Delta APC Chieftain Accuses Ughelli North Chairman Egbo Of Leading Thugs In Peace Meeting Assault That Hospitalised Him | Sahara Reporters

He also accused Egbo of threatening to kill supporters of Senator Ovie Omo-Agege while allegedly filming the incident.

A former All Progressives Congress (APC) Treasurer in Delta State and Secretary-General of Uwheru Kingdom, Edewor Akpedafe, has accused the Chairman of Ughelli North Local Government Area, Jaro Egbo, of personally leading a violent assault on him during a meeting convened to resolve a boundary dispute involving an oil well in Ughelli.

Akpedafe alleged that he was mercilessly beaten by political thugs suspected to be acting on the instructions of the council chairman after he challenged the presence of MacPherson Igbedi, the suspended President-General of Uwheru Kingdom, at the boundary peace meeting in Ughelli.

Akpedafe claimed that Egbo arrived at the venue in three Sienna vehicles accompanied by about 50 thugs, personally threw the first punch at him, and that he was subsequently beaten with planks, blocks and gun butts. He further claimed that an X-ray examination showed that he suffered a dislocation to his waist.

He also accused Egbo of threatening to kill supporters of Senator Ovie Omo-Agege while allegedly filming the incident.

SaharaReporters gathered that Tuesday’s violence followed a lingering dispute over who is the legitimate President-General of Uwheru Kingdom, as well as the suspension of the incumbent President-General, Igbedi, whom sources alleged is backed by Egbo.

Sources from the community alleged that despite Igbedi’s suspension, the council chairman has been attempting to impose him on the people.

Speaking from his hospital bed on Tuesday night, Akpedafe alleged that what began as a peace meeting at the residence of Olorogun Miller Uloho, Chairman of the Ughelli North Local Government Advisory Committee, turned into a coordinated attack after he challenged Igbedi’s presence at the meeting.

According to Akpedafe, the meeting was organised by the local government advisory committee to address the dispute between Evwreni Kingdom (Unenurhie) and Uwheru Kingdom, with five representatives selected from each clan.

He said trouble started when Igbedi introduced himself as the President-General of Uwheru.

“I said no, that he was not the president general of Uwheru. That was my only observation,” Akpedafe recounted.

Akpedafe alleged that Igbedi subsequently left the meeting and made telephone calls, shortly after which two mobile policemen attached to the council chairman and the chairman’s Chief Security Officer, identified as Jumbo, arrived.

“They started manhandling me. I asked what my offence was. They said the council chairman asked them to bring me,” he alleged.

He added that his attempt to resist being forcibly taken away was met with further aggression. The development angered some members of the advisory committee, who questioned why the council chairman would order someone removed from a meeting at Uloho’s residence.

“Egbo later arrived at the scene with three Sienna vehicles with 50 boys suspected to be political thugs. Egbo and MacPherson immediately came down, and Egbo landed the first punch on me. All his thugs joined in beating me,” he alleged.

Akpedafe further claimed that he was forced into a Hilux vehicle, where the two mobile policemen allegedly continued assaulting him with gun butts while he was being taken to the council secretariat.

Akpedafe alleged that the assault became even more severe at the entrance of the secretariat.

“Jaro said they should burst my head. They used all sorts on me, including planks and blocks. The injuries sustained during the assault have affected my movement. An X-ray examination indicated that I suffered an injury to my waist. I can’t even walk properly now. An X-ray showed my waist was dislocated,” he said.

“Egbo is using the incident to make political threats against supporters of Senator Ovie Omo-Agege. Egbo said anybody supporting Omo-Agege will be killed; the person will not survive.

“As I was being beaten in the council secretariat, Egbo was busy video-recording the scene while boasting that anyone working with Omo-Agege would suffer the same fate.”

Akpedafe further alleged that the controversy surrounding the Uwheru presidency is already before the courts, with cases pending at both the High Court and Magistrate Court.

“The traditional rulers in Urhobo land had been intervening in an attempt to prevent the dispute from escalating. The assault on me was connected to an attempt to impose Igbedi as president general of Uwheru against the wishes of sections of the community,” he said.

“Their intention is to kill me. He wants to impose MacPherson as president general of Uwheru at all costs against the wishes of Uwheru people.

“After beating me, they forced me to lie on the ground and face the sun while I was in a pool of blood. Only Egbo was doing the videoing. I am appealing to the state government and security authorities to intervene before the dispute degenerates into a full-blown crisis in Uwheru,” he said.

“I am calling on the government to come to the aid of Uwheru. Jaro Egbo and MacPherson want to cause a crisis in Uwheru, and they want to kill me.”

Akpedafe disclosed that the Area Commander of the Ughelli Area Command, upon seeing his condition, directed that he be immediately taken to hospital, where he is currently receiving treatment.

When contacted, the Chairman of Ughelli North Local Government Area, Jaro Egbo, denied all the allegations and described Akpedafe as a “foolish man” whom he accused of being problematic in the local government area.

However, he admitted that Akpedafe had to be taught a lesson.

“Leave that idiot, he’s an idiot. He went to disrupt a meeting he was not invited to, a meeting called by a man of 92 years. He went there to disrupt the meeting. He has a series of cases of his nefarious activities in Uwheru Kingdom,” Egbo said.

“He will write frivolous petitions to the IGP. He set up an illegal youth body that harasses and maims innocent people in society and locks them up in his own prison. So, when a man behaves in such a manner, we have to let him know that there are laws in the land.

“The 92-year-old traditional ruler of the kingdom had begged on his behalf several times. He is always causing problems because the former Deputy Senate President, Omo-Agege, is the one funding him from behind. He was not invited to the meeting. He went and said he was the one to determine who should attend and who should not attend a meeting on a boundary dispute in the kingdom.”