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Tag: Kokori

  • Terror reigns still in Kokori

    Terror reigns still in Kokori

    The hopes of residents of Kokori and environs that the capture of suspected kidnap kingpin, Kelvin Oniarah, in September 2013 would bring peace to the troubled town are waning by the day due to unmitigated reign of terror, criminality, threats and recent killing of the second highest ranked leader of the community. South-South Regional Editor, SHOLA O’NEIL and POLYCAP OROSEVWOTU, who visited the community again, reports that it is not yet uhuru in Kokori.

    FOR over two years, alleged kidnap kingpin, Kelvin Oniarah Ibruvwe, dragged the peaceful town of Kokori in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State into national limelight as the kidnap headquarters of the Niger Delta region. The purported escapades of Kelvin and the criminal gang he led read like a James Hadley Chase classic crime novel; they brought negative publicity to the town, which is home of reputable businessmen, outstanding legal luminaries and others excelling in various fields. The fame and notoriety of the hoodlums led to the invasion of the community by troops of the Joint Task Force, ‘Operation Pulo Shield’ in September 2013.

    Like in most parts of the country where soldiers were drafted in to perform the duties of the police, the deployment of JTF troops left trails of blood, wanton destruction and pillage of the oil-bearing upland Urhobo community. Several houses, including the private residence of the respected traditional ruler of Agbon clan, HRM Ogurimerime Ukori 1, were torched; no fewer than 50 vehicles, dozens of tricycle (Keke NAPEP) were burnt down.

    The destructions were carried out mostly by armed youths from the area who engaged soldiers in a long battle for the control of the town. Several persons, including Kelvin’s innocent maternal uncle, were killed in the crossfire between troops and the self-styled Urhobo militant group LIMUP – Liberation Movement of Urhobo People.

    It would be recalled that LIMUP was hurriedly formed by Kelvin and his group, in a desperate brinkmanship after security operatives launched a full-scale hunt for him and his gang members. The ploy to expand the scope of the crisis climaxed in September 2013 when the group brazenly entered the town to the embrace of dancing  women, youths and other leaders of the community. They said it was a ‘protest’ against the neglect by the Federal Government. LIMUP issued a three week ultimatum to the Federal Government to develop Kokori and other Urhobo clans or face unpleasant consequences, including the shutdown of the Kokori flow station belonging to Shell Petroleum Develop Company.

    Rather than provide the soft-landing anticipated by the group, the one week ultimatum led to intensification of the manhunt, which led to the arrest of the notorious suspect and his cohorts in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Despite his arrest, Kelvin’s boys regrouped in their forest camps and boldly seized the town before it was liberated by soldiers. Over two years after the capture, several leaders of the gang have emerged. The second in command to Kelvin, popularly called Don Jazzy, was killed in a battle with the JTF earlier this year.

    Yet, Kokori continues to be a keg of gunpowder. Our team of reporters, who visited the town last week, gathered that residents and indigenes of the community still sleep with their eyes open despite the presence of armed, fierce-looking soldiers.

    A highly placed source in the community, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told our reporters that fear, uncertainty and high level of insecurity still pervaded the town. “Although some of the people who fled last year are gradually returning, their return is mostly borne out of lack of other options or because they are tired of staying out of their habitats. We still sleep with our eyes open.”

    Our source disclosed that the situation is only marginally better than it was over one year ago when terror reigned unchecked. “There is still hunger. Back then, hunger was due to the fact that shops, markets, business places and other economic activities were shut down; today, the hunger is due to the destruction of farmlands and lack of farming activities last year. As we are predominantly farmers, those who did not farm last year do not have anything to harvest or barns to fall back on now,” our source added.

    A trader, Mrs. Beauty Erharhirhe, explained that the cost of living is higher than before the crisis erupted, explaining that Kokori people are mainly farmers but the fear of attack by hoodlums in the bush affected farming activities. “Most of the things we sell and eat are produced by us. But now that the bad boys had taken over our farms, the fear to go to the farm becomes a difficult thing; those who could summon courage to go if they come, they sell at their own discretion, not minding how one feels. It is either you buy or you leave. Those leaving outside the community also refused to bring their farm products to the market for the fear of attack or invasion by hoodlums.”

    Another source said the suffering has led to increased criminality in the town. It was gathered that women cooking in the kitchen have to keep constant watch over their pots of soup to ensure that thieves do not snatch them from the fire. Owners of livestock and domestic animals also suffer loss of their animals.

    But beyond the pangs of hunger, is the fear of insecurity. Our checks revealed that the criminal gangs are more feared than soldiers in the town. “They tell us when to stay in our homes and when to go out; defying their orders can lead to calamity. There is a feeling of lawlessness and bare-faced criminality,” one source said.

    No incident highlights the prevailing fear in the town as the killing of one of the highest ranking chiefs in the community by yet unknown gunmen. Chief Josiah Orhorhoro, the Orhosuen (traditional Prime Minister) of the clan, was gunned down in his bedroom and dragged to his courtyard at about 8am on Sunday December 7. Reports that could not be independently verified indicated that he might have had a brush with members of the local crime lords who have seized the town before his unfortunate end.

    One of the leaders of the community, who did not want his name mentioned in this report, said the incident indicated that peace had not fully returned to Kokori community. He said the threat to lives and killings by suspected hoodlums is a pointer to the fact there is still much terror and fear in the land.

    “Half of the chiefs in Kokori who decide what happen and those at the helms of affairs have fled the community for fear of attack. We have seen that they (hoodlums) want to make us dormant and since we refuse to be silenced, they are out to take lives they cannot create.”

    Investigation further revealed that the killing of the Orhosuen sent shivers down the spines of the community leaders because of threats earlier made by members of Kelvin’s group to decimate the community’s leaders who refused to back Kelvin over his ongoing trial in Abuja. It would be recalled that some of the community’s leaders and chiefs were forced to embark on a protest march in Abuja at the initial stage of his unending felony trial. It was gathered that those who refused were marked for ill-treatment by the hoodlums.

    A source said one of the deceased’s sons, who might be connected to the gang, was fingered for his killing. It was learnt that the killing was linked to the young man after it was revealed that he made a deliberate attempt to cover up where his father was killed.

    The usually reliable source said: “The young man tried to clean the blood trail from the deceased’s bedroom to the backyard. It means he wanted the public to think that his father was shot outside and not inside his house. Besides, although it was learnt that the killing took place around 8am, he did not raise alarm till about 11am – three hours later – even though he had called some persons in Lagos to tell them about the killing. So, we are thinking that the boy probably killed the man to inherit his property, or for whatever other reason that can only be determined by the police and the court.”

    Report that the alleged killer has been arrested by Delta State Police Command could not be independent confirmed. Police spokesperson in the Command, DSP Celestina Kalu, said she was in a workshop when our reporter called her on telephone.

    Meanwhile, the fear and tension in the town have necessitated calls for the deployment of more security agents to the area until total peace and normalcy returned to the troubled community. The Secretary of the Kokori Progress Union, Dr. Festus Arunayi, supported the call. “The hoodlums don’t only make empty threats; they usually go ahead to accomplish them”, he said.

    “It is obvious that most of us would even find it difficult to come to the community to celebrate this Christmas; it is very funny and sad. We know with the help of the vigilance group and the security agents, we will overcome this situation. All our people are on exile for the fear of attack and nothing is happening as we have even cried out severally about our predicaments. We are calling on the federal government to come to our rescue before it is too late.”

    But for the Chairman of the Kokori Community Development Committee (CDC), Comrade Emmanuel Diodemise, the outlook is bright. He said in spite of the prevailing situation, Kokori community is relatively more peaceful than December 2013. “As at last year, we cannot go to the market or even open our shops for business. But now, there is relative peace probably because of the vigilance group that has been inaugurated about three weeks ago with the approval of the local government council chairman and the army chief. A lot of our people are still taking refuge outside the community. They left the community at the heat of the problem and till date, many of them have not returned, probably waiting till when their house rents expire or till there is total peace in the community.

    “I stand to be corrected that those that have not returned are fewer. We are still talking to them to come back and we know in a short while, they will all return. One other thing that may have militated against their coming could be traced to other development of threats and invasion of the community by the hoodlums on the residents.”

    Despite the CDC chairman’s enthusiasm, our finding revealed that palpable fear persists in the town and the situation was not helped by the high profile abduction of a traditional ruler from Bayelsa State, Pere Ekere, Augustine Ebikeme, paramount ruler of Oporomor clan in Ekeremor Local Government Area of the state. The monarch, who was said to be a regular visitor to the community before the incident, was abducted in November. It took the joint intervention of youths, local vigilance and security operatives to free the monarch. But before his release, security operatives had imposed a curfew on the town and shut down the market.

    Residents of the town said the recent fate of the monarch as well as the ubiquitous presence of security operatives and attendant harassments scare away visitors from the town. Our reporter, who visited the town, was required to raise his hands while entering the town through the Isiokolo entrance.

    Our source told our reporter was luckier when compared to what prevailed in the dark days when the soldiers were lords. “It was difficult for them to differentiate between man, woman and young girl and boy, they treated all equally. They flogged, manhandled everybody they saw without giving concern to age, but today they can see and know who is a young man and who is an old man.

    “One other thing we still suffer in the hands of the soldiers is the process of passing through their check points, where everybody is mandated to raise his or her hands up. For some visitors, it is the height of humiliation. This also affects those we invite for ceremonies in Kokori. They often tell you they will not honour your invitation mainly beacause the raising of hands; they see it as total humiliation.”

  • Six criminal suspects killed in Kokori

    KOKORI community, in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State, breathed a sigh of relief yesterday, following the killing of six suspected kidnappers and armed robbery by a combined team of the Army and vigilance group.

    Some of the suspects were nicknamed Skill Boy, YouYou, Olokpa. Another, who could not be identified, was said to have been an indigene of Agbarho, a neighbouring community of Ughelli North Local Government Area.

    They were among the six hoodlums killed by the security agencies.

    It was learnt that the Kokori community was jubilant when the news of their death filtered into the area.

    A source in the vigilance group said the hoodlums were arrested at their hideout at Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area, and Abraka, Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State on Wednesday night.

    The source explained that the search for the suspects had been on for two days.

    The hoodlums were reportedly arrested following a tip-off to the Army.

    A woman, who was said to have been among the victims of the hoodlums, identified one of them.

    She said the boys did not only rob but also rapes and kidnapped people in the area.

    The woman hailed the soldiers and the vigilance team for their security breakthrough.

    Efforts to reach the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) for Isiokolo Division were unsuccessful last night.

    But a police source confirmed that the suspects were killed in a face-off with the Army and brought to the police division.

    The source added that the bodies of the hoodlums would soon handed over to the local government authorities for interment.

  • Gang members surrender arms in Kokori

    The hope for peace has brightened in troubled Kokori community in Ethiope East Local Government Area of  Delta State.

    Members of the Liberation Movement of the Urhobo People, a militant group led by Kelvin Ibruvwe, have “surrendered”.

    This is coming two weeks after five persons, including four gang members, were killed in a clash with Joint Task Force (JTF) troops.

    A source said: “The gang, through an unidentified coordinator, approached some chiefs and elders in Kokori community that they want to embrace peace.

    “A peace initiative committee was set up and held a meeting with the representatives of the gang.

    “The committee chairman thereafter visited them and they assured the committee of their loyalty.”

    “But barely few hours after the truce, a faction of the gang opposed to the peace deal invaded Kokori and shot sporadically into the air for several hours.

    “The timely intervention of the committee chairman and the collaboration of other militants loyal to the peace deal brought the situation under control. The rebel militants were chased out.”

    Two rifles and nine rounds of ammunitions were recovered.

    Peace has eluded Kokori community since last September, when Ibruvwe and some of his followers issued a 30-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to develop Urhobo community.

    The ultimatum was seen as a desperate move by the gang members to seek amnesty after security operatives launched a manhunt for them.

    Ibruvwe was arrested in Port Harcourt on September 25, last year, by security operatives and is facing trial in Abuja.

    A JTF source said the Task Force was not swayed by the latest stance, stressing that it could be a ploy to catch the JTF off guard.

    “We are not impressed at all because, even as I am talking to you, they are still sending threat messages.

    “Besides, they returned only two dane guns and nine rounds of ammunition.”

  • Two killed as Kelvin’s gang unleash mayhem in Kokori

    Two killed as Kelvin’s gang unleash mayhem in Kokori

    Two persons were feared dead in troubled Kokori community in Ethiope East Local Government Area, Delta State on Friday morning when armed youths loyal to notorious crime-lord, Kelvin Ibruvwe invaded the town.

    The incident led to bloody confrontation betweent the gang and troops of the Joint Task Force who were deployed following an SOS from the community.

    Among the victims was a middle aged man identified as the suspected kidnapper’s maternal uncle. Kelvin, who is facing trial in Abuja, is the leader of the militant group Liberation Movement of the Urhobo People.

    A reliable community source told our reporter that his uncle was shot on Friday in Kelvin’s mother’s house where he was visiting when the latest crisis broke out in the town.

    Our source said, “Kelvin’s boys were on rampage in Kokori. There was heavy shooting in Kokori yesterday (Thursday) and today (Friday). There was heavy shooting.

    “Two persons were killed. Kelvin’s uncle who went to visit his (Kelvin’s) mother was among the victims but the man was not a member of the group. He was a quiet calm, man who was at the wrong place at the wrong time,” added the source, who for his safety, asked not to be named.

    It was further learnt that the Secretary of the town council, identified as Treasure Ogbe was abducted by the hoodlums to their militant camp near the town.

    It was gathered that he was tortured and ordered to go back and convene a meeting where he would pressurize the elders and chiefs of the community to agitate for Kelvin’s release or face more molestation.

    A source close to the community scribe said he was released shortly after troops moved into Kokori.

    Meanwhile, feelers from the troubled Urhobo town indicated that its leaders are becoming increasingly worried by the resurgence of Kelvin’s gang.

    It would be recalled that the gang are fingered for the murder of two lawyers and attack on police convoy in the state recently.

    A source in the town told our reporter, “We are afraid. The boys are a constant threat, their camp is nearby and the military know it but am surprised they have not moved to clear them.”

    No fewer than 20 persons have been killed in series of bloody clashes between the gang members and troops of the Joint Task Force since Kelvin was arrested in September 2013

  • Kokori’s Kelvin seeks life outside detention

    Kokori’s Kelvin seeks life outside detention

    Kelvin Onairah is not finding life in incarceration funny. Gone are the good things of life. Gone is his freedom. Gone is his reign. In short, the music has stopped and the dance steps have assumed a macabre mien. He hungers for life outside the detention walls.

    Oniarah and his compatriot, Frank Azuekor, who were arrested on September 25 for their involvement in nefarious activities, are asking the Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja to order their release.

    In a suit filed by their lawyer, Samuel Omohwo Esharefasa of Festus Keyamo Chambers,they also plead with the court to declare their arrest and subsequent detention illegal.

    The respondents in the suit are the State Security Service (SSS), SSS Director-General and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).

    In an originating motion dated October 17, last year said the government breached their fundamental rights.

    In an affidavit deposed to by a relative of Kelvin, Duke Oniarah Ibruvwe, he said contrary to the claims of the respondents, the applicants were neither kidnappers nor armed robbers. He said they were law-abiding and responsible citizens from Kokori in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State, who were championing the cause of their community which has been neglected by Shell Petroleum Development Company and other multinational oil companies, which operate oil wells and flow stations in the community.

    He added that Oniarah and Azuekor, belong to the Liberation Movement of the Urhobo People (LIMUP), formed to emancipate the Urhoboland from marginalisation and poverty.

    He alleged that they were framed up and arrested in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, where they had gone to honour an invitation by the Delta State government.

    The court is expected to look at the matter later this year.

    While Kelvin is hoping to get the court to set him free, the State Security Services (SSS) is also perfecting plot to ensure he goes down permanently. In November, it withdrew the charge it filed at an Abuja Chief Magistrates’ Court, Wuse, against the kidnap kingpin, and two of his gang members.

    They were arraigned for alleged highly coordinated kidnapping activities in the Southsouth and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    At the hearing of the matter, counsel to the Federal Government, Cliff Osagie, said further investigation by the SSS had shown that the accused persons were involved in acts of terrorism with elements of kidnapping and murder, which did not fall under the jurisdiction of the Magistrates’ Court.

    Osagie said the SSS had secured an order of the Federal High Court, Abuja to further detain the suspects for another 90 days pending the conclusion of investigation.

    He added that the accused persons would be arraigned before the court as prescribed by law.

    Magistrate Usman Ahmed Shuaibu granted Osagie’s application to withdraw the charge.

    Kelvin and others are to be remain in the custody of the SSS until their arraignment at the Federal High Court.

    The charges against them are as follows: “That between February 2, 2012 and September 24, 2013 at Kokori, Asaba, Warri, Port Harcourt and Benin City, in Delta, Rivers and Edo states respectively and along Benin-Abuja road, Abuja FCT, you Kelvin Eziegbe (Oniarah), Frank Azuekoh and Haruna Momoh conspired with Rufus Ovwigho, Ese Oghenerojakor and others now at large to kidnap for ransom the persons of Mike Ozekhome (SAN), Chudi Nwike (Dr), Hope Eghagha (Prof) and many others.

    “That you did ambush and attack a Federal Prisons vehicle conveying some members of your criminal gang which resulted in the death of some Police and Prisons officers.

    “That you further conspired to unlawfully import prohibited firearms from Libya for the purpose of kidnapping, robbery and related criminal activities and you thereby committed the offence of (1) criminal intimidation punishable under Section 397 penal code, (2) kidnapping punishable under Section 274 penal code, (3) robbery punishable under Section 298 penal code, and (4) criminal conspiracy to commit felony punishable under Section 97 penal code.”

    Since his criminal escapades propelled him into the top list of Niger Deltan most wanted criminal, Kelvin had become a mystery of sort. He is so popularly that he is known simply by his first name. He is not unlike Lawrence Anini, the infamous Nigerian armed robbery kingpin whose fame and notoriety spread through the country in the mid-80s.

    Scores of verified and unverified sorties were attributed to him, so much so that he became known as the cat with nine lives.

    Kelvin’s notoriety as a crime lord was cemented in 2012 when his brazen kidnap operation and deadly high profile armed robbery operation in Warri, Eku, Abraka and other parts of state. He was also fingered as the ring leader of a vast kidnap syndicate which operation spread beyond the state.

    He singlehanded placed his Kokori home town, one of the sub-clans that make up Agbon Kingdom in Ethiope East Local Government Area, on the world map, but for the wrong reason. The town has been tagged the headquarters of kidnappers in the Niger Delta region.

    Reliable police sources said eight of every 10 robbery operations in the Osubi-Eku- Agbor axis of the state were either planned in Kokori or executed by gunmen trained by the young man.

    The reputation of the Urhobo town was not helped by reports that some prominent chiefs were shielding him and his criminal gangs from the law. He was declared wanted by the Delta State Police Command earlier last year. The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, said the efforts of the police to arrest him were thwarted by community leaders in the area.

    As bloody as he had been, Kelvin outperformed himself when he led a team to secure the release of his ally and fellow kidnap suspect, who was awaiting trial at the Okere prison in Warri. Rufus, the suspect, and other suspects were being taken by wardens for a court appearance when the accosted them and opened fire on the prison vehicle, killing at least three wardens and two civilians before freeing their man.

    Their getaway was as loud as the operation: they shot their way through the heavy traffic from Okere Road, through the NPA Expressway to Effurun Roundabout, where they left trails of blood, bloodied victims, bullet-riddled cars and thousands of panic-stricken residents in their wake.

    Reliable sources in the kingdom said the pronouncement of Kelvin carried weight.

    Worried by the disgrace his activities had brought to the kingdom, leaders of the area decided to act. In one of their meetings over the sordid state of affairs and the disgrace of being tagged ‘Kidnappers Kingdom’, they met. Some suggested that the criminal should be rounded up and handed to the law. Days after, at least two of those who backed call for Kelvin’s arrest in the meeting were shot dead in broad day light.

    The incident led to concern among well-meaning members of the kingdom that there the criminal had infiltrated the ranks and files of the kingdom and justified CP Aduba’s claim that members of Kokori and neighbouring communities were shielding the criminal from the law.

    The criminals also ambushed and slaughtered at least one soldier and wounded three others attached to a Joint Task Force (JTF) checkpoint in one of the roads leading to the town.

    In response, the task force invade and threw a thick cordon of security personnel round the town. The Commander of 3 Battalion of the Nigeria Army, Lt Col Ifeanyi Otu personally led several operations to snare Kelvin

    The suffocating presence of security personnel in the town brought a brief respite, which led to Governor Uduaghan presenting the staff of office to James Omeru, a former Chairman of Niger Cat Construction Company, who had been selected as the Ovie of Agbon Kingdom. He adopted the title Ogurimerime Ukori I.

    Still the security forces, including JTF, police and State Security Service (SSS), continued an intensive manhunt for the renegade. Sources in the area said Kelvin was confined to a section of the forest in the area, where usually moved in the dead of the night. A newspaper report, which speculated that the wanted criminal had sneaked out of the country to the Republic of Benin, later turned out to be untrue.

    The Nation reliably gathered that when security dragnet closed in on him, Kelvin made desperate effort to top official of the state government. “He offered to surrender if the government would be granted him amnesty,” our source said.

    It was gathered that Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, who was approached about the offer turned it down, insisting that Kelvin had committed too many atrocities and killed too many innocent persons to get a soft landing.

    It was in the midst of his desperate effort for immunity from his crimes that he allegedly resurfaced in Kokori on Thursday, September 19 to declare his preparedness to fight for the emancipation of the Urhobo people.

    He gave the Federal Government 60 day ultimatum to meet his demands in order to avert disaster. The story was that he stormed the community with masked youths armed with dangerous weapons. He was reportedly welcome by hundreds of dancing women and children, who described him as their saviour and a freedom fighter.

    Delta, Bayelsa still on U.S. travel alert

    No thanks to the activities of men such as Kelvin Oniarah, Delta and Bayelsa states still retain their slot on the United States’ travel alert. The most recent of the alert said of both states: “The oil-rich southwestern states of Delta and Bayelsa, on the Gulf of Guinea where piracy is on the rise and militancy by activists demanding a bigger share of oil riches from a government embroiled in numerous corruption scandals.”

    The alert made reference to kidnappings of foreigners and attacks against police forces in the Niger Delta.

    It added: “Criminals or militants have abducted foreign nationals, including U.S. citizens, from offshore and land-based oil facilities, residential compounds, and public roadways.”

    It adds that international companies and local authorities assert that the number of kidnapping incidents throughout Nigeria is underreported.

    And home invasions “remain a serious threat,” with armed robbers getting into even heavily guarded compounds.

    “Violent crimes occur throughout the country,” the advisory says. “U.S. citizen visitors and residents have experienced armed muggings, assaults, burglaries, armed robberies, carjackings, rapes, kidnappings, and extortion.”

    The advisory says nine foreign nationals, including Americans died last year in kidnappings in southwest Nigeria, three of them killed by their captors during military-led rescue raids.

    The advisory posted at the U.S. State Department website and dated January 8 tells citizens to expect little help from law enforcers known for harassing and shaking down foreigners and Nigerians at checkpoints.

    It says U.S. missionaries in northern Nigeria have received “night letters” – covertly distributed specific written threats to their safety.

    Pointing to possible targets of extremists, it says U.S. citizens should be particularly vigilant around government security facilities; churches, mosques, and other places of worship; locations where large crowds gather such as hotels, clubs, beer parlours, restaurants, markets and shopping malls; and all other areas frequented by expatriates and foreign travelers.

    The North has more Muslims than Christians, which continues despite an 8-month-long state of emergency that deployed thousands of troops to three states covering one-sixth of the country.

    “Late 2013 saw an increase in Boko Haram attacks and clashes with Nigerian government security forces in northern Nigeria,” the travel advisory says. “Boko Haram is known to descend on whole towns, robbing banks and businesses, attacking police and military installations, and setting fire to private homes.”

    It warns: “U.S. citizens should be aware that extremists could expand their operations beyond northern Nigeria to other areas of the country.” Boko Haram already operates in neighboring Chad, from which it kidnapped a French priest who was released earlier this month, and militants from Chad, Niger and Cameroon have been reported fighting alongside Boko Haram in Nigeria, raising fears the rebellion could also spread beyond Nigeria’s borders.

    The United States advises against all but essential travel to Bayelsa and Delta states, all 13 northern and central-northern states and Plateau State, for years the site of deadly ethnic-religious clashes.

     

     

     

  • Humanitarian crisis worsens in Kokori

    Humanitarian crisis worsens in Kokori

    As troops of the Joint Task Force maintain the clamp down on Kokori community in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State beleaguered residents of the troubled town have expressed concern over growing humanitarian crisis and alleged human rights violation perpetrated by the soldiers.

    Niger Delta Report gathered that schools in the area have remained closed while the students and pupils of both private and public schools in the town have been left out of the ongoing first term examination exercise in primary and secondary schools across the state.

    Similarly, health facilities, clinics and pharmaceutical shops, markets and other commercial activities have grounded to a halt since the latest onslaught. The situation has heightened concerns on possible humanitarian crisis in the area.

    Kokori has been a battleground since the arrest of Kelvin Iburvwe for alleged kidnap, armed robbery and other crimes on the 25th of September in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. His supporters and members of the Liberation Movement of Urhobo People (LIMUP) have been engaged in several skirmishes with security operatives.

    Troops stormed the town again following another bloody clash with armed youths on Thursday, November 28. At least one person was killed and hundreds others displaced following the latest siege.

    Property worth millions of naira, including buildings, cars, motorcycles and household property were also destroyed in the latest face-off.

    Our investigations revealed that in spite of the Joint Task Force’s assurance that residents were free to go back to their homes, the community remains deserted. The Joint Task Force confirmed that very few residents – about 10 percent – remain in the town.

    Those who stayed back are facing hardship resulting from the collapse of social and economic activities in the town. Their plights are not being helped by the vice-like grip on the town by soldiers.

    It was gathered that all entry and exit points out of the community are manned by combat ready soldiers drawn from the 222 and 3 battalions of the Nigerian Army. Residents say movement is banned except through the Kokori-Isiokolo axis. They say cars are prevented from entering the town while walkers are subjected to harassment by troops.

    An aged resident who stayed back, Chief John Egbo, told our reporter that he walked a long distance to Isiokolo even to get basic necessities, adding that he relied on his wife who fled the town to get him food.

    “The only way to get into Kokori as at today (Wednesday) is through Isiokolo road and by keke (tricycles). They would drop you at the entrance to Kokori by the house of an SA to the governor. From there you trek into town through a bush path.

    “But today we are now hearing that even the kekes would not go again because some of them (operators) were beaten up by soldiers yesterday (Tuesday). So the hardship is getting worse for people inside the town. There is no food, we used to go to Isiokolo to get provision now we are running out of cash and we are not even allowed to go back in again,” the source told our reporter shortly after he left Kokori.

    Our source, who asked not to be named, said the ban of tricycles was another move to tighten the noose on residents, apparently to compel them to flee the town.

    “Even children are not allowed to play outside. As I was leaving this morning, two young children who were playing outside were chased back inside their homes by the soldiers. They say they don’t want to see anybody outside; movement is being restricted.”Another residents of the town expressed dissatisfaction over perceived nonchalant attitude of government and civil society groups in the face of abuses and untold hardship being suffered by residents.

    They accused troops of looting and wilful destruction of houses and property that were abandoned by fleeing inhabitants in the wake of the latest onslaught on the community.

    One of the residents, Mr Victor Etaghene, told our reporter that three of the four flats in his house were looted allegedly by the troops. He said other valuable items including water pumping machines were carted away.

    He said: “The four flats and a storey building were vandalised by the soldiers, but the borehole water pump was removed by the area boys. One of my tenants who were in when the soldiers came narrated how the soldiers vandalised the first flat before they (tenants) took to their heels. They now reside in Okpara Inland. The other tenant tenants (civil servants) relocated to Ughelli.”

    He appealed to the Nigeria Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Red Cross to come to the need of the suffering people of the town.

    The Commanding Officer, 3 Battalion, Lt. Colonel Otu, who took some journalist to the trouble town recently, debunked the allegation of looting and destruction, saying, “It is an attempt to rubbish the good work the troops are doing in Kokori aimed at restoring law and order in a community that hitherto drifted towards anarchy.”

    Otu said troops deployed to the town are closely monitored by five high ranking officers, stressing: “Discipline is maintained as one is not unaware of the possible fallout in an operation of this nature.”

     

     

     

  • Kokori: Return to familiar path

    Kokori: Return to familiar path

    Once again, troubled Kokori was a battlefront last week as armed youths engaged JTF troops in a fierce battle for control of the Urhobo town. SHOLA O’NEIL, who visited the town three days after the confrontation, reports on the wanton destruction and imminent humanitarian crisis.

    When Niger Delta Report visited troubled Kokori on Monday, the restive Urhobo town in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State was a ghost town. It looked like a town ravaged by hurricane and firestorm: window sills, doors, roofs and buildings were smashed. Carcases of burnt cars, motorcycles and household items like fridge, TV etc littered roads. Even by its standard, the scenes were pitiable and disturbing.

    The Egba Shrine, which had survived several bloody clashes, was denuded. The walls were pulled down; trees that shaded it and gave it the impregnable aura were hacked down and were smouldering.

    Thousands of inhabitants have fled the town; it was completely deserted, except for a handful of very old men and women and children, too old or frail to flee the wanton destruction. Even animals and livestock went underground. A lone dog barked incessant near poultry from a section of the town. As the hours passed, its barks became erratic and sounded like a cackle.

    A petite, teenage-looking mother, who simple identified herself as Oke, and her two naked children peered from the comfort of their home near the home of the temporary palace of Agbon monarch, as soldiers march through the town to secure it from recalcitrant youths.

    She clasped her youngest son of about a year as she leaned on the door frame. Her older son, wearing nothing but a pair of blue pants, stood beside her. Their faces were masks of fear. In spite of assurances from the military men that they were safe, they stood poised to bolt at the slightest sign of trouble.

    “I don’t know anything about what is happening here because I don’t live here,” Oke told our reporter. She went to the town to help her aged, sick father, she said.

    One of the few inhabitants left, Chief John (surname withheld), chose his words carefully as he spoke, ostensibly to avoid saying anything that could offend the youths or soldiers who watched proceedings from a distance.

    While denouncing youths’ temerity in confronting troops, he said it was obvious that they could not engage federal troops in a fight and win. “I do not support what the boys are doing. There is nobody in the town, nothing to buy, no food and there is nothing at all, which is bad. I advise that the authority should allow soldiers to leave the down.”

    The octogenarian said his wife fled along with others, adding that he had run out of food and basic supplies.

    Reports that could not be independently confirmed claimed that two innocent persons were felled by stray bullet during the incidents. JTF official source said only one person, a suspected militant was killed. The corpse of the deceased was handed over to the Isiokolo Police Division.

    The confrontation between troops of the Sector 1, Joint Task Force ‘Operation Pulo Shield’, was long in coming. The arrest of notorious armed robbery and kidnap suspect, Kelvin Ibruvwe failed to restore sanity to the trouble town, where he gave the Federal Government 60-day deadline on September 18.

    Remnant of his ragtag ‘army’ known as the Liberation Movement of the Urhobo People (LiMUP) seized the town by the jugular. They gang was initially led by late Rufus Ovwigho (Don Jazzy) and one Commander Kelly before they were both killed by the JTF. Yet, the image of Ibruvwe loomed larger than life in Kokori, where he is mostly seen as a hero rather than a criminal.

    Those who had different views about his activities are afraid to express them because of the deadly repercussion suffered by those chose to speak out.

    Prior to his last arraignment in court, sources in the town told our reporter that a section of the community’s leader who had visited their embattled Agbon Kingdom monarch, HRM Mike Omeru, Ogurime-Rime Ukori 1, following the attack on his palace, received a midnight visit from members of Kelvin’s gang.

    They were rudely awakened from their sleep by rattling of gun on their doors and ordered to travel to Abuja for Kelvin’s trial on November 27. “Not only that, they were asked to stage a protest at the court premises to demand his release,” a source in the town revealed.

    Earlier, Chief Fred Emufo, a member of the council of chiefs, was abducted in broad day light by armed youths who took him to their hideout and ordered him to recant on the apology to the monarch.

    Previously on several occasions, semi-naked women and youths have staged protests calling for the soldiers to leave.

    In one of the buildings located off Market Road a sign written on the wall warned “Amy (Army) to live (leave) Kokori or face dead (death).”

    However, on Monday when our reporter visited, soldiers have assumed vice-like grip on the town: checkpoints manned by no-nonsense looking soldiers were planted at all strategic locations of the town, particularly along streets where troops face stern that they battled for control of the area.

    The troops are however accused of looting shops and houses abandoned in the wake of the town. One of alleged victim, Mr Victor (surnames withheld) told our reporter that he got report from his tenants that troops smashed through doors, windows and even set houses on fire.

    “I don’t live in Kokori,” Victor said, “but the report I am hearing is that soldiers are on a wanton destruction of houses and property in the town. I do not know why they would start doing a thing like that.”

    The Commander, 3 Battalion of the Joint Task Force, Lt. Colonel Ifeanyi Otu, said it was not true that his troops destroyed and looted property. “It is an attempt to rubbish the good work the troops are doing in Kokori aimed at restoring law and order in a community that hitherto drifted towards anarchy.”

    Otu said when they youths failed to reclaim control of the town they destroyed and burnt properties within their reach as they retreated.

    “The allegation of destruction and looting by troop is not true. Troops deployed to Kokori are fed three times daily and their operation allowance paid at the end of every month. The daily administration is closely supervised by five officers.”

    His position is buttressed by cars set ablaze and used to barricade the road, ostensibly by the fleeing armed youths in their attempt to impede the soldiers. The car of a man who drove his spouse or girlfriend to the town was among those burnt.

    While the JTF has succeeded in chasing out criminal gangs and armed youths terrorising the town, the insignia of destructions left behind by the confrontation will remain with the people for years to come.

    Only time and the withdrawal of troops will tell if the eerie silence in Kokori at the time of this report on Tuesday night is the return of peace or the peace of the graveyard.

     

  • Kokori…Troubles are not over

    Kokori…Troubles are not over

    Fresh crisis is brewing in Kokori community of Agbon Clan in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State, after a militant group, the Liberation Movement of Urhobo People (LiMUP), by Kelvin Ibruvwe an alleged kidnap kingpin, abducted a prominent chief in the sub-clan.

    It was gathered that the traditional titleholder, Chief Fred Emufo, a prominent member of the community’s Okoarho-in-Council (Council of Chiefs), was abducted by the gang while returning from a meeting of the council in the palace of the Okarhoro (community head).

    It was later revealed that the group was unhappy that Emufo and other traditional titleholders had paid a visit to the Kokori monarch, HRM Mike Omeru, Ogurime-Rime Ukori 1.

    It was learnt that the visit was to appease the monarch for an attack on his palace by LiMUP members, when he was receiving members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the run-up to the October 12 Delta Central Senatorial by-election. The rampaging youths opened fire on the palace, razed several vehicles and chased away the monarch’s guest.

    Those in the palace at the time of the attack included the PDP candidate and eventual winner of the election, Chief Emmanuel Aguariavwodo and member representing Ethiope Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, Chief Sunny Emeyese. The legislator was later flown abroad for treatment on the injuries he sustained in the attack.

    Consequently, some traditional chiefs and members of the sub-clan paid a visit to the monarch to denounce the attack and apologize for the unruly behavior of the youths and the entire Kokori people and dissociated themselves from the attack.

    However, Niger Delta Report gathered that a fresh twist emerged in the drama last Tuesday when armed youths suspected to be members of LiMUP ambushed and seized Chief Emufo. The victim was taken him to their hideout in one of the bushes around the community.

    A team of soldiers were immediately deployed to secure his release. But it was learnt that gang took him farther into the bush before the soldiers arrived the scene. Although one of the rifles of the fleeing gang members was retrieved by the soldiers.

    The embattled community leader, who was released four hours after, explained how he was snatched by the armed youths. He said he was taking his uncle and three other chiefs to their homes when the armed gang swooped on him around Okpe street junction of the town.

    “They ordered all of us out of the car. They took the car from me and drove it into the street while others marched me to about 4 kilometers into the bush where I was held hostage for about 4 hours.”

    He said the youths, who identified themselves as members of the militant group, lambasted him and other members of the community who went to plead for forgiveness over attack on the monarch and his visitors.

    Emufo revealed that the youths told him that the allegation made against them by the chiefs were false, adding that they were not criminals but genuinely aggrieved freedom fighters who were pressuring the government to give them employment and develop Kokori and the entire Urhobo nation.

    He said the saving grace for him was that one of the militant gang members knew him.

    “He said he knew me through my late wife, who taught him in security. He said he was educated but unhappy that he is unable to get a job and the living condition in the town was deplorable. He said he was forced to take up arm because against the government because of the situation.”

    The beleaguered chief said he was only released because he denied being on the delegation that visited and apologised to the king.

    Emufo said he was shown around the camp where over 200 members of the gang are currently hiding in the bush.

    The victim was asked to deliver a stern warning to the monarch and other members of the community and governments. He was said to have been asked to deliver a two-week ultimatum, which would expire next Wednesday, November 27.

    The latest ultimatum came on the heels of the expiration of a similar deadline issued by Oniarah and his gang on September 17 – one week before he was arrested in Port Harcourt.

    A source in the community told our reporter that the gang members are putting pressure on traditional titleholders and a section of the community to call for the release of Oniarah, who was arrested by Department of State Security (DSS).

    “They are asking the council of chief to secure the release of those who are at present arrested and detained by the security agents, including LIMUP leader Mr. Kelvin Oniara Ibruvwe or alternatively face dire consequence. Some people in the community are appealing to them to remain calm. That is why you see the semblance of peace in Kokori right now,” our source in the town said.

    In a related development, Kokori youths (Ighele) and women folk (Ewheya) also disavowed the controversial apology visit to the monarch.

    The women’s group, led by their spokespersons Madam Irerevwo Oyokoko and Mrs. Omotejehwo Onovughakpo, faulted the supplicationt to the moanrch, noting that it tend to portray the entire community as responsible for the invasion of the palace.

    They said although some members of the militant group could be from Kokori, not all indigenes of the community are members of LiMUP. While remarking that some members of the group are not from the town, they noted that for the apologizing for such unclear action was wrong and capable of passing it off as an action by the entire community.

    Madam Oyokoko posited that those who attended the meeting should have just asked for the forgiveness for their own children involved in the attack and not for the entire women folks and youths of Kokori.

    Mrs. Onovughakpor remarked that it was unbelievable that the women would be made to ask for forgiveness when they were the victims of military oppression and abuses, which resulted in their nude protest. She also decried perceived falsehood being spread in the wake of the recent insurgence in the Urhobo community.

    The women faulted claims by the monarch for claims in an interview published in NDR. The monarch took credit for facilitating the tarring of major roads and streets in the town. He also listed his achievements to include the tarring of Kokori-Eku and Kokori Ring roads in the town and annual award of scholarships to indigent students of the clan.

    However, Mrs Onovughakpor recalled that the roads were tarred by an oil company operating in the area following months-long protest by the women folk.

    “The protest led to the closure of the Erhioke flow station in our land before the company agreed to tar the road,” she added.

     

  • Kokori…A town in search of peace

    Kokori…A town in search of peace

    okori in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State is in search of peace. The town has been troubled since kidnap kingpin Kelvin Oniarah and his gang invaded the town claiming to be freedom fighters.

     

    About a month ago, the palace of the Agbon traditional ruler, Ogurime-Rime, Ukori 1, Mike Omeru, Ovie of Agbon Kingdom, was destroyed by some irate youths.

     

    As part of the search for peace, elders of Kokori community have sent an eight-man delegation to appeal to the traditional ruler. On the delegation were Chief Josiah Orhorhoro, the Orosue of Kokori community, the President-General, Chief Gabriel Avwunudiogba, the Secretary to the Elders’ Council, Chief Pleasure Ogbe, Chief James Omoraka, Chief Sunday Umunade, Chief Ochuko Umukoro and others.They said their visit to the monarch at his Otorho-Agbon lodge, ancestral home of the Agbon people, was to appeal to him and the Agbon traditional Council of Chiefs for the action of the youths.

    Orhorhoro likened the actions of the youths to the voice of Jacob and the hands Esau.

    He said illustrious sons and daughters of the community were angry about the attack on the monarch, saying before the king ascended the throne he was of immense help to the community.

    The delegation said: “In such a crisis situation, what we ought to have been doing was to always be in contact with you (the king) to access the situation and look for a lasting solution but because we have offended you through our children and yours, we could not face you on any issue and this was what the Council of Chiefs and Elders saw that we were sent to come and say we are sorry, please forgive us.

    “We all left the town at the heat of the crisis, even left our little children and as we speak to you, cost of food item has increased by 100 per cent; that is if we would even have them to buy but today some of those youths have gone far, while some were said to have been killed and it is not our prayer that our traditional ruler should be in such a discomforted state and we, the subject, should be somewhere smiling. It is for this reason we were sent to come and say we are sorry for the treatment meted on you by the youth.”

    The Agbon Traditional Council of Chiefs was also represented by six chiefs from the six sub-clans: Chief Johnson Eruvweteghware (Okpara), Chief Cliff Ogbodu (Kokori), Chief John Ejitobor (Orhoakpo), Chief Moses Orogun (Eku), Prime Minister of Agbon Kingdom, Chief Philip Eyagomare (Ovu), Chief Godwin Esigbone (Igun) and the Secretary to the Agbon Traditional Council of Chiefs, Chief Emmanuel Avworo. They commended the Kokori Council Chiefs and Elders for appealing to the monarch.

    The Urhobo Peace Initiative has also tried to ensure that peace returns to the community. It enjoined all Agbon sub clans to join hands with Kokori community to find a lasting solution to the lingering crisis.

    The Chairman of the group, Chief Igho Osiebe, Adviser, Mr. Osumiri Ete, Publicity Secretary, Mr. Joe Eharisi-Ayomah and Chief Lucky Emojeya commended the Kokori community’s leadership for working for peace.

    Osiobe said they were pained to see that they could not move freely in their community as a result of the crisis, urging the six sub clans to look deeply into the remote cause of the crisis and find a lasting solution.

    The monarch commended the Orosue of Kokori and his chiefs for taking this bold step of peace, adding that there were rumour that some persons were behind the crisis.

    The monarch said: “Again, when I look out from the way the crisis is happening, with what is being reported on the pages of newspapers, it goes a long way to show that there are some people out there that do not want peace to reign in Kokori community but by His grace, we will surmount it someday; no matter the storm.

    “On April 22, the Delta State Commissioner of Police invited me to Asaba because of the security problem of Kokori and that l should present the youths causing problem in the area but I told the Commissioner of Police that my kingdom covers six sub clans of Agbon and not only Kokori and the commissioner apologise to me that I should not be offended that he thought I am for only Kokori.

    “The insecurity problem in Kokori had been before I was crowned King. It started last year when government called on leadership of Kokori community and asked them that their youths were creating violence; that they should be produced before it gets to the point Federal Government and for the period the crisis lasted, l did my best to ensure there was no unnecessary molestation of persons in the community.

    “I have no hand in what happened in Kokori; it was wrong representation by some community and national dailies that had caused some of the problem because it was from when l was confirmed king that one of the community papers started giving false representation on the pages of newspaper about the kingship and how it went.

    “When we were contesting the Kingship position, it was one of the community reporters that were used to circulate petitions for my co-contestants and when l called him and asked why, he said he was asked to help distribute them.

    “The last l read from him was that the women of Kokori said I was not the one that constructed the Kokori-Eku Road and the ring road was given out by Shell to Niger Cat and state government gave some to Niger-Cat and all these were done while I was the Chairman of the Board of Niger-Cat Construction Company.

    “The truth is that if I was not the chairman of Niger-Cat, those roads wouldn’t have been possible and l want to state here that during my election to the kingship throne in Kokori, out of the 30 votes cast, 18 voted for me, which qualified me for the next round before Agbon Council of Chiefs’ final election of six sub clans, where out of 48 persons, 43 voted for me, which is an indication that my ascending the throne follows due process.”

     

     

     

  • Kokori’s leaders call for release of Chief Priest, others

    LEADERS of Kokori community in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State are demanding the release of their Chief Priest, Mr. Michael Omonigho and other persons arrested.

    The community Chiefs, women (Eghweya), youths, Kokori Progress Union Executives took the decision after a meeting presided over by the Okarorho-in-council, Chief Macaulay Anigboro II.

    In a statement by Chief Anigboro, the Otota-in-Council, Chief Josiah Orhorhoro and the Secretary-General Kokori community, Chief P. O. Ogbe, they said the Chief priest is not a native doctor or appointed but was chosen by the Egba (deity) to serve in order to bring peace to the community.

    Anigboro said the Egba is celebrated once in a year and its totems of worship, which are in the Chief Priest’s custody, should not be tempared with by security agents, adding that arresting the Chief Priest is not only a taboo but has put fear into the minds of Kokori people.

    They said the military siege in Kokori has led to the evacuation of people from the community and the closure of schools, health centre and market.