-By Zik Gbemre
MURDER IN OKPE: MANIFESTATION OF AN 'AGBERO & GBEGHE' GOVERNMENT
When I say under Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, Delta state is suffering an 'agbero' or 'gbeghe' government where impunity of violence rules from the helms of affairs, associates and confidants of the governor who should know better pretentiously call me names.
How else do you define a 'jaguda' government when the governor's choice for a Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Special Duties, Eruteyan Eradajaye, is a character with history of violence of murderous proportion.
Governor Oborevwori may have taken the honourable option of sacking Eruteyan for reportedly leading a killer gang to murder a fellow community man, a breadwinner, Sam Ophie, in cold blood in his native Adagbrasa Ugolo, Okpe LGA in an unwarranted attack.
However, Oborevwori cannot, by sacking Eruteyan, save his face from how deep the alleged murder committed attest to the governor's penchant for encouraging criminality in Delta communities by his preference for questionable, violent characters as political aides, especially among his youth appointees.
By emerging facts, it is not the first time the prime suspect in the murder of Ophie would be linked to killing in the community. He is a known community terror. He was until the latest murder, said to have pushed an aged woman to fall to her death from a storey building.
He is said to have committed that act months after he was made Community Chairman. Rather than the community letting him face the law, the monarch of Okpe was said to have declared him persona non grata, warning that he was never given leadership in the community henceforth.
Governor Oborevwori whose hometown, Osubi is a stone's throw from Adagbrasa Ugolo cannot deny knowledge of this deviant, Eruteyan who is a close friend of the governor' son he declared as the richest young man in Delta. This was the character Oborevwori made SSA Special Duties.
Armed with the power from the helms of Delta State Government, the governor's aide bullied and intimidated leaders of the community to impose self as Community Chairman again.
Within weeks of assuming power by force, he has killed again. From what has come to public space, the slain Ophie is one of the community's beach operators who dredge and sell industrial sand for a living. Oborevwori SSA after imposing self as Chairman took over levy collection from the sand sellers.
Taking N700 per trip of sand from the community's sand beach seller, Eruteyan was reportedly pocketing as much as N700,000 daily from the business, all for simply using Oborevwori's power to grab community power.
His overbearing extortion on the sand sellers took a fatal dimension when he ordered proxies to go the beach to collect two trips of sand free of charge. The beach operators appealed, saying he cannot be extorting on them as still expect to be giving him free sand.
Following his threats to deal with whoever refused demand if he visits the beach himself, the sand sellers had agreed to his emissaries one trip but not two. In the climax of the needless conflict, the SSA led his gang to the beach where they ensnare Ophie among the sand sellers who rebuffed his threat and killed him.
The basic question -why would Oborevwori encourage an officeholder in his government to also imposed self as Community Chairman. Are there no others to lead.
This is one of the dysfunction the PDP hegemony over Delta government has planted to divide and destroy communities. By empowering the depraved, deviants in the communities above law abiding youths because of the ease with using the violent youths to rig elections and perpetuate the PDP in government.
This tendency didn't start with the Oborevwori's administration. I challenge all Delta born readers of this reflection to look back in their home communities. Take an appraisal, since the days of James Ibori, the manner of youth’s successive governors empowered or appointed as SSAs, SAs and other aides.
The key attraction for their choice was that majority were community tyrants with history of violence. Under Okowa, a notorious fellow with Uvwie and Delta North roots was freed from awaiting trial for alleged heinous crimes to become a powerful governor's Aide whose key role was to restore balance of power in Uvwie against fellow community tyrants who were not loyal to the governor. He soon met his waterloo, brutally shot dead by his own betrayers.
Disappointingly, one thing is common with these deviants the governors of Delta chose as aides. Majority are grossly uninformed, some without S75, at the risk of sounding immodest. These dregs of society are lorded over the majority alienated peace minded & well informed graduate youths who are confined to 'keke' riding for a living.
The collateral damage is that the PDP hegemony has, since 1999, induced violence and criminality in our communities because the tendency is for the empowered deviants to influence the peaceful to join the bandwagon as the goons decorated as governor’s aides mock the majority alienated graduates with the fallacy, "school na scam."
Dealing with the situation at hand the pedestrian tone of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr Kingsley Emu's announcement of the suspension of Eruteyan loudly exposed how unfeeling Governor Oborevwori is towards the killing of Ophie.
The SSG had stated, “The Delta State Government has announced termination of the appointment of Mr Eruteyan Ejiro Eradajaye, Senior Special Assistant, to the Governor on Special Duties with immediate effect.
“Also, members of the public are warned to desist from having any dealings with him as a government appointee as he is no longer under the employment of the Delta State Government."
How disappointing. A Governor's Aide has reportedly murdered a fellow community man and all the governor is concerned with is to sack him and warned the public not to have dealings with the suspect.
A responsible governor, irrespective of whatever preliminary information he has received should visit to commiserate with the family and community where his Aide reportedly killed a soul. He should be seen putting pressure on the Police to track and arrest the criminal aide, not in conclusion that he is guilty as charged but to ensure he faces the law for justice to prevail.
Even the Delta Police Command should share the blame even as the Command's Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO) SP Bright Edafe, gave face saving confirmation of the alleged murder and further confirming that the prime suspect is on the run.
From emerging feelers, the DPO Orerokpe is said to have been on the know by community complaints on how the prime suspect was building up his renewed terror against his own community.
If the DPO had been proactive, maybe Ophie would still be alive today to tell his ordeal in the hands of the depraved Oborevwori's Aide. And when it degenerated to killing, the DPO was said to have trivialized the matter as "a case of two fighting". I ask Mr DPO, does the law cheer a party who murdered an opponent, assuming without conceding that it was two fighting?
I challenge Governor Oborevweri to go beyond the surface. The murder in your own community backyard, with the prime suspect who was your aide dents your personal image and that of your sacred office you hold.
Visit the bereaved family of the murdered Ophie if you have not done so. We hear the late sand merchant's wife had died before now and his child has suddenly been orphaned by the father's death, throwing the innocent child into a bleak future. Visit the family and community.
Make some commitment to the child who is a Deltan too. Your job is not done on this matter. And Deltans and the world are watching. Above all, reevaluate a profiling on the many questionable characters you have as SSAs and similar bloated appointees. You can change the narrative of PDP's preference for violent youths as political aides.
Mr Governor, if you sack Eruteyan as Aide, have you also sacked him as best friend to your son?
"Oshare, you no do well for this matter oo. The stain rub you oo, but get chance to correct your error. You no dey gree take advice oo. You go gree take dis one so?"
Zik Gbemre
September 19, 2024
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