From Paul Osuyi, Asaba
They came from Ogwashi-Uku, which is about 20 minutes’ drive from Asaba, Delta State capital. Clad in black attire, the aged women from Ogbe-Odogwu quarters of Ogwashi-Uku Kingdom came to register their grievances before the state government.
At the Government House gate, where security agents prevented them from advancing further, some of the placard-bearing women rolled on the ground, calling on Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to rescue them from alleged authoritarian local authorities.
The protesting women alleged that their husbands have been thrown into detention for opposing the emergence of Chief Gabriel Ohai as the Odogwu of Ogwashi-Uku Kingdom in Aniocha South Local Government.
Urging the state government to intervene and secure the release of their husbands, they also demanded justice over the alleged murder of Stephen Afamefune Ubaka, a motorcycle operator, in the community.
They claimed that Ubaka was tortured by local vigilantes at the palace of the Obi, which, according to them, led to his death.
Miss Cynthia Ubaka, younger sister to the deceased, told journalists that her brother was taken from the filling station where he had gone to buy fuel by the vigilante, who beat him up before dragging him to the palace for further torture.
She alleged: “They started beating him, used his belt to tie his hands and took him to the palace. They beat him until he became unconscious and dumped him somewhere. It was an unknown person that brought him home.
“Since then, we have been suffering. We went to Ogwashi police station to report but they chased us out because they didn’t want the case. We left and went to the hospital where x-ray revealed that the beating he received broke his lungs, ribs and heart.
“After the beating, before we went to the hospital, he was coughing out blood. Now he is in the mortuary, they have killed him, he died on August 12. We have done everything to get justice yet things are not working out. We have written petitions even to Zone 5, Benin.
“Please, we need justice, my granddad, a 72–old man, cannot be held in detention for framed-up allegations for four months now, and he is not the only one. Over 10 of them are in detention.
“This is because they did not support Ohai to be the Odogwu because he wants to forcefully take over.”
The only man among the protesters, Chike Malije, said the problem started in 2020 when the “Obi wrote to our family for us to nominate somebody for the Odogwu title. That is the due process and we, on our part, consulted the oracle. So, by the time we concluded the process, the man that the oracle chose was taken to the palace but the Obi turned him down, saying that he had made his own choice.
“This started the spate of arrests of our people. Now over eight people between 60 and 79 years are in detention for the past six to eight months without being charged to court. So, we have come to the governor’s office to ask for justice; we want peace restored in our community.”
One of the women, Favour Ikeweji, alleged that they came to her home with machetes and axes, shoved her aside in search of the man of the house.
“They came by 1am. I no longer have peace of mind in my own house. I no longer sleep at home. I go outside to sleep. They want to kill everybody because of land. Enough is enough,” she insisted.
Narrating her ordeal, another woman alleged that the invaders did not show her husband, who is suffering from stroke, any mercy.
“My husband is down with stroke. They broke the window. That very day, we just came back from the hospital. They broke through the window and carried my husband. They seized our phones and used a machete on my hand,” she alleged.
Receiving the protesters, Special Adviser to Governor Oborevwori on Peace and Conflict Resolution, Edwin Uzor, said the state government was already in possession of the petition from the community, stating that the matter would be decisively handled.
Meanwhile, the Obi-in-Council of Ogwashi-Uku Kingdom, in a statement by the palace secretary, Ifeakanachukwu Emordi, said the death of Ubaka was reported, and the authorities were investigating the circumstances that led to his death.
Also, the Odogwu of Ogwashi-Uku, Gabriel Ohai, said it was not true that the late Ubaka was tortured at the palace by the vigilance group, noting that Ubaka was a “tuberculosis patient who had complications with the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) that led to his death.
Ohai said the late Ubaka and others were on the wanted list of security agents for alleged murder, rape and arson in the community, adding that the aim of the protesters was to use Ubaka’s death to bargain for the release of other suspects in custody.
He said, “Investigation was concluded by the Nigerian Police, FCID Abuja, with charges filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions of Delta State.
“Contrary to their claims, all those arrested or being arrested by the police were based on the outcome of the police investigation and all of the suspects have been charged to court. It is untrue that people have been arrested by the police without charges.
“It is also untrue that Stephen Ubaka was beaten or tortured at any palace by vigilante people. It is a cooked-up story to try to bargain a release of late Ubaka’s father and others currently in prison custody facing serious charges.
“The fact is that Stephen Ubaka was a tuberculosis patient who had complications arising from retroviral infection secondary to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome over the years to the knowledge of all before he went for treatment at the General Hospital, Ogwashi-Uku.
“His cause of death can be ascertained from the doctors in the hospital. Most of the fabricated stories have been debunked by police investigators that the family reported the matter to.”
Chief Ohai urged the governor to discountenance the allegations, adding that the police should be allowed to conclude their investigations and come out with their findings.
He also urged the governor not to permit any interference with any ongoing judicial proceedings or police investigations, as the allegations were very weighty and required proper and exhaustive investigations
