By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, South-South, Egufe Yafugborhi and Pereze Brisibe

THE Benenibowei of Gbaramatu Kingdom Warri South-West Local Government Area, Delta State, Chief Godspower Gbenekama, weekend, challenged the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Solomon Dalung, who claimed to have held talks with Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, in Oporoza, last week, to publish the name and identity of one of the members he met with.

Chief Gbenekama, who is   also the Spokesperson of the Gbaramatu Traditional Council, GTC, said the leaders of the kingdom, who were not informed about his visit, were shocked that the minister who came with miscreants and   met with women and children that generally came out to receive him as a visitor, turned round    to say that he held meeting with Avengers in Oporoza.

Dalung indeed was in Oporoza

His words:   “I can tell you from the information I got that he, Dalung, did come to Oporoza. I am a leader in Gbaramatu Kingdom. I should be aware of the on-goings in the area.”

“The purported visit of Dalung to Oporoza, to say the least, was a funny visit.   This visit is capable of causing more problems for the people of Gbaramatu, Oporoza town in particular.”

Hilarious narrative

“I do not know what Dalung meant saying he met with the Avengers in Oporoza, the traditional headquarters of Gbaramatu kingdom. I hold the title of Benenibowei of Gbaramatu and with the responsibility of that office, there is hardly anything   of significance that happens in Gbaramatu without my knowing.”

“I have been at the forefront of defending my people and setting the records straight when issues come up. I tell you unequivocally that nobody, not even me, have been able to point at somebody and say this is a member of the Avengers, not to talk of going as far as engaging him.  Therefore, I am surprised that somebody in Abuja would come to Warri   South West and Oporoza and say he is coming to talk to the Avengers. It is a funny story,” he added.

He came with miscreants, 419ers

According to him: “We heard that the Sports Minister came to Warri. We also heard he travelled to the waterfront and then went to Oporoza. I say we heard because I have pictures of his visit to Oporoza and I will share these pictures with you. In addition, the picture I have was the Sports Minister and some group of miscreants, 419ers, obviously not from Gbaramatu, but from other kingdoms, coming to Gbaramatu and posing in pictures with children under four, five years and women.”

“The women were from Gbaramatu and the children too because when a visitor comes, normally people will come to know who he is and his mission. They asked who he was and he said he cannot disclose his identity.

“It was after his departure and they shared the pictures that we now knew it was the Minister of Youths and Sports. If somebody of that stature is going to Gbaramatu to meet with the people, the community leaders should be aware. That place has a king and a traditional council. Nobody was aware.

Concealed motive

“I think the minister has a clandestine agenda he wants to execute with this bogus visit. In addition, for him to have claimed that he met with the Avengers on his visit, I challenge him to publish the name or identity of at least one person he met as an Avenger in Oporoza,” Gbenekama said.

He asserted: “This man went and the community people asked him of his mission. He said he has been to the Niger Delta, particularly Escravos in 1999. Therefore, when he heard that soldiers came to invade them, he decided to come and see what was happening. The people told him they sleep with one eye open in fear. He now told them not to worry any longer, that they can now sleep with both eyes closed and that from what he saw there was no problem. That is the same man who refused to disclose his identity.”

Gbenekama stated:   “Can you imagine that the man, who did not introduce himself would go to the media afterwards to say that he met with the Avengers, who are the Avengers? Why can’t he mention the name of one of the Avengers?

“He also said some persons presented him a handwritten letter. That is what we read in the papers. Tell me, from what we know about the Avengers, a group that hosts a website, occupies the social media and communicate in public domain, do you think they will write in biro and handwritten paper to talk to the President? Do you not think this is all a game plan to call the dog a bad name in order to hang him? I think the minister has a sinister agenda.

“And if that agenda is to destroy Gbaramatu people I am sorry for him. When the Minister of State for Petroleum visited, even though some of us had internal meetings with him and the governor, afterwards, he visited Kurutie openly. He went to Oporoza openly. When he returned, the chiefs of Gbaramatu received him at the Airport and further told him their part of the story. That is how a minister should visit. In addition, when he visited, we knew he came with sincerity,” he said.

Wicked propaganda

“Two miscreants came with the minister, they did not come separately and the duo were among persons the community asked the minister to identify, including himself. He refused. From the drama they engaged in and the minister’s utterance, he was going to make the world believe that the Avengers live in Oporoza, and initiate a malicious propaganda and blackmail to deal with us   but we will not allow anybody to do that to us again,” he added.

On the identity of the miscreants, he said: “We do not know like I said, but we will share the picture, maybe you can help identify them or ask Dalung to tell the world who they are and where they come from. They were the ones who deceived the minister to come to Oporoza.”

He met with old men, women, children

Chief Gbenekama, hinted that the public relations officer of Oporoza youths, Paul Kirifade, who was around when the minister came demanded to know his identity, but he refused to identify himself, adding: “It was from the pictures that were shared that some of us were able to pick him as the Sports Minister. To that extent he met with nobody.”

“If he can identify and put faces to those he purportedly met as Avengers and they reside among us, we will, with all sense of responsibility, invited security agencies to come for them. However, we have no doubt there is none he can point to, because we do not know whoever he met with.

“Those he met in Oporoza were a group of old men, women and children. Are those the Avengers? If they are the Avengers, let him tell us and what he told them,” he said.

Gbenekama asserted: “People, whether Ijaw or any other tribe should not struggle to use our predicament to score cheap popularity or profiteering to make money for their own gain. During the MEND era, it was Gbaramatu that was bombarded, but when Amnesty came, Ijaw and everybody from other tribes across the Niger Delta benefited.

“I know so many people outside Gbaramatu got appointments and other exclusive opportunities they wanted through our predicament. Today, they have started again, but we say it cannot be business as usual.

We don’t know Avengers

“I must tell the whole world again that Avengers don’t live in Oporoza. We do not know Avengers; we only know there was an ex-Agitator, Tompolo but the man has been driven away. If government is serious, let them engage stakeholders, who will further engage Tompolo to ensure that he uses his connections to put an end to all these bombings.

“I cannot even say every oil asset bombardment or attack is the handiwork of the Avengers because fifth columnists have started using the Avengers as a way of making fast money. I will continue to say it that contractors are deeply involved. Contractors who lurk around to snap up contracts to repair damaged oil assets are involved in the blowing up of pipelines. Dalung’s visit from this foregoing is a wicked visit to say the least,” he said.