By Nyerhovwo Oghenetejiri
Obomkpa people in Aniocha North Council Area of Delta State have said that they are not opposed to any plan to give official recognition to an Obi in Ugboba, a quarter in the community just as they have called on relevant government agencies and the people of Ugboba to initiate the right moves so as to maintain peaceful coexistence.
Rising from a stakeholders meeting to review rumors that the State Government was planning to give recognition to an Obi in Ugboba, a quarter in Obomkpa, the Obomkpa stakeholders observed that they would not do anything to truncate the peace agenda of the Uduaghan administration or that of the incoming Okowa administration.
Reviewing fallouts from the meeting, Mr. Linus Chima, President General of Obomkpa said though it was not in the position of Obomkpa to call for a meeting to resolve grey areas in the agitation and demands of Ugboba for an Obi, but that Obomkpa was ready to enter into meaningful dialogue on the matter and all related issues.
Mr. Chima said those who attended the meeting were of the view that, the lengthy litigations which ended at the Supreme Court should have settled the matter of who owns the area where Ugboba is presently situated and by extension the propriety of a second King on the same land.
According to the participants at the stakeholders meeting, “if our brothers and sisters in Ugboba are ready for dialogue we will all sit down with them and other relevant government agencies to map the way forward What we are unhappy with is the attempt to achieve their goal through the back door, under arm twisting tactics and by cohesive means”.
Continuing, he said, the stakeholders observed that “we have intermarried with our people in Ugboba, there is a strong bond between us that goes back to the times of our forefathers. Our fathers did not make a mistake by accommodating and living in peace and harmony with the people of Ugboba and indeed our neighbors namely, Onitcha Olona, Ezi, Idumu-Ogo, Ubulubu, Ukwunzu and Ohodua in Edo State”.
According to Mr. Chima the stakeholders added that ‘our ancestors will turn in their graves if they find out that we are at each other’s throat’.
The President General further disclosed that the participants at the meeting said, it was in pursuance of peace that the litigations went on at different stages between 1951 and 1986 at various courts of the land.
Mr. Chima spoke further, “our people are of the view that the instrument which brought about the installation of an Obi for Ugboba in 1979 was faulty from the onset. You can not build a castle with sand. It is bound to collapse. As reasonable people we are ready to discuss and give peace a chance’.
He said the people of Obomkpa at the meeting appealed to the state government to help strengthen the peace rather than allow the people engage in unnecessary conflict.
