Aghoro ll Kingship: Leaders fault report accusing SPDC, lawmaker, contractors in renewed crisis

•Say report lies from the pit of hell

• Insist Aghoro ll community and SPDC are in a good relationship

Following the brewing kingship fracas in the Aghoro ll community, the alleged ousted Highness of the Aghoro ll community, HRH I.B Ojukonsin has faulted report alleging his dethronement, adding that he remained the Highness of Aghoro ll community.

In a rejoinder signed by HRH I.B Ojukonsin, Chief Alex Towezei and Mr Papin Alabor, which was sent to Congress news correspondent Lagos, said reports accusing SPDC, lawmaker, contractors in renewed crisis in Aghoro ll community are lies from the pit of hell, an attempt to assassinate the characters of distinguished personalities and innocent community leaders as well as business entities.

The rejoinder was titled:
“SPDC, LAWMAKER, CONTRACTORS FINGERED IN RENEWED CRISIS IN BAYELSA COMMUNITY: A REBUTTAL” dated 25th March 2022 stated, “We are HRH I.B Ojukonsin, Chief Alex Towezei and Mr Papin Alabor, the incumbent Paramount ruler (Highness), Opinion Leader and Youth President respectively of Aghoro 11 community in Ekeremor Local Government Area, Bayelsa State. Our attention has been drawn to an online publication by Congress Newspaper with the above caption dated 22nd March 2022 wherein the authors and sponsors (Mr Afro Biukeme and his cohorts) tell lies from the pit of hell and attempt to assassinate the characters of distinguished personalities and innocent community leaders as well as business entities.

“Given the said malicious publication and the falsehood cum misrepresentation of facts contained in it, we the authentic and incumbent leadership of Aghoro 11 community for and on behalf of the community, hereby write to counter and rebut the said publication with the aforementioned title, line by line and paragraph by paragraph to reveal the truth and set the records straight for the unsuspecting public”, they added.

The statement reads: “First and foremost, Aghoro 11 community and the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) have maintained a cordial and longstanding relationship, which dates back to the early 1990s and endures till date. Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has NO hand and can NEVER have a hand in whatever is happening in Aghoro 11 community.

“Its staff members namely Mr Nengi Brown CRC Port-Harcourt, Lucky Editor and Dominic Erhuotor accused in the publication of 22nd March 2022 are all innocent of the allegations levelled against them in the said publication. The above trio is some of SPDC’s finest community relations officers with high-level integrity, honesty and accountability in the discharge of their duties and therefore can NEVER instigate crisis in Aghoro 11 community.

“Secondly, we wish to state clearly that our most revered Honorable Fred Agbedi, member representing Ekeremor/Sagbama Federal constituency in the Federal House of representatives whose window glasses of the residential home was shattered by Mr Afro Biukeme and Mr Zide Sunday for no just cause is also innocent of all the accusations heaped on him by the sponsors and authors of the said publication.

“We know as a fact that the reason Mr Afro Biukeme and Mr Zide Sunday were trying to drag the hard-earned name of our respectable honourable Fred Agbedi in the mud is simply because he always stops them from perpetuating their illegal and evil activities in the community which if not nipped in the bud may escalate and snowballed to major community crisis.

“Thirdly, the business entities and community leaders such as Chief Fred Orumiene and Chief Alex Towezei accused in the publication of 22nd March 2022 have NO hand in whatever that is happening in Aghoro 11 community. The duo is reputable and genuine businessmen, peacemakers and titled community leaders who cannot stoop low to be instigating crisis in Aghoro 11 community.

Read the full statement attached.

Rejoinder: SPDC, LAWMAKER, CONTRACTORS FINGERED IN RENEWED CRISIS IN BAYELSA COMMUNITY: A REBUTTAL

WE are HRH I.B Ojukonsin, Chief Alex Towezei and Mr Papin Alabor, the incumbent Paramount ruler (Highness), Opinion Leader and Youth President respectively of Aghoro 11 community in Ekeremor local government area, Bayelsa State. Our attention has been drawn to an online publication of Congress Newspaper with the above caption dated 22nd March 2022 wherein the authors and sponsors (Mr Afro Biukeme and his cohorts) tell lies from the pit of hell and attempt to assassinate the characters of distinguished personalities and innocent community leaders as well as business entities.
Given the said malicious publication and the falsehood cum misrepresentation of facts contained in it, we the authentic and incumbent leadership of Aghoro 11 community for and on behalf of the community, hereby write to counter and rebut the said publication with the aforementioned title, line by line and paragraph by paragraph to reveal the truth and set the records straight for the unsuspecting public.
First and foremost, the Aghoro 11 community and the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has maintained a cordial and longstanding relationship, which dates back to the early 1990s and endures to date. Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has NO hand and can NEVER have a hand in whatever is happening in Aghoro 11 community. Its staff members namely Mr Nengi Brown CRC Port-Harcourt, Lucky Editor and Dominic Erhuotor accused in the publication of 22nd March 2022 are all innocent of the allegations levelled against them in the said publication. The above trio is some of SPDC’s finest community relations officers with high-level integrity, honesty and accountability in the discharge of their duties and therefore can NEVER instigate crisis in Aghoro 11 community.
Secondly, we wish to state clearly that our most revered Honorable Fred Agbedi, member representing Ekeremor/Sagbama Federal constituency in the Federal House of representatives whose window glasses of the residential home was shattered by Mr Afro Biukeme and Mr Zide Sunday for no just cause is also innocent of all the accusations heaped on him by the sponsors and authors of the said publication. We know as a fact that the reason Mr Afro Biukeme and Mr Zide Sunday was trying to drag the hard-earned name of our respectable honourable Fred Agbedi in the mud is simply because he always stops them from perpetuating their illegal and evil activities in the community which if not nipped in the bud may escalate and snowballed to major community crisis.
Thirdly, the business entities and community leaders such as Chief Fred Orumiene and Chief Alex Towezei accused in the publication of 22nd March 2022 have NO hand in whatever that is happening in Aghoro 11 community. The duo is reputable and genuine businessmen, peacemakers and titled community leaders who cannot stoop low to be instigating crisis in Aghoro 11 community.
Having set the records straight on the above issues, we shall now dwell on the issue of leadership in the Aghoro 11 community which was badly misrepresented in the publication of 22nd March 2022. We wish to state unequivocally that the people of the Aghoro 11 community NEVER at any time nominated or coronate Chief Afro Biukeme as Highness of the community. God forbids! Mr Afro Biukeme due to personal selfish reasons attempted to overthrow the Highness of Aghoro 11 community duly nominated, coronated and gazetted by the Bayelsa state government in the person of HRH I.B. Ojukonsin. Shortly after Mr Afro Biukeme’s failed attempt, he was invited by the Bayelsa State Government where he was thoroughly warned to stop challenging the traditional throne of the community, adding that the present occupant HRH I.B. Ojukonsin will reign in the throne for life. Therefore take notice that Aghoro 11 community is ably led by His Royal Highness I.B. Ojukonsin as the paramount ruler of the community recognized by the Bayelsa State Government. In the same vein, also take note that the youth executive led by Mr Papin Alabor, Mr Felix Timi, and Etaoghene Ekpama as president, Vice president and secretary respectively still exists. For record purposes, the tenure of Aghoro 11 community youth executive is two years. Mr Papin Alabor and his executive were elected on the 23rd day of February 2021 for a two-year tenure which will elapse on the 23rd day of February 2023. On the strength of this, Aghoro 11 community has no leadership vacuum as reported in the publication of 22nd March 2022 and also the existing leadership has the legal right and authority to transact business on behalf of the Aghoro 11 community.
As for the chairmanship tussle, we want to state the truth here that on the 29th of January 2022, the entire FESEIGHA FAMILY of WAINE IDUMU (Compound) whose turn it is to produce the chairmanship position duly met, deliberated and unanimously nominated Chief (Elder) S. E. Teiseigha (DSP Rated) to represent the family and compound as chairman of Aghoro 11 community for 2022-2023 in the presence of other aspirants of the chairmanship position including Mr Jude Mien Konyefa. IT IS a clear fact that Mr Jude Mien Konyefa is just being used by Mr Afro Biukeme and Mr Zide Sunday to cause confusion and disturb the peace of the community for their selfish interest. He was NEVER nominated by the family or the Compound. Based on the above, addressing Mr Jude Mien Konyefa as newly elected chairman is nothing but a malicious falsehood and a grave misrepresentation of facts.
On or about the 12th of March 2022, the Aghoro 11 community leadership duly represented by HRH I.B. Ojukonsin (Paramount ruler), Chief Alex Towezei (Opinion Leader), Mr Papin Alabor (Youths President) and Ms Ebiere Tarasele (Women Leader) for and on behalf of Aghoro 11 community secured community trust and support agreement in Warri for a forthcoming SPDC activity wherein some job slots were given to the community. On the 18th of March 2022, as true and honest representatives of the people, they travelled home to inform the community of the job slots and how to share them evenly among the six compounds constituting the community. Truly, the community gathered later in the day at the community town hall at the instance of the community leadership and the job slots were shared among the six compounds and other interest groups in the community as it is the usual practice. On the following day (the 19th of March 2022, Mr Papin Alabor, Mr Felix Timi and Etaoghene Ekpama, youths president, vice and secretary respectively returned to Warri through the early morning transport boats. Immediately they got to the landing jetty and came down from the transport boat, some young fellows identified as “Moses Abeke and Demedonghan Fred” started pointing them to a crowd of youths in the landing Jetty and the youths immediately descended on them and beat the trio of Mr Papin Alabor, Felix Timi and Etaoghene Ekpama mercilessly like common criminals. As the beating was on, Mr Jude Mien Konyefa, Bishop Warri, Ekoboye Sunday and Emma Bob Igetei known foot soldiers of Mr Afro Buikeme showed up and drag their victims (Mr Papin Alabor, Felix Timi and Etaoghene Ekpama) to “Awor waterfront” where they were further beaten to point of death and dragged inside a waiting W23 speedboat and driven to an unknown destination. According to the victims, their hands and legs were tied and they were also blindfolded as they drove them along creeks in the waterways. As the news of the incident spreads, calls were placed across all security outfits in the waterways both in Delta and Bayelsa. After a couple of hours Mr Papin Alabor, Felix Timi and Etaoghene Ekpama were taken to the community by those who seized them forcefully in Warri, to force them to resign their positions while the beating resumed. It was at this point, HRH IB. Ojukonsin called the JTF commander Captain Okereke who rushed to rescue the already battered young fellows who were at the point of death and brought them to his base and subsequently send them for medical care. We urge you to correct your records and note that Capt Okereke did not visit Aghoro 11 community to harass or intimidate anybody but only went to rescue Mr Papin Alabor, Felix Timi and Etaoghene Ekpama from being beaten to death by the foot soldiers of Mr Afro Biukeme based on request as military personnel. Also, no gunshots were fired sporadically into the air by Capt Okereke as alleged in the publication of 22nd March 2022.
At this juncture, we the people of the Aghoro 11 community wish to inform the general public that the chief architect of the tension, violence and conflict razing the Aghoro 11 community both past and present were masterminded by Chief Afro Biukeme who is seeking to control the community structure to get back at SPDC due to his dwindling business fortunes in the company. Chief Afro Biukeme is maternally from Aghoro 11 community but operates fully in Esanma, his father’s community in Bomadi Local Government Area, Delta State. Most, unfortunately, recent investigations have revealed some political colouration in our community crisis. Just yesterday, the 24th of March 2022, a team of mobile policemen stormed Aghoro 11 community in a commando and Gestapo style. Upon enquiry, the policemen informed the community that their visit is at the instance of the incumbent Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, His Excellency Chief Lawrence Erhujakpo to inaugurate Mr Mien Jude Konyefa as chairman of the community against the collective will of the community even when the Deputy Governor knows very well that the chairmanship issue is before the state Governor his boss and the state commissioner of police waiting for resolution. IT took the immediate intervention of the commissioner of police to abort their illegal mission. Facts are already in the public domain that the immediate past Governor of Bayelsa state, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, His Wife Mrs Rachel Dickson, a serving commissioner in the state executive council Mr Stanley Braboke as well as a serving police personnel with Mopol 30 DSP Augustine Konyefa were all behind the protracted conflict and crisis rocking Aghoro 11 community. Evidence abounds that they intend to continuously sponsor thugs to destabilize the community to get at Chief (Hon) Fred Agbedi who is a senatorial hopeful who they perceived to be an obstacle to the former Governor’s 2023 senatorial bid. The sustained name-calling and campaign of calumny against Chief (Hon) Fred Agbedi when he knows nothing about the problems instigated by them is a pointer to the above fact.
THIS COUNTER IS AUTHORED, SIGNED AND SPONSORED BY: HRH I.B OJUKONSIN, Amananaowei of Aghoro 11 community, Chief Alex Towezei-Opinion Leader, Aghoro 11 community and Mr Papin Alabor- Youth President FOR AND ON BEHALF OF Aghoro 11 community