By Egufe Yafugborhi

The red soil of Oghara Kingdom, once celebrated as the welcoming “Gateway to Urhoboland,” is again soaked in blood.

On June 25, 2026, a husband and wife were abducted on the Otefe-Ovade Link Road. The husband was executed by his captors; the wife was released only after ransom was paid. For the Oghara Study Group (OSG), it was not an isolated tragedy. It was further evidence of a Delta State Government that speaks security in rhetoric but offers disenchantment in action.

In an outcry on July 2, OSG laid bare six months of verified attacks that have turned Oghara into a corridor of fear for residents.

Idle law, blind policing, dead citizens

The June 25 killing came just a week after Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s June 17 Delta State Security Summit in Asaba. That summit was a talk show overshadowing the Delta State Security Trust Fund, which raised billions of naira at its launch in October last year. Tantita Security Services’ Chairman, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo), donated a staggering N10 billion of the total sum realised.

For stakeholders, the math does not add up. With an idle state anti-open grazing law the government has no political will to enforce, and a Police force appearing blind or slow to tackling herders or bandit attacks in this part of the country, the summit’s commitments are not finding meaningful expression.

“As reckonings for the gaps in law enforcement, the latest kidnap/killings again underscore the loud caution to Oborevwori to redirect government security spending from pampering federal security agencies to empowering community defence.”

Toll on the people

The OSG’s verified incident log, compiled with Palace and vigilante records, paints a gloomy pattern across Oghareki and Ogharefe sub-clans, with consequences untold: January 2026, Ovade Junction: Armed raid, kidnapping. Victim released after ransom. February 2026, Ijomi Village: Armed raid. Abductee died before rescue. March 2026, Ogharefe: Armed raid, kidnapping. Victim released after ransom.

April 2026, Otefe Village: Farmer raped and killed during an armed raid. May 2026, Ogharefe: Farmer killed in a failed rescue after ransom was paid. Body not recovered. June 23, Ologbo-Benin Road: Kidnapping with victim still in captivity as of briefing date. June 25, Otefe-Ovade Link Road: Couple kidnapped, husband murdered, wife released after ransom.

In 2025, OSG documented four abductions, three of whom were killed and one released on ransom.

Days after, no security statement

Stakeholders also flagged the police response to the June 25 killing. Nine days after the murder, residents note there has been no meaningful official statement from the Delta State Police hierarchy, no situation report, no follow-up specific to the Oghara saga.

“All you see are general reported cases of intervention and arrests across the state,” a resident lamented, arguing that the silence compounds fear and erodes public confidence in law enforcement.

A kingdom under siege

Oghara is not all hinterland. It hosts DELSUTH, the state premier teaching hospital where four medical doctors were kidnapped and family members compelled to raise ransom to secure their release within a year. The kingdom is also host to Delta State Polytechnic, Otefe-Oghara, Western Delta University, and oil operations by Pan Ocean, NPDC and Prudent Energy. It sits on the strategic Warri-Sapele corridor.

OSG, convened by Rev. David Ugolor and Prof. Ogheneruonah Eghweree, says the corridor has become an artery for “extortion, harassment, and violent crime.” Institutions are no longer safe. Armed raids have been recorded on tertiary campuses. Cult clashes, ritual killings and kidnapping-for-ransom syndicates now operate “with increasing boldness.”

OSG’s demands

The study group calls for the Ovie of Oghara, Council of Elders, and civic structures to be treated as “legitimate partners, not bystanders” in security strategies.

To Asaba: Reinforce the Oghara/Sapele Police Division, formally integrate and support community vigilantes, commission independent security assessment for Ethiope West with Oghara as priority. To Ethiope West Council: Convene an emergency security summit, fund street lighting and rapid-alert systems, and create a standing LGA-community security desk.

Wider backing for community defence

Social justice advocate, Zik Gbemre champions calls to empower communities. Gbemre, Coordinator of the Niger-Delta Peace Coalition, dismissed reliance on federal forces after the June 17 Delta Security Summit, arguing::”Putting security of Deltans into the hands of the federal military and police alone is turning into a fatal mistake. Federal security forces cannot even protect themselves, let alone everyday citizens.”

Gbemre prescribed direct funding for community surveillance teams with thermal drones instead. “True security will never be imported from Abuja through a compromised federal apparatus. If communities do not take up the historical responsibility to secure their own lands, no one else will,” he stated.

Question to government

OSG’s agitation ends as “a considered civic appeal grounded in the lived experience of the Oghara people.”

With that backing, the question to Governor Oborevwori is direct: After billions pledged at the Security Summit and Trust Fund, will Asaba empower community defence in Oghara, or continue with rhetoric alone?