
According to ThePaan News, Koko described the incident, stating, “Last night, around 8 PM, about 15 of our people were fishing on the river at Mein-Toruabubor Creek across from our community when youths from Okuama suddenly arrived on a tricycle from the Ewu axis and started shooting at them.
“Everyone scattered for safety, and three people who sustained various degrees of bullet wounds managed to escape back to the community, while many others were missing. From our count, about 15 people were fishing that night.
“Later in the night, some others also found their way back to the community. As I’m speaking, two people are still missing.
“We could not take the victims to the hospital for proper care because the river is not safe. We are treating them at home because the armed youths returned straight to Okuama after the unprovoked attack.
“We have reported the incident to the appropriate security agencies for necessary action, and we are compelled to send out this briefing over the current development, which we have been doing since the beginning of this situation.”
He appealed to Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to intervene and protect the people from these unprovoked attacks by the armed youths from the Okuama community.
It was recalled by ThePaan that 17 military personnel were killed by irate youths during a communal clash between the Bomadi and Okuama communities over a land dispute in March 2024.
