Few weeks after some Catholic priests were murdered inside some churches in Benue state, a youth leader narrowly missed same experienced in the hands of his brother.
The youth leader who worships with a Pentecostal Church at Bilabiri 11 community in Ekeremo Local Government Area of Bayelsa state, escaped death for refusing to worship with his brothers in a White
Garment Church (name withheld) and had since been deprived of some community benefits.
Mr. Emmanuel Deboh, who is the President of Dodo Youths Federated Council of Mein Clan, while recounting his ordeal, after recovering from treatment that involved being placed on a life support system, said, “on April 15, at about 2:a.m in the morning, some suspected gun men stormed Mrs. Benakere’s (my mother’s) apartment in Chief Deboh family resident shooting sporadically into the air and to my greatest surprise, they turned out to be my half-brothers who have deprived me of community benefits over the years.
“Until now, my elder half-brother have been the Chairman, Community Development Council and also doubles as the Chairman, General Memorandum of Understanding (GMOU) in charge of community employments, sharing of benefits such as environmental hazards compensations from oil companies and government, and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) scholarship scheme amongst others.
“Functioning as the CDC and GMOU Chairman at the same time, is even against the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Operation and Procedures Guidelines (OPPG) that states “no CDC member of Traditional Ruler shall be a member of GMOU cluster member”, but for his muzzling and cowering people of the community, nobody cautioned him.
“Upon the expiration of his tenure as GMOU Chairman, instead of conducting an election for a democratically elected leader to emerge, he wanted to install his immediate younger one and when I objected, he threatened to kill me.
“I started receiving calls of threats from April 5th, 2018, after opposing him and the company refused the inauguration of his people as members of the GMoU cluster.
“After I was attacked on that fateful night with guns and machetes, I could only remember when they were stabbing me and dragging me into the bush, the next thing I knew was waking up to find myself in the hospital.
“As I speak, I have fracture on my right leg, demonstrable calvarial fracture in my skull; sinuses (paranasal) showed obviously anomalies and abnormal calcification or lucency with signs of chronically raised intra cranial pressure in my skull.
“I therefore call on security agencies with utmost urgency to come to our aid and save us from the hands of these miscreants who boast of having connections in Operation Delta Save to undo anybody that crossed their lines.
Meanwhile, when contacted on the phone, Mr. Friday Deboh, denied the allegations against his family.
According to him, the incident is a family that will be resolved within the family.
By Daniel Domotimi
Support Quality Journalism in the Niger Delta Region
Join us in our mission to bring development journalism, cultural preservation, and environmental awareness to the forefront. Your contribution makes a difference in the lives of the people of the Niger Delta. Donate today and be a part of the change!
Leave feedback about this
You must be logged in to post a comment.