Ivwurie and the burden of herdsmen brutality in Ethiope East

Palmer Ogheneyole Nathaniel

For the honourable Member representing Ethiope East Constituency and Chairman, House Committee on Works in Delta State House of Assembly, Olorogun Hon. Evance Ochuko Ivwurie, these are not the best of times. After a long week in Asaba working to compel erring contractors to return to site, all that rammed through his mind was the ambience of his Abraka castle. He had thought of having a quiet time with his family, with a few meetings in furtherance of his consultation for 2019. Never in his wildest imagination did he envisage paying condolence visits at a time like this. But the marauding Fulani herdsmen won’t hear any of these.  Their desire to ensure that sorrow reign in the land is unwavering. They kill. They steal. They maim. They destroy farmlands. They rape. Sadly in Abraka, the heady days of rapacious murders are here again.

Mr. Happy Akpomiemie, a man of 56years old with 11 children was the latest victim of the bullets of the human-hunting herdsmen. His only offense was living in a nation unlucky enough to have a man with no human face at the helm of affairs. Like every normal Nigerian who have to go through tortuous toils to earn a living, Akpomiemie left home that morning to his farm only to be brought home in shield. A farm he leased with his own money. A farm he owned by right. But fate gave him a bitter pill to swallow. Some insidious creatures whose grand patron seeks to recolonize us in a daring but subtle manner, visited him in his farm. A cruel and macabre visit I dare say. They brought out their guns, and rained tones of bullets on their host. To them, being born an “infidel” means not fit to live, they left thereafter.

The situation in Ethiope East is sad and unimaginable. On three different occasions, precisely Monday 9th March, 2016, Tuesday 31st March, 2016 and Monday April 6th, 2016, Ivwurie led a team of local vigilantes, officers of the Nigerian Police and a number of personal aides to confront these marauding herdsmen in the forest of Abraka. The daring exercise paid off, as several of the jihadists were chased out of the community. Today, they are back and now even deadlier. But Iwvurie is more than ready for them. He will never sit and watch some idiots slaughter his constituents like some xmas chicken. He has vowed to do everything within his power to ensure that another story of this nature isn’t repeated. Never!

On several occasions, Hon. Ivwurie had raised this issue in the floor of the State House of Assembly during plenary under matters of urgent public importance. But sadly enough, the relevant authorities have not done enough to protect the people against these unprovoked attacks. As a matter of fact, Ivwurie is urging the people to resort to self-help and defend themselves against these senseless killings. He is stating that enough is enough. Never again will the land of Ethiope East be soaked in the blood of its citizens courtesy of some sons of pigs who has zero value for the worth of human life. In the next couple of days, the Lawmaker will be interfacing directly with community leaders, vigilantes and concerned citizens on possible ways of ensuring that these attacks are commensurately resisted whenever it comes.

While addressing the youths of his constituency after discovering Akpomiemie’s corpse, Ivwurie said, “Fulani herdsmen have killed 12 people in 30 months and the people of Ethiope East have said enough is enough. Henceforth, we are resorting to self-help”. Like a gallant leader, like a roaring lion who is duty-bound to defend his territory, Ivwurie has warned all manners of herdsmen to move far from his constituency or face dire consequences.

Palmer, a former Newspaper Editor now a Media Consultant, writes from Asaba