Members of the Liberation Movement of Urhobo (LiMUP) have warned that
the arrest of their leader and alleged kidnap kingpin, Kelvin Ibruvwe
(aka Oniarah), may unleash deadlier violence in the area. Speaking with
our reporter on Kokori on Thursday, the new leader of the group, simply
identified as Don Jazzy, gave the clearest hint yet that one of the men
arrested by Department of Security Services (DSS) in Port Harcourt,
Rivers State, is Kelvin Ibruvwe. Don Jazzy, who wielded an assault rifle
like scores of other young members of the group, said, “If one Kelvin
is removed another Kelvin will replace him”. “Government is of the
opinion that if they take the leader out, his followers will be
demoralised and be dispersed, but that is a dangerous road to take
because these followers will become more desperate and engage in heinous
criminality without any restraining influence which the leader
provides. “We are still willing to carry on the legacy; even a little
child from this community today when he grows up and this level of
injustice persists, will end up agitating for a better life.” He accused
the government of playing politics with the agitation of the Kokori
people in view of the enviable position of their counterparts from the
other ethnic group. “The truth of the matter is that the government
knows what to do and we have already told them before. Kelvin told them
that we have one thousand ‘Kelvins’, this is not a joke.” According to
him, the struggle for the emancipation of Urhobo land will continue
despite the setback suffered following the arrest of their leader. Don
Jazzy urged the Federal Government to release Kelvin Ibruvwe and issue a
presidential pardon for all the militants, including the immediate
commencement of the development of Urhobo people. His words: ”All the
people that have been arrested must be released. Massive infrastructural
projects should commence in Kokori and other Urhobo land .Our youths
are armed but we are not happy that we are carrying arms to fight the
government but we are pushed to the wall. For the youths to put down
their weapons and for us to clear our names, there has to be a
presidential pardon.” He condemned the deafening silence of the apex
Urhobo socio-cultural organisation Urhobo Progressive Union (UPU) in the
impasse, urging the group to stand up and fight for the rights of the
Urhobo people. His words: “Our leaders should stand up and fight for our
rights. If our leaders stand up to government insisting that the right
things must be done, government will have no choice but to listen to us.
If our leaders do not listen to the youths and become collaborators, we
will deal with them in due course. They are the ones who sponsor the
media against us calling us names because they have
money
to take care of their children and send them abroad to school.”
Meanwhile, hundreds of elderly women in Kokori community on Friday
continued indefinite protest to force troops of the Joint Task Force,
‘Operation Pulo Shield’, from the community. The troops from the 222
Battalion of the Nigerian Army were deployed in the community in the
wake of the arrest of alleged notorious armed robbery and kidnap
kingpin, Kelvin Oniarah. On Thursday and Friday, they carried freshly
cut twigs, marched through the main (Market) Road in the town singing
songs denouncing the activities of some personalities in the community.
They vowed that the protest would continue until Kelvin, the Egba
priests and all youths arrested in the community are released. Their
leader (Otota Eya), Mrs. Omotejowho, who was dressed in the all-white
traditional attire of the Egba cult, spoke in pidgin English saying:
“Our juju priest and children arrested by soldiers must be released by
government. They should be given jobs, not arrested. “Kokori has one of
the best blends of crude oil in the country, yet we have nothing to show
for it. Go round yourself, you will find there is nothing to show our
position as an oil-producing community. The Ijaw and Itsekiri, our
counterparts, are doing well while we are suffering,” she added. At the
end of the march, Omotejowho led the women to a military post before
proceeding to the gate of the deserted palace of Agbon monarch and
deposited the twigs to express their displeasure with him. Omotejo who
accused soldiers of visiting mayhem on the community, stressing that
scores of persons were killed, property worth millions of naira were
destroyed, while scores of women and children were still missing. She
slammed the Ovie of Agbon Kingdom, HRM Mike Omeru, Ogurimerime Ukori 1,
for allegedly turning his back on the people shortly after he was
crowned.
Source: The Nation
No comments:
Post a Comment