By Emma Amaize & Godwin Oghre

OGHARA—SOLDIERS, Tuesday, arrested four persons and disrupted a peaceful protest by the people of Oghara in Ethiope-West Local Government Area, Delta State, over alleged extra-judicial killing of the chairman of the town’s vigilante group, late Mr. Benson Ogedegbe.

The arrest of Mr. Lawrence Eyaufe, Mr. Ejiro Efetebor and others, all members of the Ogedegbe family, caused fresh panic in Oghara, because police reportedly approved the protest by the family in collaboration with a civil society group, Oghara Centre for Justice and Development, led by Rev David Ugolor.

It was a ding-dong battle between the soldiers and the villagers, as the military men, who carted away the handbills, banners and other printed materials for the protest, chased away the protesters from the Ethiope-West Local Government Area secretariat, where they converged for the take-off of the protest.

Mrs. Endurance Ogedegbe, widow of the slain Ogedegbe, her children and other family members, fled to Oghara Police station, when the rampaging soldiers stormed the protest venue.

When Vanguard visited the police station, it was crowded by protesters while heavily armed soldiers in several Hilux vans were seen patrolling the Oghara dual carriageway, to stop the protest.

A senior police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity, condemned the soldiers’ act, saying that it was illegal and unconstitutional because the Police had permitted the proposed peaceful protest by the Ogedegbe family.

He said: “The state Police Commissioner is aware of the peaceful protest by the family of Ogedegbe and he has approved it. I do not know why the soldiers should stop them. Arrest and detention is entirely the function of the Police, not soldiers. Why should they beat up a person and stop him from crying?”

At press time, a bewildered Mrs. Ogedegbe, told Vanguard: “They arrested Mr. Lawrence Eyaufe, Mr. Ejiro Efetobor and two others, whose names I cannot immediately remember. As you can see, the whole family is scattered now.”

Efforts to reach the Commanding Officer, 19 Battalion, Nigeria Army, Koko Barracks, Warri North council, in-charge of Oghara, Lt. Col. Aminu Umar, were unsuccessful.