HIGH CHIEF GOVERNMENT EKPEMUPOLO
(Ibe-Ebidouwei of Ijaw Nation)
No 1, Pere Road, Oporoza Town, Gbaramatu Kingdom,
Warri South-West Local Government Area,
Delta State, Nigeria.
The need has arisen to react to the mischievously-hyped ‘abduction’ of 14 journalists who were said to have been on official assignment in the creeks of Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State. Ordinarily, I would have opted to remain silent.
However, it has become necessary to make clarifications in the face of the deliberate distortion of facts by some mischief-makers intent on denigrating my person and questioning my integrity before the larger society. More so, I am persuaded by the fact of my experience as a crusader for equity, fairness and justice the world over including the oppressed people of Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South-West Local Government Area, who have always found brotherliness and companionship in members of the Fourth Estate of the Realm.
In the case of the development of the Ijaws of the Niger-Delta which I have championed over the years, journalists have been worthy partners even as their contributions have served as veritable means to ventilate our views, opinions and positions as a people who have had cause to draw global attention to our plight.
However, in the matter of the hyped ‘abduction’ of journalists in Oporoza last week, it is perhaps pertinent to state that they were victims of an orchestrated and well-rehearsed saga by their Itsekiri clients who lured them into a trap. Suffice it to say that unknown to the journalists (some of whom are my friends) and before their arrival in Warri, their Itsekiri hosts had concluded plans to video-capture some Ijaw settlements, especially Ikpokpo community, to show to the world as Itsekiri lands in their desperate attempts to distort historical facts, especially as the hosting/citing of the EPZ project poses some challenges. It should be noted that the Gbaramatu people have been agitating for inclusion in the EPZ project since 2012, as of right that part of the land earmarked for the project starting from Ikpokpo community belongs to them.
It was on the strength of the above that in November 2013, the Gbaramatu people were invited alongside other stakeholders, to the unveiling meeting of the project at Government House Annex Warri by NNPC and the State Government. At the said meeting, the Gbaramatu people, out of curiosity, inquired why they have not been recognized as stakeholders by way of acquisition of land from them. But to their surprise, the Governor shut them out of the project and merely identified them as ‘impacted community’.
From that point on, it was obvious the siting of the EPZ project was beyond the ordinary. We needed no soothsayer to tell us that the Governor was hiding something from the Gbaramatu people. Even though the governor later set up a committee to resolve the issues raised by the Gbaramatu people, our anxiety and suspicion further heightened when the November 14 date for the ground-breaking ceremony was announced even though the committee was yet to come up with acceptable terms for the siting of the EPZ project.
By way of protest, the Gbaramatu people addressed a world press conference at Oporoza on Wednesday, November 12, 2014 to press home, among other things, the need to properly identify host communities for the EPZ project before its commencement. It should at juncture, be noted that as said earlier, journalists are friends and partners in progress. It was this thinking that informed our decision to host them to the world press conference held at Oporoza without molestation of any form. Similarly, the Gbaramatu Ijaws neither attempted to video-capture Itsekiri communities as they (Itsekiri) did in their own case.
It is no longer news that the Federal Government did call off the ground-breaking ceremony pending the resolution of the issues, basically on the strength of our position and submissions canvassed at that world press conference which journalists also effectively relayed to the public. It is therefore out of place for the Itsekiri people to manipulate innocent journalists in this regard to the extent of going through the unfortunate ordeal in which I also sympathize with them.
I must emphasize at this point that the claim by the Itsekiri people that the journalists were on their way to cover the ground-breaking event can only be misleading. This is because the event had been called off four days before the presence of the journalists in Ikpokpo, precisely on Sunday 16th November 2014
Of course the media has been awash with personal insults on the President just as the Ugborodo (Itsekiri) people at this point also threatened to deal with the Gbaramatu people. True to the threats, they (Itsekiri) came to Ikpokpo community in two speed boats on a Sunday morning ostensibly to attack the community. While one of the boats escaped, the community intercepted the other and discovered that journalists were among other occupants. In addition, and to the amazement of the villagers, two guns and the sum of Two Million Naira cash were found in the intercepted boat.
At this point, the community had no option than to report the matter to the security agencies. It should however be noted that upon identification, no journalist was molested as widely claimed by mischief makers. The truth is that the people of Ikpokpo community immediately insisted on taking the intruders using journalists as shield to Oporoza, the traditional headquarters of Gbaramatu Kingdom. This was a sensible move as the continued stay on the river with the intruders could not have been in the interest of either party. To say the least therefore, it can only be out sheer mischief that people with dubious intents could describe such move as an ‘abduction’.
This notwithstanding, the fact is that all the items (the two guns and the cash) are already with the security agencies. This is a commendable move, no doubt. However, it beats my imagination that the occupants of the gun-laden boat, particularly the Itsekiri youth leaders have been released by security agencies in spite of glaring evidence that showed a level of complicity.
While not pre-empting the outcome of whatever investigation being carried on in this regard, I hold a strong view that this is a security matter which requires dutiful and dexterous commitment on the part of our security agencies to unravel. Not only must the outcome of the investigation be made public, perpetrators of this gun-running act that clearly breaches our laws must be made to face the law. This becomes compelling in view of the possible negative impact a negligent handling of this particular case may breed.
Thanks.
SIGNED:
HIGH CHIEF GOVERNMENT EKPEMUPOLO
