Fast-track Okuama villagers’ resettlement, monarchs urge govt

The  leadership of the Urhobo Council of Traditional Rulers has called for the immediate rehabilitation of the Okuama ancestral community in the Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State, to fast-track the return of the displaced residents to their rural homestead.

The Okuama community was demolished by the military, following the killing on March 14, 2024, of 17 officers and soldiers said to be on a peace mission to the community by yet-to-be-identified gunmen.

Following the devastation of the community, displaced indigenes who had taken refuge in the creeks and nearby bushes were temporarily resettled at the Ewu-Urhobo internally displaced person camp, pending the rehabilitation of their community.

Governor Sheriff Oborevwori promised to reconstruct the devastated community and rehabilitate the indigenes afterwards.

He said his administration had already awarded contracts for the reconstruction of the destroyed primary healthcare and six classroom blocks for primary and secondary schools in Okuama community

The governor also stated that the displaced Okuama indigenes currently being housed at the Ewu-Okuama IDP camp would soon be returning home, following the return of peace in the area.

“Very soon, they will return to Okuama. I want to continue to count on your cooperation and support. You people (traditional rulers) are our fathers and should continue to advise us.

“I want to also thank our royal fathers for your visit to the Okuama IDPs camp and also the visit to Okuama village. It is not a place to go by car; you went in a boat and also gave them relief materials,” Oborevwori said when he played host to the leadership of Urhobo Council of Traditional Rulers, led by its Chairman and Ovie of Uvwie Kingdom, Emmanuel Sideso Abe 1, and the Urhobo Progress Union Worldwide, led by its President General, Chief Ese Gam, at the Government House, Asaba.

Worried by the continued stay of the displaced indigenes in the IDP camp, one of the frontline Urhobo groups, the Urhobo Social Club of Nigeria, appealed to the Delta State government to act fast in rebuilding the vandalised Okuama community.

This, the group said, would pave the way for the early return of the troubled indigenes to their ancestral home.

Members of the Urhobo Social Club of Nigeria, Lagos, led by their President, Chief Wilson Okpubigho, made the appeal on Saturday, when a delegation of the club visited the IDP camp at Ewu-Urhobo, to donate relief materials to the inmates.

Items donated included a big cow, 20 bags of 50kg rice and 10 bags of 50kg garri, among others, which were acknowledged with gratitude by the chairman of the IDP camp management committee, Mr Abraham Ogbodo.

Speaking during the presentation, Okpubigho said, “We are sure that with the MORE Agenda of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and the human face, it would not be too long before Okuama people will go back home.

“Urhobo Social Club of Nigeria, Lagos, wants to encourage the Delta State government to act fast in rebuilding Okuama.

“As you all know, the Urhobo Social Club doesn’t shy away from anything that concerns the Urhobo nation. So, we will not relent in our efforts until we see that Okuama people are resettled in their place.”

Earlier, Ogbodo acknowledged the donation of N1m to the camp by Oskar Ibru, on behalf of the Ibru dynasty.

“Without prompting, he sent N1m for us to get the camp the big cow you are seeing and three cartons of fish to alleviate the suffering of our people and to complement government efforts”

Meanwhile, a Peoples Democratic Party chieftain in the Ughelli North LGA, Hon. Roland Oyibo, has urged the Urhobo political class, Urhobo clerics and churches to take a cue from the Council of Urhobo Traditional Rulers, UPU leadership and other Urhobo sons and daughters by donating relief materials to the displaced Okuama people.

Oyibo, a chairmanship aspirant in Ughelli North LGA during the just-concluded local government election, said “Politicians should not just be seen when they want to ask for people’s votes during elections, but should also identify with them by lending helping hands during a challenging time like the one that befell Okuama people.”