Benue govt suspends contenders to Edikwu stool

Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has ordered the suspension of the two contenders to the stool of Edikwu District in Apa local government, where thirteen people were killed.

It will be recalled that hired gunmen invaded the Okpogo, Edikwu District in Apa local government in the early hours on Monday and murdered thirteen people.

Speaking on the crisis yesterday, Governor Ortom who decried the attack said that aside from the suspension, the government had beefed up security in the area.

Tribune online further check revealed that over 100-year- old weak and frail man was among those who were murdered.

The source, who did not want to be mentioned said that the victims were slaughtered and their bodies dumped in wells.

The anonymous source said, “The two wells in which the victims’ bodies were dumped were evidently stained with marks of blood.

“There was a bungalow used as a church from which one worshipper was forced out and killed outside the church building.

“His body was dragged across the road to where it was dumped into one of the wells.

Meanwhile, the two contenders have accused each other of being responsible for the attack in the community.

Chief Otokpa David Imoni, one of the contenders in a statement he personally issued and gave to the Tribune Online in Makurdi yesterday, accused his rival, Mr Stephen Adah Ochekwu as the mastermind of the attack.

Chief Imoni alleged that Mr Ochekwu resorted to violence after his efforts to clinch the clan/district headship of the community failed both in court and before the kingmakers.

He traced Mr Ochekwu’s violent escapades to 2014 when six people, including two officers of Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps, NSCDC, were killed by the militia gangs he allegedly hired in his bid to make Ijaha, his mother’s clan, which is said to be non-indigenous an autonomous entity by enthroning a rival clan head in Edikwu.

“Thereupon, irate youths went after the hired militiamen who had run out of ammunition, and 3 were killed while the others escaped. The mob proceeded into Ijaha community and burnt down more than 1/3 of the village as residents had already fled to the community upon hearing about the advancing mob.

“Only a few people of Ijaha who were evidently not involved with Mr Stephen Ada Ochekwu now live in the Edikwu village known as Ikaduna-Olijamu as the majority fled for fear of reprisals and are still yet to return to Edikwu.

“Mr Stephen Ada Ochekwu also left Edikwu Community on self-imposed exile since the incident took place in the year 2014.”

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Chief Imoni also alleged that Mr Ochekwu enlisted the support of his bosom friend, the paramount ruler of Apa Local Government Area, HRH John Enefu Antenyi and secured written approval from the Benue State Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in 2003 when the dispute over who was the valid Clan/District Head of Edikwu was pending at the Court of Appeal sitting in Jos (Appeal No: CA/J/212/2001).

“The Kingmakers of the Community, therefore, went to court to challenge the action of the said paramount ruler who procured appointment letter for Mr Stephen Ada Ochekwu during the pendency of the dispute on the grounds that the issuance of government approval in spite of the case in court, was an act in contempt of court and therefore sub judice in Suit No: MHC/122/2010.

“Mr Stephen Ada Ochekwu, on the other hand, responded to Suit No: MHC/122/2010 by way Motion No: MHC/134m/2011 and Motion No: MHC/1658m/2013) in which he contended that the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court had ruled that he was validly appointed as Clan/District Head of Edikwu – and therefore the parent suit challenging his appointment should be struck out on the ground that a lower court cannot be trying a case that has been decided by superior courts.

“To Mr Stephen Ada Ochekwu’s dismay, the High Court of Benue State decided that the cases that went to both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court were about the transfer of chieftaincy properties of Edikwu between one Mr Emmanuel Atungwu and Mr Stephen Ada Ochekwu. But that the issue before the High Court of Benue State was however not about any property but rather about the validity of the appointment of the Clan/District Head of Edikwu. And because the issues are not the same, Mr Stephen Ada Ochekwu’s cases were dismissed.

“Thereafter, Mr Stephen Ada Ochekwu proceeded on appeal in Appeal No: CA/MK/51/2014 but still lost out as the justices agreed with the High Court of Benue State that no court (including the Supreme and Appeal Courts) had ever ruled that the appointment of Mr Stephen Ada Ochekwu was valid. He was therefore advised to go and prove whether he was validly appointed as he claimed – but instead, Mr Stephen Ada Ochekwu had other plans.

“Ever since the incident took place in the year 2014, Mr Stephen Ada Ochekwu abandoned his initial decision to proceed on appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal in Appeal No: CA/MK/51/2014 to the Supreme Court.

” Instead, he now moves from one location to the other while mobilising different militia groups under various guises to attack different communities of Edikwu. His last three attacks (including the present most fatal one) took place against residents of Ukpogo community of Edikwu,” Chief Imoni submitted.

“Even in May this year, Mr Ochekwu, according to Chief Imoni, hired five masked men who attacked Ukpogo village in order to take over a land that was in dispute between a relative of his’ known as Mr Christian Oyiwoje Ichapi and another young man known as Mr Ngbede Idah.

“The attack on the family of Mr Ngbede Idah spiralled out of control leading to burning down of about seven houses and the death of one person,” Chief Imoni said.

But in a terse response from his rival, Ada Ochekwu said that Imoni should be held responsible for the killing.

In a telephone conversation, Ochekwu said, “It’s not true, he (Chief Imoni) is the one. I said it was him that brought gunmen to kill my people.”

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE