Uromi Killings: Esan Descendants Assembly Mourns 16 Northern Travellers, Condemns Kidnapping, Jungle Justice

Hendrix Oliomogbe 

A group, Esan Descendants Assembly (EDA) Worldwide has vehemently condemned last week mob lynching of 16 travellers from the at Uromi, Northern part of the country Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State. The travellers were reportedly found with guns, a discovery which infuriate the mob.

A statement by the, chairman, Prof. G.R.A. Okogun said that all Esan people at home and in every corner of the earth, raise their voices not in pride but in sorrow, over the mass killing.

Okogun said that EDA mourned the death of the travellers, who claimed to be hunters, and pray God for forgiveness and to appease the ever known peaceful and accommodating Esanland and of the blood of the innocent.

The organization, he noted offered its deepest sorrow to the families of the slain, the communities from which they came, the states that raised them, and the nation whose conscience has been wounded. 

Okogun lamented that the people of Uromi now live under siege with daily incidents of kidnapping, uncertainties and hopelessness having none to trust, adding that they must not however resort to self help and acts of barbarism. 

He said: "For many planting seasons now, especially in the past couple of years,  Uromi and her sister towns have groaned under the weight of evil: kidnappers striking by night and day, rapists and raiders invading homes and farmlands, killers walking boldly through markets and farmlands. 

"And as our people cried, the silence of those meant to protect us sounds louder than the thunder of approaching war. We had hoped on the commissioning of the Esan Mobile Police squadron barracks for months unending."

The chairman remarked that justice has been distant from Esan people but revenge is however, not an option, noting that the madness that descended upon Uromi may not be a mystery, it is the child of long neglect. May such dastardly act not rise again. Let God cleanse our land and repose the souls our innocent brethren. We mourn.

Okogun passionately pleaded with the people not to feed the madness, no matter how deep their wounds are, emphasizing that the way of honour must not be forsaken as Esanland is not a jungle. 

He insisted: "Never again must we resort to self-help and barbaric acts. Let us say no to mob justice and never again take the law into our own hands. Let us put out the fire before it consumes us all.

"Enough blood has been spilled. Enough tears have fallen. Let there be no more widows weeping by night, no more fathers burying sons, no more children growing up afraid of roads, forests, and market paths."

Okogun called on Governor Monday Okpebholo, a fellow Esan, the commissioner of police; the director Department of State Services; the commander of the 4th Mechanized Brigade of the Nigerian Army; and all stakeholders in security management, to rouse themselves at these trying times. 

With a pantheon of leaders like Chief Antony Enahoro; former Vice-President Augustus Aikhomu,l; former Bendel State Governor Ambrose Alli; Chief Antony Anenih; and a host of others, he said that Esan are a people with honour, dignity and with high value for human life.