BY EGUFE YAFUGBORHI

WARRI—The tension in Otokutu, Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State over the controversial seizure of public school land by the community leaders appeared to have died down as the council of elders has declared support for the community’s President General, Chief Stephen Okonedo.

It will be recalled that tension heightened after a segment of the community accused Chief  Okonedo of encroaching and selling communal land allocated years ago to Otokutu Grammar School and appropriating the proceeds for personal use.

In a statement by Maj. Obadatite Koveyan (rtd), the oldest man and six others, the Otokutu elders described those angered by Okonedo’s role in the Otokutu Grammar School land saga as bent on causing conflict to tear the community apart.

The statement read, “The President did not trespass nor has any intention to sell any part of Otokutu Grammar School land. The area cleared and mapped out are not part of the school. They are designed for cemetery and other community projects for rapid development.

“The Elders are behind the President General on all decisions and projects embarked on. We are united and not divided as being claimed by some persons, who failed to reveal their identity in the media.”