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In counter to the claims made by a group of community dissidents headed by the duo of Mr. Stephen Okperin and John Agusa at the Delta Broadcasting Service (DBS) recently, that Iteregbi community of Uvwie Local Government Area in Delta State is unsafe and under security tension over a proposed new community executive to be elected and installed, the OKAORHO (most elderly man), Pa. Shokare Unuagba of Iteregbi.
The community has, on behalf of the elders and stakeholders of the community, refuted such claims, saying that the Iteregbi community is calm and not under any form of security tension or leadership tussle.
Iteregbi community is one of the communities hosting the prestigious Federal University of Petroleum Resources, FUPRE, in the Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State It will be recalled that prior to this time, there has been a suit at the High Court of Justice, Effurun Judicial Division, with Suit No. EHC/184/2024, seeking an order of interlocutory injunction to restrain the Defendants/Respondents (Chief Hope Erute, Chief Stephen Okperin, Mr. John Agusa and Mr. Freeborn Otobrise) from holding, conducting and/or inaugurating any committee in Iteregbi community in Uvwie LGA of Delta State, Nigeria, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit due to alleged actions which are at variance with the community guidelines for election into the community executive.
It was gathered that the claimants of the suit (Pa. Shokare Unuagba, Chief Jerry Unuagba, Chief Bernard Ikpi, and Chief Moses Ukuedojor) who became aggrieved with the jaundiced process adopted by the Defendants to subvert the guidelines for installing new executive in Iteregbi community consequently approached the court to stop the election/selection process through an interlocutory injunction.
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The major import of their prayer in the suit is that two of the defendants, Chief Stephen Okperin and Mr. John Agusa are not only forcefully driving in their interests to be the next President General of Iteregbi community but also doing so in gross aberration to the laid down tradition of electing or selecting members of the community executive as it has been from time. According to the claimants, nobody is eligible to be the President General of the Iteregbi community except that he lives in the community and must have contributed significantly to the development of the community. The claimants in the suit have pointed out that both Chief Okperin and Mr. Agusa did not meet this criteria as they don’t reside in the community nor contribute to its development.
Speaking to newsmen in his residence on behalf of the elders and chiefs in council as well as the committee constituted by the Ovie of Uvwie for the purpose of installing a new community executive in Iteregbi, Pa. Unuagba debunked all allegations levelled by the dissident group on the breach of peace in the community, saying that there is no security tension whatsoever currently in Iteregbi except that Chief Okperin and Mr. Agusa want to sponsor such out of their own inordinate ambition.
According to Pa. Unuagba, “The issue of electing new executive is already in court. Neither Akpos Ukuedojor (who was directly accused) nor any of the claimants in the suit is hindering the process of Iteregbi executive election. It is the elders and stakeholders of the Iteregbi community that went to court to stop the process of the executive election pending the hearing of the suit.
