I Deserve Respect, Clark Faults Military Raid on Country Home

Elder statesman and national leader of the pan-Niger Delta Forum, Chief Edwin Clark, has condemned a military raid on his country home in the Kiagbodo Local Government Area of Delta State.

Clark, in a statement he signed on Tuesday, recounted how he was inundated with calls informing him of the raid of his country home by military men in search of one vote, suspected to be linked to the killing of 17 soldiers in Okuama, following a call from a person identified as the Commanding Officer Nigerian Army, Division in Port Harcourt, apologising on behalf of the Army, for the raid.

According to him, the military men had reportedly arrived in five trucks loaded with armed soldiers, numbering between 30 and 40, while at the same time flying drones within the premises.

He said, “Some of them went to the buildings behind the main house and broke all the doors that were locked. They matched out my staff living in those buildings, including lecturers at the university, and made them sit on bare ground.

“They also broke into my late brother, Ambassador Akporode Blessing Clark’s house. 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, as both of us share the same premises. 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 said the incident was “beyond coincidence”, and was a source of concern, recounting a previous raid on his Abuja home on September 4, 2018, while describing the authorisation of such raids as “disrespectful and unlawful”, having served the country nearly 70 years in different capacities.

“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. But 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.