Pa Edwin Clark: “If My Death Is Linked To State Actors, No One Can Tell How Far The Fire Will Rage”

The National Leader of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum, Chief Edwin Clark, has warned that “if my death is linked to any dubious means by some overzealous state actors, no one can tell how far the fire will rage”.

Condemning the military raid on his country home in the Kiagbodo Local Government Area of Delta State by the Nigeria Army, elder statesman and former Minister of Information and Communication, contained in a statement issued on Tuesday, in reaction to the invasion, which he said the state governor was not aware of.

Recounting how he was inundated with calls informing him of the raid by military personnel in search of one Vote, a militant suspected to be linked to the killing of 17 military personnel in Okuama, the elder statesman said that after the invasion, the Commanding Officer of the Nigerian Army Division in Port Harcourt called and apologised for the raid, on behalf of the army.

He said that information available to him revealed that the soldiers stormed the community with over 30 soldiers transported in five trucks.

According to him, drones were also used on the premises.

“Some of them went to the buildings behind the main house and broke all the doors that were locked,” he lamented.

The elder statesman said the soldiers “marched out my staff living in those buildings, including lecturers at the university, and made them sit on bare ground”.

Clark said that the soldiers didn’t stop at his house as they “also broke into my late brother, Ambassador Akporode Blessing Clark’s house”.

He described his late brother as a man who “served this country internationally in various capacities, including as Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” saying both of them share the same premises.

He continued, “They brought out his son almost naked, as the young man was taking a bath when they stormed the house.

“All their phones were seized. The people had to identify themselves and told them whose house it was before they asked for my telephone number, which they said they would pass to their “oga” before they all departed.

“One would have expected that at this juncture, a call could have been put to the Governor of Delta State, to inform him of what happened.”

Clark described the invasion as “beyond coincidence”, adding that it calls for concern. He recounted a similar raid on his Abuja home on September 4, 2018, during the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said that whoever authorised such raids was “disrespectful and unlawful,” adding that he did not deserve it as had served the country for nearly 70 years in different capacities.

He said, “Again, I call on the various state actors to let me live in peace and treat me with the kind of respect that I deserve, having served this country, and still serving even at the age of 97 years, until when it will please the Almighty God to call me home.

“I want to end this write-up by addressing all concerned with what I told President Muhammadu Buhari when my security details were withdrawn. If I die today as a result of a natural occurrence, it will be a joyful celebration.”

He, however, warned that “if my death is linked to any dubious means by some overzealous state actors, no one can tell how far the fire will rage”.

‘This is not a threat. It is an acknowledgement of God’s mercies on me,” he added.