LAGOS JANUARY 15TH (URHOBOTODAY)-Kolokolo community in Benin Kingdom of Edo State have cried out to President Muhammadu Buhari, Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki and the Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, to come to their rescue following alleged attacks on them.
Addressing a press conference at the Talakawa parliament in Benin City, spokesperson for the community, Sunny Etchie, said that following a protest against the Iyasere of Warri Kingdom, Chief Johnson Aseleghe, on January 9, 2020 to the Oba of Benin’s palace over his subjecting Kolokolo to his traditional rulership, their lives and community had been under threat.
He alleged that several attacks on the community were orchestrated by persons believed to be loyal to the Iyasere.
Etchie said, “The protest came as a result of further threat of life and to launch another attack on members of the community, which eventually came to pass after due notification to the Assistant inspector General (AIG) and other security agencies.”
He said the community had reported the Iyasere to the Secretary to State Government (SSG).
According to him, trouble started when the Iyasere tried to stop road development from Kolokolo to Ikpako benefiting over 15 communities cutting across Ikpoba Okha and Ovia North East Council in Edo.
He called on the government to prosecute those involved in the attack and compel their sponsors to pay for everything lost during the attack of the community.
Security agencies, he added, should ensure that lives and property are secured henceforth in the community, demanding that persons whose properties were destroyed during the attack are compensated.
“Emphatically, it is on record that we, Kolokolo community, are in Benin Kingdom of Edo State where our allegiance is to the Oba of Benin and the Enogie (Duke) of Ologbo Dukedom in line with Nigeria’s Constitution applicable in Edo state,” Etchie said.
But the Iyasere said the people who were protesting were not from Kolokolo community.
He added that the people of Kolokolo had since taken the matter to the Olu of Warri and that the monarch was already looking into the matter with a view to resolving it, hence he could not speak further on the matter.
“The people protesting in Benin over the attack on them and their community are not from Kolokolo community. The matter of Kolokolo community is already before the Olu of Warri and as such I cannot say anything,” Aseleghe said.
Guardian