Otuaro denies hand in Ugborodo community crisis

Deputy Governor, of Delta State, Kingsley Otuaro, has absolved his office of complicity in the ongoing crisis at Ugborodo, an Itsekiri community in Warri South West Local Council .

Members of the setlement had protested against their lordship by the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Ikenwoli.

Soldiers and policemen were to be deployed to maintain law and order.

Some Itsekiri youths had accused the deputy governor of wanting to allegedly install one Benson Omadeli as the Olaja-Orori of Ugborodo, the kingdom’s monarch.

Ugborodo, an oil rich community, hosts the abandoned multi-billion naira Export Processing Zone (EPZ).

Otuaro, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Bulou Kosin, denied involvement in the entire episode, saying the claim was false.

His words: “I am an Ijaw man from Gbaramatu Kingdom and have no hand in the Ugborodo communal crisis. The people of Gbaramatu Kingdom see the Itsekiri people of Ugborodo as their immediate neighbours and brothers and have lived with them in peace for a long time.

“History bears testimony that as a person, I have championed peace between the Ijaw and Itsekiri, including Ugborodo during the inter-ethnic crisis that eventually brought peace to Warri in 2004.

“Since assuming office as deputy governor, I have continued to traverse Ijaw and Itsekiri communities for peace in promotion of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s SMART agenda to attract government attention and investors to the areas, which need peace for rapid development.”

He urged members of the public to disregard the claims and appealed to all communities to pursue peace and good neighbourliness for the overall development of the state.