By Emma Amaize
WARRI — THE crisis in the Urhobo Progress Union, UPU, over the planned dissolution of the executive of Ighele Urhobo, the youth wing of the apex Urhobo group, took a dangerous dimension on Monday, when seven suspected assassins stormed Eku in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State to allegedly kill the national youth president, Mr. Avweroruoghene Okoro.

Vanguard learnt that there was pandemonium in the community from about 8:00 p.m. till midnight,  as the Eku Vigilance group, led by Mr. Okis Agboghoroma, engaged the hired killers, one of whom was captured and handed over to the police after a fierce gun battle.

The Mercedez Benz car, which was used by the assassins was seized by the vigilance group and also handed over to the police. While the shoot-out lasted, traders quickly locked up their stores while residents took cover.

Vanguard further learnt that six of the suspected assassins succeeded in escaping from the community in the ensuing melee while one of them, a security agent, believed to be on illegal duty was arrested.

Narrating his ordeal to Vanguard in Eku, yesterday, Okoro fingered a top official of  UPU as being the mastermind of the plan to kill him because of his refusal to support his ambition to become the next president of the UPU.

He said that a youth leader from Agbarha-Otor,  who he had not seen for a very long time was the one who led the assassins to his house on Monday evening, but unfortunately for them, one of his aides suspected their movement and raised alarm.

Okoro said the assassins claimed they were policemen and seized the aide until the Eku Vigilance group arrived and engaged them in a shootout.

The Urhobo youth leader explained that the alleged mastermind  had earlier offered him (Okoro) bribe, running into millions of naira to support the presidential  ambition of  one of the Northern PDP presidential aspirants, but he rejected the money, only for him to reach out to the Ighele leaders in the 23 kingdoms of the Urhobo nation.

Okoro said the grand design of the official was to hijack the leadership of the youth group in the 23 kingdoms for the presidential aspirant and also install himself as the next UPU president in December but, unknown to the official, he had informed the other youth leaders of his offer, and they shunned him when he came with money to bribe them.

He stated: “All these things that are happening would not have happened if the UPU President, Olorogun Felix Ibru, had been around; he was ill and was flown abroad for treatment for three months now. They wanted to dissolve the Ighele national executive by all means and when they wrote their first report, Ibru rejected it and directed that they should follow the constitution. Because he is not around now, they want to unconstitutionally dissolve the executive”.

“We have read reports that Urhobo youths attacked UPU leaders at the residence of the president, Olorogun Felix Ibru, which is not what happened. What happened was that the Ighele got wind that some UPU leaders wanted to illegally dissolve the executive of the youth body, a delegation was sent to present a letter to the acting national president, Major General Patrick Aziza (rtd), who is meeting with other national officers to retrace their steps.

“Instead of receiving the youths and listening to their grievances, he ordered them to get out of the venue of the meeting and his conduct infuriated the youths, who insisted that they are equal stakeholders in the UPU and that led to the little fracas.

It is not that they went there to attack the elders”, he stated.