Commissioner of Police in Delta State, Mr. Adeleke Adeyinka, read the riot act, yesterday, at Asaba, after some rampaging hoodlums, on Sunday, drove nail into the head of a villager and wounded three others with machete in a bloodletting, on Sunday, at Oginibu community, Ughelli South Local Government Area, Delta State.

At least four of the injured persons, including the local cut on his head with a cutlass, were yesterday, at the Police Headquarters in Asaba.

The Commissioner at a meeting in Asaba with the former Minister of State for Education, Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi, who led the Oginibu people and Mr. Andrew Desi, leader of the Oginibo delegation, directed the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, in the area to handle all cases of criminality in the area with firmness.

After hearing from the leaders, he urged the Special Adviser to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa on Peace Building and Conflict Resolution, Chief Edwin Uzor, who attended the meeting, to meet with the warring parties and come out with the way forward.

“The state government should take charge, all cases of criminality should be reported to the Police, the Divisional Police Officer should open case files for all the cases and handover to the headquarters the ones that cannot be treated at the divisional level. The issue of Oginibu or Oginibo should not lead to a crisis in the community, “he said.

The Commissioner asked leaders of the community to warn their followers to maintain the peace, saying, “If you are found not to be peaceful, we will pick you up and make you face the law, nobody is above the law.”

Adeyinka also warned that if the people refused to maintain peace and continue to cause a crisis, the police would not hesitate to impose a curfew on the town.

Olorogun Gbagi told the Commissioner that some people sponsored hoodlums to attack members of community executive on Sunday in their bid to hijack the community’s leadership after allegedly selling the community’s land.

“They invaded the Baptist Church on Sunday where they attacked a member of the executive and went to the homes of some of the executive members to machete them. One of them was shot earlier and they reported to the police,” he alleged.

However, Mr. Desi, who denied that anybody sold the community’s land, said the change of the community’s name from Oginibo to Oginibu by Gbagi and some persons was the root cause of the current crisis bedeviling the community.

While Gbagi maintained name change was not the issue, but criminality and that in any case, the entire community resolved to change the name from Oginibo to Oginibo, Desi vehemently disputed the claim.

An elder from the community said at the meeting that change of name was authorized by the people, while some suggested that both sides should wait for the community’s annual conference between December 25 and 26 to table their demands.

Chief Uzor assured that the state government, which was already aware of the crisis, will visit the community on Monday to meet with the parties and head of the community to resolve the dispute. (Vanguard)

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