Two persons, Pa Benson Okoturo and Samuel Mayomi, have been
reported dead following a violent confrontation between two factions in
the lingering leadership crisis in Ugborodo community, Warri South-West
council area of Delta state.
The incident, which was sparked by an attempt to prevent leaders
and members of the recently inaugurated Ugborodo Community Management
Committee (CMC) from gaining access into the community, by a group
opposed to the Austin Oborogbeyi-led committee, also led to the alleged
abduction and later release of five members of the committee’s
entourage.
The committee and a host of other members of the community,
numbering over 300, had embarked on the journey to their home community,
Ugborodo, to attend a congress, reportedly called by the Eghara-Aja
(oldest man), Pa Wellington Ojogor, to address the community on how the
committee intended to execute its task.
There had been a long drawn conflict over who should constitute the
local authority over the community, with some interests, led by the
community’s Olaja-Orori (spiritual head) of the community, Benson
Omadeli, rejecting what they viewed it as an attempt by nonresident
elites of the community and the state government to foist the then
Export Processing Zone (EPZ) Interface Committee, on them.
However, to calm the tension in the oil-rich community down, the Dr
Ifeanyi Okowa-led administration, in May 2017, inaugurated the new
committee, which included the EPZ committee and representatives from the
community. The committee was inaugurated in Warri, but to make its
debut entrance into Ugborodo when the situation turned ugly on Tuesday.
The Nation gathered that trouble started when a group of community
youths, led by the Ugborodo Youths President, Ofe Nene Penda, resisted
the boats carrying the committee’s party from landing on Ugborodo soil,
saying they were not recognised by the community.
Narrating the incident, a member of my Ugborodo CMC, Alex Eyengho,
said while Pa Okoturo collapsed as a result of shock he suffered on
hearing gunshots fired by the resisting group and later died at a
hospital in Warri, Mayomi drowned when the attackers caused the boat he
was in to capsize.
Eyengho, who alleged that those who attacked his group were heavily
armed, also called on the federal government to immediately militarise
Ugborodo and environs to curtail the dangerous lawlessness going on in
the area and also called for an immediate proscription of all youths
activities in Delta state.
“I can now also confirm to you that one Samuel Mayomi got drowned
and died yesterday as a result of the attack on one of the boats by Ofe
and co.
“Also, a member of the Ugborodo Community Management Committee, Mr.
Benson Okoturo also died from the shock of sporadic gunshots. He was
about joining a boat from the Madangho jetty to Ode-Ugborodo for the
meeting when the sporadic shooting started between Kpokpo and Madangho.
He collapsed on the spot and was rushed to a Warri hospital where he
died.
“We formally applied to the Delta state police command who gave us
about a 100 man police team lead by Superintendent Sola Adebayor.
Shockingly, these security operatives watch like spectators as the armed
men intercepted us between Kpokpor and Madangho.
“They told the police they won’t allow us to come down to convene
the meeting. They openly fired their guns in the air in the presence of
the police. In presence of the police they rammed one of their boats
into one of our boats which sank and resulted in drowning of Mayoma.
“They were wielding guns and other dangerous weapons, and
Superintendent Adebayo’s only response was that they have no mandate to
use extreme force, advising us to retreat. The police complacency gave
the criminals liberty to also abduct five of us, tortured them
mercilessly before releasing them through navy.
“The criminals in the community are not faceless. Those sponsoring
this unending violence are same community criminals engaged in ceaseless
bunkering in the community. They want the community to remain
inaccessible to protect their oil crimes. It is difficult to explain
that with a naval base and army post in the area, these criminals still
enjoy impunity to steal oil, kill and destroy,” Eyengho said.
When contacted, Benson Omadeli, Olaja-Orori (Spiritual Head) of
Ugborodo, an authority on ground, said, “I am not in town, I am away,
travelled, so I cannot say what is actually happening at the moment”,
promising to forward a contact of another home based authority to speak
which he never did.
Efforts to get a confirmation of the development from the state’s
police command was not immediately possible as the Police Commissioner,
Zanna Ibrahim, could not be reached on phone and the spokesman of the
command, DSP Andrew Aniamaka, who was in Abuja for a training, pleaded
for more time to get his facts together.
However, when reached for conirmation, the Commander of the Nigeria
Navy Ship (NNS) Delta, Commodore Ibrahim Dewu, said he had not been
briefed of the entire story yet, but knew there was a confrontation in
the community, involving two groups from the community.
“I heard the groups that was going to the community were in their
boats, approaching the community when the group resisting them came in
another boat and ran into one of the boats of the visiting team to hit
them.
“I’m just coming from the security council meeting so I don’t
really know the outcome of everything; I don’t about the people who lost
their lives. I only heard about it from the DSS Director who was
briefing, but I know that in the community, a group was coming to gain
access, another group stopped them. I don’t have the full details, but I
know there was problem yesterday,”Dewu said.
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