President Buhari has ordered the Army to return the golden sword which it seized during a raid on Gbaramatu kingdom, reports say.
You will recall that ex-militant, Tompolo had called on the Federal Government to return his sword, a symbol of authority as the custodian of the Egbesu shrine.
Reports say the sword was seized by soldiers from the 4th Brigade, Benin City, Edo state.
According to Vanguard, this move is in-line with the government’s resolve to settle the Niger Delta issue without military might.
A source in the Presidency also revealed that Buhari has also ordered that funds be mobilised for the immediate commencement of the Maritime University of Nigeria.
“President Buhari instructed the Vice President to go and work out details of series of tours and visits to all the states in the country that have oil-producing communities and ensure that all interests are brought to the table, regardless of parties or any other differing factors or cleavages.
“The meetings also resolved that the Amnesty Programme which the President had already instructed should be maintained with even greater budgetary funding and this must be clearly communicated to the communities by the Vice President during the meetings.
“Besides, the President also asked the Vice President to ensure that during the visits, the communities should be made to understand that the Federal Government is now interested in action and would do its own part. The Vice President was also asked to secure from the communities a buy-in of peace and collaboration from state governments and the oil companies in particular.
“To show his determination and commitment to create a new understanding and atmosphere between the government and the communities, the President in fact, gave an order after the Vice President’s visit to Gbaramatu that an investigation be conducted to determine what happened during an alleged military raid of Gbaramatu community where the kingdom’s Golden Sword was allegedly taken away.
“The presidential order also directed that a search for the golden sword of the kingdom, allegedly confisticated, if this is found to be so, should be recovered and once located, promptly released to the kingdom with an apology,” the source added.
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo had embarked on a peace tour of the Niger Delta to speak with stakeholders on how to resolve the crisis in the oil rich region.
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