Benjamin Omoike l Friday, February 08, 2018
WARRI, Delta, Nigeria – The people of Ugborodo Community in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta state have begged President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently stop governor Ifeanyi Okowa from alleged plans to send military personnel into their community.
In an open letter to the President, the people fumed over the alleged plans of the governor to send military personnel to their area, saying that: “This is a consciously ill-advised and bad decision by the Delta state government led by Senator (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa, the governor of Delta state and his Deputy, Barrister Kingsley Otuaro.”
The letter to the President was signed by Pa Douglas Omagbemi (Ugborodo Community), Pa Pasco Oritsegbami (Elder, Ugborodo community) and Hon. Thomas Metseagharun (The Toritsemogha of Ugborodo Community).
“It has come to our knowledge that there are plans currently ongoing to send military personnel to a hitherto peaceful Ugborodo community. With due respect and recourse to the rule of law and respect for properly constituted authority, this is a consciously ill-advised and bad decision by the Delta state government led by Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, the governor of Delta state and his Deputy, Barrister Kingsley Otuaro,” they wrote.
According to them, “We wish to restate our stand that Ugborodo is not a part of the Warri/Itsekiri kingdom and that this should not be misconstrued as formenting trouble but rather, putting the record straight and being on the right side of truth on this issue, which we have consistently stated. We have usually and continue to live peacefully with our neighbours (The Gbaramatu Kingdom), and all we ask is to be left alone to continue living in peace.”
They also wrote, “We write to you because as Commander In Chief of the Armed Forces, we are constrained and led to believe that any such wholesale movement of military personnel is within your purview and as such, we would advise restraint and a stand down order, as this single action is capable of jeopardising the current fragile peace that we enjoy in Ugborodo and possibly disturb the peaceful operation of the oil companies currently operating within the locality.”
“Mr President, we want you to know that there is an existing Police Station in Mandagho. The Divisional Police Officer (DPO), lives in Chevron Tank Farm, a stone throw through from Atunton and we are therefore baffled why the Delta state government led by governor Okowa is planning to send another security personnel to our area if there is no hidden agenda. This move must be stopped by the President.”
While reminding the President of the unfortunate Warri crisis, they posited that, “We would also like to draw the attention of the President to the events that followed the relocation of the Warri South West Local Government Area headquarters from Ogbe-Ijoh to Ogidigben, which caused years of conflict and caused the loss of lives and properties including but not limited to the oil companies operating in the area as well as numerous and unclear number of citizens. Those who refused to learn from history are doomed to repeat the same mistakes.”
A government that is supposed to protect lives and properties of the citizenry, they said, should not be seen to be taking sides with an oppressive and divisive group that does not reside in their communities to cause disharmony among them, describing themselves as law abiding people.
“Instead of sending security agents to cause crisis in Ugborodo and its environs, it would seem that such efforts would be better geared towards retrieving monies given to these same divisive elements as contracts for the development of our communities, which they have blatantly not carried out,” they said
The people used the medium to call on the government to retrieve the said funds meant for their development, which, according to them, had been sadly redirected and diverted to private individuals and pockets.
“Furthermore, we ask the President to caution the Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa-led government of Delta state to stop fanning the embers of conflict, which have laid untouched and led to a general level of peace in not just Ugborodo but its environs. The governor and his deputy should be stopped from taking sides and possibly starting a general level of lawlessness and violence that could be averted by simply allowing the people of Ugborodo to continue to live in peace with their neighbours.”
