*‘Allow Me To Die Peacefully; If Anything Unusual Happens, The Fire Will Be Unquenchable’

LEADER of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, has decried the raid of his country home in Kiagbodo by officers of the Nigerian Army on March 23, 2024.

 Clark faulted the invasion of his country home in Bomadi Local Council and that of his late father in Ughelli South Local Council of Delta State by soldiers over allegations of harbouring one of the suspects involved in the killing of 17 military personnel in Okuama community.

The elder statesman told journalists at a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday, March 26, however, said he has forgiven the military after he received an apology from one of their commanders, even as he reiterated his condemnation of the gruesome killing of the 17 officers and personnel in Okuama on March 14, which he said was barbaric and must be punished.

   He said he should be allowed to die peacefully, warning that if anything unusual happens to him, the fire would rage for a long time and would be unquenchible.

In a statement later, Clark recounted how he was inundated with calls over the raid of his country home by soldiers searching for a suspect in the soldiers’ killing, saying someone, who was later identified as the Commanding Officer of the Nigerian Army’s Division in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, apologised on behalf of the Army for the raid.

He said the military reportedly arrived in five trucks load of about 30 to 40 armed soldiers, while flying drones were deployed within the premises, adding: “Some of them went to the buildings behind the main house and broke all the doors that were locked.

“They matched out my staff living in those buildings, including lecturers at the university, and made them to `sit on bare ground.

“They also broke into my late brother, Ambassador Akporode Blessing Clark’s house. He served this country internationally in various capacities, including as Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as both of us share the same premises.   

“They brought out his son almost naked, as the young man was taking a bath when they stormed the house.

“All their phones were seized. The people had to identify themselves, and they told them (soldiers) whose house it was before they asked for my telephone number, which they said they would pass to their ‘oga’ before they all departed.

“One would have expected that at this juncture, a call could have been put to the Governor of Delta State to inform him of what happened.”

The former federal commissioner of Information stated that the incident was “beyond coincidence,” and a source of concern, recounting a similar raid on his Abuja home on September 4, 2018, even as he described authorisation of such raids as “disrespectful and unlawful,” having served the country nearly 70 years in different capacities.

Clark added: “I want to end this write-up by addressing all concerned with what I told President Muhammadu Buhari when my security details were withdrawn.

“If I die today as a result of a natural occurrence, it will be a joyful celebration. But if my death is linked to any dubious means by some overzealous state actors, no one can tell how far the fire will rage. This is not a threat; it is an acknowledgement of God’s mercies on me.”