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From Tony John, Port Harcourt
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has condemned the gruesome murder and beheading of one Josiah Piabari, commander of the Boy Scouts in Ogoni, Rivers State.
Piabari, a native of Yeghe in the Gokana local government area of the state was killed at a disputed farm area, which has been the subject of lingering conflicts between the Yeghe and Boue people in Gokana and Khana local government areas, respectively.
Speaking at the end of a meeting of MOSOP Kingdom coordinators and Chapter Leaders on Sunday, at the national secretariat of the movement in Bori, Khana local government area, chairman and spokesperson for the coordinators and chapter leaders, Celestine Viura, strongly condemned the barbaric act and charged the Police to unravel the killers of Piabari and three others who are missing.
MOSOP noted that the act was not only an aberration, running contrary to all known Ogoni values, traditions of respect and sanctity of the human life, but an extremely inhuman act not acceptable nor excusable.
Viura stated: “Reports of the barbaric murder and beheading of one Mr Josiah B Piabari of Yeghe and three others are strongly condemnable. We are deeply touched by the killings and beheading of Piabari and the disappearances of some three other indigenes of Yeghe and we will urge the Police to deliver a satisfactory report on this matter.
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“MOSOP regrets the seeming breakdown of dialogue initiated by the Khana and Gokana local government councils over the farm disputes between the Boue and Yeghe communities and urges the two local authorities to speed up their intervention machinery to see to the resolution of the conflicts.
“We are deeply worried about the gradual return of conflicts and killings in Ogoni which could be a prelude to large-scale conflicts between communities if not nipped in the bud.”
He commended the efforts of the chairmen of Khana local government area, Bariere Thomas and Confidence Deko, chairman of Gokana local government area, in addressing the lingering crisis, appealing to the police authorities to do everything possible to deter the escalation of the conflict.
He further urged the communities to register their grievances in peaceful ways and not to take laws into their hands, noting that MOSOP will only stand by peaceful means to bring the perpetrators of the killings to account.
