The Ugoani of Okpanam in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State, HRM (Dr.) Micheal Mbanefo Ogbolu, has raised the alarm over the infiltration of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in parts of Okpanam, notably Obodogwugwu farmlands.
He warned that the activities of the group is a fresh threat to the well-intended Peace and Security vision of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s administration, as encapsulated in his M.O.R.E. Agenda.
The Ugoani, who raised the alarm in his speech to mark the 2024 New Yam festival in Okpanam said the resumed infiltration of the group in Okpanam was capable of truncating the existing peace and security in the town, adding that the Ugoani-In-Council will not fold its hands and watch such infiltrators cause any form of trouble in his kingdom.
He was, however, quick to add that, “of course, IPOB, cannot continue to infiltrate Obodogwugwu farmlands without the connivance of some land grabbers of Okpanam extraction, who bring them to lay siege on parts of the land for sinister purposes”.
He, therefore, called on the infiltrators, hiding under any guise to vacate Okpanam lands without delay as the community is a peace-loving one, just as the entire Delta State is peaceful. “Any Okpanam indigene or element involved in the gambit shall soon face the full weight of the law”, the monarch warned.
The Ugoani recalled that when the State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori assumed office, he initiated a letter to him, praying his office to assist in addressing the menace of the outlawed IPOB in Obodogwugwu farmlands.
Within one week of submitting the letter, the Ugoani said, the Governor responded, with security operatives wiping out all vestiges of the sect that was operating freely in Obodogwugwu farmlands.
