"Lie down, do you think I be Igbo man?” Nigerian Navy officer forced Igbo workers including woman to drink and swim in muddy water

"Lie down, do you think I be Igbo man?” Nigerian Navy officer forced workers including woman to drink and swim in muddy water

In a brashly display of brutality and intimidation of civilians accustomed to the Nigeria's security forces, the Commanding Officer of the Naval School of Finance and Logistics, Owerrinta, Abia state, Navy Captain Simon Ejaro, on Thursday in Aba, ordered at gun point 15 workers of an oil servicing company, Stock Gap Fuels Limited, to drink and swim in muddy water. The incident happened at Elizabeth Avenue, along Aba – Owerri road in the city.

Not done with the inhumane action, the Navy Captain also ordered his men to deflate the 40 tyres of over 5 long trucks belonging to the company claiming that it blocked his right of way.

Trouble started for Ejaro when he invaded the premises of the company which shares fence with his quarters and requested that they vacate the site because he doesn’t want to share the area with a company. He also accused the company staff of messing up the road.

The deflated trucks of the workers

Before the staff could know what was happening, he ordered them to lie down in the muddy pool of water, threatening that they must wash the road because they have messed it up.

An appeal for mercy to the Navy Captain by the Store Keeper and Secretary of the company, Mrs. Juliet Enwereji was visited with more fury as one of the naval personnel ordered her to lie down in the muddy water and drink it.

According to Mrs. Enwereji, “When I heard a noise, I rushed out of my office only to see my colleagues lying and crying in mud water. I was moved to tears and approached the Navy Captain to show mercy, but he ordered one of the naval officers who pointed gun at me to lie down inside the mud water. As a woman and putting on all white uniform, the officer even threatened to shoot me if I fail to lie down in the muddy water and he used his boots to match me. When I was still pleading with them, the Navy Captain barked at me, lie down, do you think I be Igbo man?”

One of the victims told 247ureports.com that the Navy Captain later went into his compound, came out within few minutes and ordered them to start washing the road which they were forced to comply with, while another set of naval personnel started deflating the tyres of the company’s trucks.

Our correspondent gathered that some of the victims are still lying critically ill at an undisclosed hospital as a result of the injuries they sustained from the naval personnel who beat them ruthlessly.

247ureports further gathered that when Ejaro realized the severity of his actions, which was witnessed by residents, passersby and car sellers in the area, the Navy Captain called a press conference at Abia Hotels, where he denied asking the company staff to lie in mud water.

When one of the journalists asked him about the 40 tyres of the trucks which were deflated, stressing that he took laws into his hands, Ejaro retorted that the trucks blocked his right of way and admitted ordering his men to deflate the tyres.

At the press conference, Ejaro became furious over some questions posed to him, accusing the journalists of being sentimental. He insisted that the area is a residential one and should not host a commercial enterprise and vowed to ensure that the company vacates the site.

When reminded that is not his duty to allocate land for residential or commercial purposes, Ejaro became furious again and boasted that he has sent the text of the press conference to the naval headquarters in Abuja, boasting that he doesn’t see the incident as a problem. His lawyer, Mr. Kelechi Ukaumunna, made several attempts to dissuade journalists from getting the Navy Captain to react to the allegations, that it was all falsehood.

A car seller in the area told our correspondent that the Navy Captain has constituted himself into a terror in the area as he maltreats any residents who come across his way.

“The conduct of our some of our security officers is unbecoming. Everybody here dreads him, we can only be free here when he returns to his office in Owerrinta, but while he is here, we live in fear of him and his men. Anytime he is coming out or going back, we are always afraid because you can just be punished for nothing. He should be transferred out before he orders his men to kill people”

It is apparent that Navy Captain had the impetus to do this because the workers were Igbos-speaking Biafrans. This is the height of Nigeria's oppression of Biafrans. Biafrans are oppressed and intimidated everywhere in Nigeria, even in their home homeland they are not free from the brutality of Nigeria's security forces.

The world should come to the aid of Biafrans and free them from the oppressive shackles of Nigeria.