End the Brutality – The Niger Delta Is Not Your Killing Field

OPEN LETTER TO THE NIGERIAN ARMY: STOP THE BLOODSHED IN THE NIGER DELTA

……To the Leadership of the Nigerian Army,Defence Headquarters, Abuja, Nigeria.

By Passman Akpos (The militant with a pen)/ Tarakirivoice Editorial Team

Subject: End the Brutality – The Niger Delta Is Not Your Killing Field

It is with deep anguish, heavy hearts, and burning resolve that we pen this open letter

not merely as concerned citizens, but as witnesses to a historical injustice that continues to unfold with deadly silence and dangerous impunity.

Just yesterday, in the oil-rich city of Warri, in a statement from the Army headquarters posted in their social media platform, a young man was gunned down by men in military uniform—armed not just with weapons, but with unbridled authority and unchecked arrogance. They claimed he was “violent.” But who defines violence when the finger on the trigger is judge, jury, and executioner?

This is not the first life lost under such suspicious and extrajudicial circumstances. It is merely one more name on an ever-growing list of Niger Deltans whose only crime was existing in a region where the earth bleeds oil and the people bleed their own blood in return.

The irony is too bitter to ignore: in the North of our beloved country, terrorism festers like an open wound. Entire villages are razed. Schoolchildren abducted. Soldiers ambushed. Yet the thunder of boots and bullets is somehow absent there. Where is the famed gallantry of the Nigerian Army when bandits take over local governments and Boko Haram waves its flags?

But in the Niger Delta, where the people cry for basic amenities, environmental justice, and a share in the wealth extracted from their ancestral lands, the military arrives in convoys—not with aid, but with aggression.

We must ask: Is this war, or is this wickedness?

Mr. President, who just weeks ago signed clemency for convicted criminals, where is your compassion for innocent Niger Deltans whose only conviction is the color of their skin, the sound of their names, and the soil beneath their feet?

Human rights are not regional. Justice is not selective. The Constitution you swore to uphold does not allow for military execution without trial.

The deliberate pattern of abuse, intimidation, and violence meted out to civilians in the Niger Delta by military personnel is not only a violation of national and international laws—it is a ticking time bomb. You cannot slaughter a people and expect silence forever. You cannot humiliate a generation and expect peace in perpetuity.

Let it be clear: this letter is not a threat. It is a warning born of history. Every revolution ever recorded began with a single truth—that no people will remain slaves in their own land forever.

If you believe that the Niger Delta will remain docile in the face of organized brutality, then you underestimate the spirit that birthed resistance in the creeks, in the mangroves, and in the hearts of every oppressed soul from Bayelsa to Rivers, from Warri to Bonny.

We demand the following:

1. Immediate investigation into the killing in Warri and public release of the names of those responsible.

2. Withdrawal of excessive military presence in civilian communities in the Niger Delta.

3. Compensation for victims of unlawful military actions in the region.

4. Establishment of an independent human rights monitoring committee with representation from civil society, local communities, and international observers.

To every military officer reading this: you swore to protect Nigerians, not to oppress them. Every bullet fired unlawfully, every life taken unjustly, every voice silenced forcefully, brings this nation closer to the edge.

We are watching. The world is watching. And history will remember.

Signed: PASSMAN AKPOS (The militant with a pen)/ Tarakirivoice Editorial Team

Concerned Citizens for Justice in the Niger DeltaDate: October 15, 2025