By Francis Sadhere, Ughelli
The President-General of Otor-Ogor Community in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State, Mr. Emmanuel Edirin, has dismissed allegations of maladministration, intimidation, abuse of office and illegal collection of development levies levelled against him by some women, youths and elders of the community.
The allegations followed a protest by the aggrieved residents, who accused the community leader of high-handedness, victimisation and imposing illegal levies on developers and residents. The protesters also called for his immediate resignation, claiming they had lost confidence in his leadership, and appealed to Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to intervene in the leadership crisis.
However, reacting to the allegations, Edirin described them as false, malicious and orchestrated by individuals whose interests had been threatened by reforms introduced under his administration.
According to him, those behind the campaign against him are persons involved in illegal activities whose operations have been disrupted.
“Drug barons in Otor-Ogor community are fighting me because I stopped their businesses. That is the real reason behind these sponsored allegations. They are determined to pull me down because I refused to allow criminality to thrive in our community,” he said.
The President-General also refuted claims that he sold the community’s evil forest, insisting that the transaction predated his administration and was handled by community elders.
“The so-called evil forest they are accusing me of selling was sold by the community elders and not by me. I was never a signatory to the documents used for the sale. The proceeds from that sale were used to purchase transformers for the community,” he explained.
Edirin said his administration had prioritised the restoration of electricity to the community, noting that Otor-Ogor, which was previously in darkness, now enjoys stable power supply.
“Since I became President-General, I have facilitated the acquisition of three transformers for the community. Before I assumed office, Otor-Ogor was in total darkness, but today the story is different. Our community now enjoys electricity 24 hours a day.”
He further disclosed that his administration had been paying an additional ₦1 million monthly to the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) to offset outstanding electricity debts running into several millions of naira.
According to him, the intervention has significantly improved electricity supply and encouraged more people to invest and build homes in the community.
On allegations that he defied Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s directive by collecting illegal development levies, popularly known as “DEVE,” Edirin insisted the claims were unfounded.
“When I assumed office, one of the first decisions I took was to dissolve all committees that were collecting development levies. I abolished those collections completely. Those who used to benefit from those committees under the previous administration are the same people sponsoring this campaign against me because they have lost their source of income,” he stated.
He accused his critics of deliberately tarnishing the image of Otor-Ogor by spreading false information capable of discouraging investors and developers from coming to the community.
“Today, people are coming to Otor-Ogor to build houses and invest because of the stable electricity we have provided. Unfortunately, these mischievous individuals are going on social media to claim that developers are being extorted and are discouraging people from buying land here. No reasonable person should destroy the image of his own community just to settle personal scores,” he said.
Responding to allegations that he assaulted a community leader, Edirin denied ever raising his hands against anyone.
“The allegation that I slapped somebody is completely false. The individual in question was verbally abusing me, and some youths merely cautioned him because they felt it was wrong to insult the community’s leader in their presence. I never assaulted anybody.”
The President-General maintained that all the allegations against him were fabricated to discredit his administration and reverse the reforms he had introduced.
He appealed to members of the public to disregard what he described as a campaign of misinformation against him, assuring residents that his administration would remain focused on promoting peace, unity, security and sustainable development in Otor-Ogor community.
