Leaders of Okere-Urhobo in Warri Kingdom have urged the Delta State Government to intervene in the communal crisis in their area.
Addressing reporters in Warri, the community’s Okpakorere (oldest man), Chief Dickson Eburu, narrated how “an illegally assembled body” called the Land Committee, led by Gideon Okumagba, was disturbing the peace in the community.
The community leader was accompanied by many elderly residents, including the Vice Chairman of the Okere-Urhobo Development Movement (OUDM), Brume Eyekpimi, whose group handles youth matters.
But Okumagba told our reporter yesterday that his committee was legally constituted.
He said it had not usurped the youths’ duties but fought against their “illegal practice”.
According to him, the Land Committee does not collect development levies but ensures that defaulters pay up.
Recalling the events that culminated in the crisis, Chief Eburu accused the Okumagba-led community of usurping the duties of a legally constituted committee.
He said: “We are calling on the state government to help us cut the excesses of this illegal land committee with the aid of the Board of Trustees (BoT) to stop further harassment in the community. Today, the illegal committee arrested four boys, who it labelled as kidnappers.
“In this kingdom, there are some people, including Gideon Okumagba and others who have taken authority into their hands, purporting that the BoT of the community created a committee for them, called the Land Committee.
“This committee is a duplication of the duties of a legal committee, the Community Management Committee (CMC). The management committee complained bitterly that the so-called Land Committee is doing its job. This is seriously threatening the peace in the community.
“Not done with the management committee, this same Okumagba and his committee strayed into the functions of the youths. They had caused the BoT to scrap the development fee, which the youths’ body was collecting. But it was later discovered that Okumagba and his group (allegedly) went behind to collect the fee. This led to a fracas between the youths and the land committee.”