A Niger Delta sociopolitical organization, the Urhobo Renaissance Society (URS), has urged the Nigerian military to “immediately and unconditionally release” key figures from the Okuama community, including Professor Arthur Ekpekpo, an esteemed academic from Delta State University and President of the Ewu Community Development Union.

The URS’s demand, conveyed in a press release signed by Secretary Dr. John Uwa and circulated to journalists in Warri on Sunday, follows the Army’s arrest of Ekpekpo and other Okuama leaders on August 18, 2024, in connection with ongoing tensions in Delta State’s Okuama community.

The Army had previously declared the Okuama leaders wanted following an incident in which 17 soldiers, reportedly deployed for peacekeeping, were killed. In a retaliatory response, military personnel subsequently destroyed parts of the Okuama community. The URS criticized the Army’s actions, asserting that the military is unjustly “targeting imaginary enemies within Urhobo land.”