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Describe Aladja people as “beast”
Gbaramatu youths, under the auspices of Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, has called on Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa to order Aladja people to immediately release either dead or alive, two young men allegedly abducted by Aladja people, stressing that releasing the bodies for proper burial peradventure they have been killed is a honour they deserve.
IYC also called on the governor to direct leadership of Aladja to handover perpetrators of the alleged criminal act to the appropriate security quarter for trial and conviction.
A letter written to Okowa, which was signed by clan Chairman, Comrade Godstime Ayetan; Information Officer, Comrade Godswill Doubra Wuruyai; and a clan parliamentarian, Comrade Frank Ekpemupolo, the youths said the call became imperative as they, as law abiding youths, wouldn’t want to take the law into their hands by launching a reprisal attack on the Aladjans, saying “this written note places the responsibility on you to seek justice for our cause.”
The youths recalled in their letter how Aladja people recently announced their war against the entire Ijaw nation by beheading a promising young man who hailed from Egbema kingdom in Edo State.
“The shift of focus from Ogbe-Ijoh to Ijaw nation was announced by action when the Aladja people recently in their usual bestial spirit ripped off the head of a young promising man from our sister Kingdom Egbema; same way they have used more recently to murder our brothers from Opuede Community of Gbaramatu Kingdom”, the youths stated.
Also read: Release our men within 48hours, Gbaramatu youths tell Aladja community
They said the inhumane act by Aladja people has created a long and lasting impression on every right thinking person that Aladjans are “are bestial in nature, without value for human life and without respect for the international principles of immunity of the innocent which is part of the provisions of the Just War theory that envisage rights for non-combatant to be spared during the process of war or crisis.
“The Aladjans are working seriously against the clause of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which forms the template for the hard earned Democracy of the Nigerian state, that laud the right of citizens to freedom of movement and right to life.
“The Aladja people are not just pitching tent against the Ijaw nation but also against the Nigerian state. More seriously, they are pitching tent against your SMART agenda which envisages at its peak “prosperity for all Deltans”, knowing too well that peace and development cannot thrive in a state of anarchy; where gun culture reign supreme”, they added.
The youths enjoined Okowa to urgently enthrone peace between the belligerent parties of Ogbe-Ijoh and Aladja even as people affected continue not to lose faith on the states’ ability to protect their lives and properties.
It would be recalled Samuel Monday and Solomon Ikolo, all from Gbaramatu were declared missing on Wednesday July 17 while they were going about their daily business at Ovwian/Aladja river.
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