Oghara community in Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State, was Tuesday, rocked with protest as aggrieved residents stormed the Nigerian Navy Logistic Command, calling on the Navy officials to vacate the area.
The residents said the Navy took the land illegally and vacate the area for their use. The protest held the busy Warri/Benin Expressway as they barricaded the road to press home their demands.
Their action grounded vehicular movement on the highway preventing free movement for almost an hour.
The protesters with placards read ‘Navy Leave Our Land Alone, Our land is our oil, ‘Navy is water, not land, get-off our land’ and other inscriptions to voice home their anger.
Speaking to journalists at Oghara, a group under the aegis of Oghara centre for social justice, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to evacuate the Navy personnel from the area.
Picture of a banner from the protest
They called on President Buhari to ask the Navy to pull down the fence demarcating the area from the community and pay damages to residents who have suffered loss due to the action of the Navy personnel.
But the Flag Officer Commanding of the Logistic Command, Rear Admiral Begjoy Ibe Enwo, said the allegation against the Navy was spurious, insisting that the Navy did not acquire the land illegally.
He said all lands being used by the Navy were legally acquired
He added that the Delta state government in the days of Emmanuel Uduaghan released the disputed land to the Navy with the Certificate of Occupancy.
According to him, the Navy presence in the community was for strategic reasons and not for the purpose of occupying land.
Delta State commissioner for lands, survey and urban development, Dan Okenyi, promised the state government would look into the issues surrounding the land and make appropriate recommendations to forestall breakdown of law and order.
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