John Togo’s death eases tension in riverine communities

BY Emma Amaize
WARRI — THE tension that gripped residents of Ayakoromor, Ogodobiri and other riverine communities in Burutu and Bomadi Local Government Areas of Delta State during the man-hunt for renegade John Togo, has subsided, following the exhuming of his corpse by men of the Joint Task Force, JTF, on the Niger Delta.

At Ayakoromor, Togo’s country home in Burutu council, the celebration by the people was measured, so as not to attract the wrath of the members of his militant group and suspected informants.

Vanguard learnt, however, that Togo’s kinsmen were happy with his death, as that had saved them the anxiety of further attacks by men of the task force, who would not mind leveling the community because of him.

It was not only Togo’s kinsmen that were happy with the news of his death, soldiers deployed in the creeks since the manhunt for the militant leader started were also happy that their sleepless nights might have ended.

An indigene of Ayakoromor community told Vanguard, “we are happy that Togo is dead at last but we cannot come out to say it because you don’t know who is watching you and where they will carry your name to, but what is clear is that the prying eyes of the JTF on us will now be removed from us so that we can live our normal lives.”

Besides Ayakoromor, the people of Ogodobiri, the maternal country home of Togo, were also happy that his remains had been exhumed since the task force had allegedly marked the town as an “enemy” territory because of the militant leader.

“They had laid siege to the town in the past few weeks on the allegation that John Togo was taking refuge in Ogodobiri and our fear was that they were going  to burn down our houses. We are happy that they found Togo’s corpse and so, they should leave us alone now,” another villager told Vanguard.

Efforts to get the JTF spokesman, Lt. Colonel T.A. Antigha on what the task force intended to do with the remains of John Togo, which was deposited at the morgue of the Central Hospital, Warri, last Wednesday, was not successful.