Barely Seventeen years after the brutal killing of four Ogoni Chiefs in Giokoo, Gokana Local Government Area by an irate mob, reports by the National Network newspaper indicate that a similar calamity was recently averted only by divine intervention as politicians stormed the venue of Ogoni leaders meeting in a similar manner reported recently to have been used to disrupt a meeting of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People in Beeri, Ogoniland.
Here is a report by National Network Newspaper
Sunday, September 30, 2012 would have been another black day in the history of Ogoni Ethnic Nationality, but “for the grace of God”.
This time, the venue was not Giokoo in Gokana Local Government Area but the residential house of a Special Adviser to Governor Amaechi of Rivers State, Chief Austine Nwakoh, a highly respected personality from Khana Local Government Area in Ogoni.
Report has it that around noon time on this fateful day, some highly placed and prominent persons of Ogoni extraction, but who all are members, including out-going executive members of an elitist and socio-political organization in Ogoni, with the acronym, KAGOTE, were gathered in Chief Nwakoh’s house with the intention to conduct a planned election to usher in new set of persons as executive members to pilot the affairs of the body, bringing to an end the over eight years of non-activity, and most times, controversial and unpopular leadership of Justice Peter Akere.
Report continued that about the time the said election was to commence, some chariots of warriors or better put, bees from the Den of a highly placed politician from the area, stormed the venue of the meeting, swooped on the participants and organizers of the planned election, and as they were about releasing their venoms on the KAGOTE chieftains in the meeting, they had a second thought of first listening to the explanations coming from the organizers, which was “the grace of God” that spared their lives that day, as one of the Chiefs said.
The planned KAGOTE election, as we gathered, was to be contested by a former Senator and Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Benneth Birabi, and a former Commissioner in Rivers State, Chief Precious Ngbor as contenders for the office of the President. All other offices were to be filled but the office of the President was what all parties have interest in, as to them, who becomes KAGOTE President dictates what happens in the South-East Senatorial District, particularly in Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme Local Government Areas that are predominantly controlled by the Ogonis.
Confirmed report disclosed that politicians led by a serving member representing Tai, Eleme and Oyigbo Federal Constituency, in the House of Representatives, Hon Barry Mpigi on their information about the KAGOTE election, mobilized and stormed the venue (Chief Nwakoh’s house) and disrupted the conduct of the election. The Hon Mpigi led squad comprised all elected serving Chairmen of the Councils (Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme), all Councilors and some Supervisors in the various local Councils, elected and appointed representatives in the state and Federal houses and other overzealous members of the ruling party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the area.
The squad which came in several buses and government official vehicles stormed the venue of the meeting and ordered everybody out of the house, our source explained.
According to him, they also vowed to stop the most expected elections of substantive executive members of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, MOSOP, unless their preferred candidates are chosen.
But in his reaction, an appointed government official of Ogoni extraction (names withheld), who is also fingered as one of the Commandos of the group said they only went there to ask for a stop of the meeting since, according to him, only eight members of the KAGOTE secretly planned the election without involving the generality of the members, including them, the political leaders in the area who by virtue of their positions and responsibilities, hold greater stakes in not only KAGOTE, but MOSOP and all representative organsations in the area.
The government official however said the planned election was peacefully postponed and would be held in three months time, to allow for proper consultations, information, inclusion of all members and adequate planning. “I am sure that with this shift in date of the election, everybody who is eligible to contest and vote in the election will be aware and participate actively,” he claimed.
Alleging plans by some persons to impose choice candidates on the organization, the top government official said they are opposed to and will strongly resist the imposition of another Gokana man as President in KAGOTE. He said Justice Peter Akere who hails from Bodo community in Gokana Local Government Area, and who has been the President of the body for about eight years is schemed to be succeeded by Dr Benneth Birabi, a native of Yeghe community also in Gokana Local Government Area. “This is not acceptable”, he said.
Our checks revealed that all is not well within the organization and between some of these ‘powerful’ political matadors in Ogoni, a situation that if not properly handled might lead, God forbid, to another serious crisis in the area.
Sadly, we are told that over time, there have been pretence and distrust between a highly placed politician from the area and one of the contenders for the top position in KAGOTE. So, there appears to be a serious contest for the soul of Ogoni with KAGOTE and MOSOP as the playing fields.
Speaking to our reporter, one of the organizers of the KAGOTE botched election who was in the house when the invasion took place described the actions of the politicians as a reminiscence of the Giokoo incident on May 21, 1994 during which Ogoni lost four prominent leaders in a show of political interest and control, stressing that this situation is capable of sparking off crisis and must be nipped in the bud.
“The site was a horror, shameful and disgraceful to Ogoni, It reduced the Ogoni to a sham. The entire neighbourhood was awash with the level of rascality it displayed. They came out to watch a show of shame” he remarked.
While MOSOP is a socio-cultural and representative organization or better put, a Movement of the entire people of Ogoni Ethnic nationality, which came into being early 90s, KAGOTE, an a acronym of Khana – Gokana – Tai – Eleme, as the name implies, is an organization of mainly elites from the four component Ogoni dominated LGAs. The organization however was formed few years before MOSOP was hatched but does not have the mandate of the people as a representative body like MOSOP.
It will be recalled that a 3-man electoral committee headed by Chief D. K. Badom with Dr Eddy Wikina and Barine Nagbo was inaugurated to conduct the election.
Source: OgoniNews
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