Olufemi Abaniwonda, the Delta State Commissioner of Police, has claimed that military activities prevented entry to Okuama even with the deployment of marine and gunboat resources. He emphasized how crucial it is to honor existing military operations and how crucial it is to take the environment’s complexity into account while organizing interventions..
He outlined the protocol for intervention in escalating conflicts to mitigate collateral damage. He highlighted the need to coordinate with ongoing military operations. Prior to intervention, he stated that it is imperative to ensure that there are no concurrent military actions taking place. According to him, should intervention by the police be necessary amidst ongoing operations, communication with the theater commander overseeing the operation is essential to prevent interference and ensure the safety of deployed personnel.
He said in an interview with Arise TV, ‘When you have an escalating conflict of this nature. To avoid what we call collateral damages, we allow the military to do their work. You need to be sure that there are no ongoing present operations before you can move in. If you want to move in and there is an ongoing operation, you need to let the theatre commander of the operation know that you are coming in. And it is important that the safety of the men we also deploy is also considered.
In our movement to Bomadi two days ago. We were unable to access the communities. You will understand that these are riverine communities. We have deployed our marine and gunboats but we cannot go into Okuama because of the military. You cannot just in the midst of the ongoing operation go into that environment, it is important that we understand this.”.
