The Council of Ogoni Traditional Rulers has repeated its call on the authorities to release the abducted traditional ruler and Chief of Yeghe community, Barinaadaa T. D. Gbaranee.
Gbaranee was forcefully taken from Bori on May 23, 2016 on his way back to his village.
In an earlier statement, the traditional rulers said he was taken away by the Nigerian Army.
The Army had said the traditional ruler was invited for questioning by security agents by he spurned the invitation.
A statement on Friday by COTRA insisted that contrary to the Army’s claim, Chief Gbaranee was not invited by any security agency and failed to honour the invitation.
The statement added: “We maintain that where a chief fails to honour such invitation, the appropriate thing to do is to seek the assistance of the Council of Ogoni Traditional Rulers, where that fails, the matter should be brought before the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers before further actions can be taken.
“COTRA maintains that the abduction of Chief Barinaadaa T. D. Gbaranee by the army occurred directly opposite the All Saints Anglican Church, Bori.
“We view this act as an humiliation and assault on the integrity of the entire Ogoni people and its chieftaincy institutions. We note that such actions portends great threats to the peace of Ogoniland.
“COTRA wishes to emphasize its suspicion of sinister motives behind the Nigerian Army’s presence in Ogoniland with reference to recent killings and in particular, the continual harassment, intimidation and violation of the rights of innocent citizens of Yeghe community and Ogoni as a whole.
“We call for the immediate release of Chief Barinaadaa T.D. Gbaranee to us and urge the army authorities to investigate the actions of its forces in Ogoniland.
“We urge the international community to prevail on Nigeria to respect the rights of the citizens of Ogoniland. We note that the Ogoni people have had a long history of army and state sponsored persecution and will expect that in a democratic setting, its sad history will be allowed to fade away.”
The statement was signed by King Suanu T. Y. Baridam.
Source: TheEagleOnline
