*Allegedly assault indigenes, destroy cocoa farms, crops

*Erhunrhun clan head making matters difficult— HRM Yesufu Dirisu, Okpella monarch
* It’s all lies- HRH Moses Braimoh

By GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

OGUTE-OKPELLA—YOUTHS of Erhunrhun –Uneme community, Akoko Edo Local Government Area, Edo State, have reportedly cordoned the access road leading to Ogute-Okpella, Etsako East Local Government Area of the state, as tension mounts between the two border towns, which clashed over land, last month.
One person reportedly died, five proclaimed missing, while over100 persons fled their homes in the February 21 fracas that witnessed the destruction and burning of several houses and vehicles.

High Chief Andrew Osheku, who oversees Ogute-Okpella community for the Okuokpellagbe of Okpella, HRM (Dr.) A. Y. Dirisu, told Niger Delta Voice that, “They, the youths of Erhunrun have blocked other routes leading to our farmlands and circumvent the joint military/police checkpoints, beat up our people, destroy our farms and crops. They still go and meet our people in their farms.”

His words: “They are still attacking our people, only few days ago, they attacked our people who were on their way to the farm and the victims were taking to Okpella Police Station, Okpella. They have remained the aggressors but our leaders have appealed to our youths to heed the advice of our royal father, HRM Dirisu, not to attack them since government is intervening in the crisis.”

He wondered why, in spite of the deployment of soldiers and policemen, Erhurhun people took the laws into their hands, setting the cocoa farms of Ogute Okpella people ablaze.

My subjects under attack— Okuokpellagbe of Okpella

The Okuokpellagbe of Okpella, HRM, Dr. A.Y Dirisu, confirmed to Niger Delta Voice at his palace that the aggressors attacked one of his subjects resident in Igarra on his way home, while another, Mr. Adamu, a father of six children, was still missing, about two weeks after the incident.

On the immediate cause of the crisis, the royal father asserted: “At about 8.30 am on Sunday, February 21, 2016, I got information that there was a clash between my people in Ogute and Uneme- Erhunrhun. I called my Personal Assistant to go to the place and get first hand information.”

“I was informed that an Ogute man fell some trees and cut the wood in the bush. He took two lorries to carry the planks back, but when he was returning, people from Erhunrhun attacked him and others with them. We are still looking for one of my subjects by the name, Adamu.

“Also another member of my subjects, living in Igarra, was also attacked on his way home. The root cause of the matter is about the ownership of this forest they are talking about; the Uneme people have no common boundary with the Ogutes. The Uneme Erhunrhun people are on Okpella land and now saying that the land belongs to them,” he claimed.

His words: “One of my predecessors, Prince Malik Afegbua, who was the District Head of Okpella during the amalgamation of the North and South was the one that allowed Uneme-Erhunrhun people to stay on that portion of our land.”

HRM Dirisu added: “As the traditional ruler, whatever he wants to do on any land in Okpella, he has the power. He allowed them to stay. Our land tenure system is the type that confers ownership of land on the kindred , but whoever is the traditional ruler holds it in trust for the entire people and takes decision on the land in consultation with the kindred.”

Okpella has no boundary with Uneme— Erhunrhun
“They are claiming that it is their own land. This was what brought a clash in 1981 during the administration of late Ambrose Alli. The White Paper issued by the then government clearly stated that Okpella has no boundary with Uneme Erhunrhun but with Dangbala at River Orle.

“That they are saying that I am the one causing problem is bad, they should be grateful that somebody like me is the traditional ruler of Okpella today. I am a peaceful person, but I do not like violence. All they are doing is to provoke our people. Their traditional ruler is not helping issues; I have called him several times that if there must be peace there; let us look for ways to resolve any arising issue. The forest in dispute is very big,” he said.

Nothing to do with mineral deposits
The Okuokpellagbe denied that the crisis was over mineral deposits in the disputed area, saying: “That place is Ogute-Okpella land and not for Uneme-Erhunrhun people in Akoko-Edo. It is not true that the dispute was caused by mineral deposits.”

He disclosed: “My people reported to me that there are traces of limestone deposit in that area. I contacted BUA Cement Company and Dangote to go there and do exploration to see if the deposits are of commercial value so that they can come back for us to discuss. As soon as they saw the people working, they did a petition that BUA came to their land of do exploration without their permit.”

Wife of missing Adamu cries for help
When Niger Delta Voice visited the family of the alleged missing person from Ogute- Okpella, Adamu, his 35 years old wife, Mrs. Mariam Adamu, lapping one of six children, was in tears. She said that her husband never told her where he was going and when he would return, adding. “My greatest problem is how to explain his whereabouts to the children, who have been asking of their father.”

An Okpella leader, High Chief Joe Ojo, said he was at a loss over the sharp disagreement between the two communities, as after the 1981 crisis, the Okuokpellagbe set up a committee that enabled people from both sides to meet regularly, pointing out that up to 1950, The Erhunrun – Uneme paid royalty to the Okpella.

Erhunrun clan head punctures allegations
Clan Head of Erhunrun- Uneme, HRM Moses Braimoh, community leader, Prince Joel Itemoagbo and others, who maintained that Erhunrun people own the disputed land, debunked the several allegations against them by Okpella people.

HRM Braimoh said the White Paper of the Justice S. Ajuyah Commission of Inquiry that looked into the 1981 disturbances blamed Okpella people for entering into their land. He, therefore, called on the Edo State government to define the boundary between both communities for peace to reign.

Oshiomhole

Prince Itemoagbo said Ogute-Okpella people were the aggressors and that it was wrong to describe them as tenants in their homeland. He said Okpella people keep talking about the Judicial Commission of Inquiry, but they do not talk about the government White Paper on the report.

What the White Paper said
Findings showed that crisis first erupted between Ehrurun and Ogute-Okpella on 4th  February 1981, in the defunct Bendel State over the extraction of timber from Unufi forest for the building of a Grammar School.

It resulted in arson and wanton destruction of properties worth thousands of naira in Erhurun following an alleged attack by the people of Ogute – Okpella. Following the clash between both communities, the then civilian government of late Prof. Ambrose Alli set up a Judicial Commission of Inquiry, headed by late Justice S.A. Ajuya, to look into the remote and immediate cause of the disturbance.

The Commission of Inquiry in the said White Paper issued by the then Bendel State government in 1985, held: “That although, administratively, Unufi forest is in Akoko-Edo Division, it is the property of Ogute- Okpella, which owns the land in Erhunrun and beyond”

It stated: “Dangbala and Okpella has a common boundary and it is River Orle, Dangbala has no boundary with Ehrunrun-Uneme , the Erhunrun- Uneme have no traditional boundary with Okpella, the Erhunrun- Unemes are tenants on the land they occupy.”

The commission, however, blamed the Ogute- Okpella for the attack on the Erhunrun-Uneme and described them as the aggressors and perpetrators of the arson and destruction of properties that took place during the crisis.

Govt should take the bull by the horn— High Chief Hanson Aimofumeh
High Chief Hanson Aimofumeh, who dismissed the contention of the Erhunrhuns, said: “The communal clash of Sunday, 21 February, 2016 is not the first and will definitely not be the last unless the government summons the courage to do the needful.”

“It is worth mentioning that an attempt to alter the boundary of Okpella to the north was resisted and rejected by government, as there cannot exist a boundary between a tenant and a landlord on the same land.

“I am increasingly worried that up till now, the Uneme – Erhunrhuns do not appear to understand and appreciate the weight of the above decisions of government, flowing from a Judicial Commission of Inquiry.

“The weight of evidence clearly rest in favor of Okpella and little wonder these decisions were never challenged. It is now 31 years since the White Paper was released to the public,” he asserted.

He advised government to rise to the occasion and implement the recommendations to the fullest without fear or favor, saying, “It is only by so doing that sustainable peace will reign in the region.”