Rivers Community Cries Out Over Military Invasion

The Uju community of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area (ONELGA), Rivers State, has appealed to government at all tiers to assist in restoring their homes and critical infrastructures destroyed during a military invasion in 2016.
The Paramount Ruler of Uju, Chief Christopher Amanah, who made the appeal stressed that residents remained homeless in the community following the destruction in the wake of December 31, 2016 military invasion prompted by politically motivated gang violence.
Amanah, in a statement signed, yesterday by a Community Leader, Chief Kingsley Nwaeze, lamented that “We cannot continue to be in exile. We have to return to our land, cultivate and harvest from our soil. We need the government to come to our aid.”
The paramount ruler, however, commended Rivers State Government and security agencies for efforts towards restoration of peace and stability in entire ONELGA.
The Convener, Uju Restoration Initiative, Bright Abali, said: “We have lost touch with the realities of life, forced into extreme poverty. We are homeless people, our houses and public infrastructures destroyed. Uju community situation is better seen than narrated.
“The younger generations in Uju may never know their family homes in their community of birth if nothing was done by the government and other stakeholders to save the situation, and urgently so”.
The community recently staged a peace walk in an attempt to seek the government’s attention towards the rebuilding of the community to make it habitable able.