By Oluwayemi Davidson, Warri
The intervention of the Archbishop of Bendel Province (Anglican Communion), Most Rt. Rev. Cyrill Odiboroghene Odutemu in the leadership crisis rocking Orere community of Ewu kingdom in Ughelli South Local Government Area Delta State, has foiled the ‘impeachment’ moves being staged against the community’s President-General, Chief Donatu Emesechovwe and his executives by some agitators in the area.
Our correspondent gathered that “it took special intervention of the Archbishop to restore peace to the community”.
Orere community was recently besieged by some agitators demanding overthrow of the elected community executive members over alleged failure to secure job slots for indigenes from the construction firm handling Orere bridge in the area.
The protesters carried placards with different inscriptions calling for immediate sack of the community’s President-General, Chief Donatu Emesechovwe and his executives.
But in a counter move on Wednesday, another group of protesters, in their hundreds, rose within the community affirming their confidence in the present executives led by the President-General.
‘Donatu Emesechovwe remains the President-General of the community’, the group maintained while condemning the activities of some allegedly sponsored youths who were saud to have been terrorizing the peace and tranquility enjoyed amongst the community people.
The group enjoined the State and Federal Government to call to order those they described as mischief makers, “to avoid total breakdown of law and order in Orere community and its neighbouring communities of Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State”.
Addressing the crowd, the spokesperson of the community’s women council, Mrs. Rebecca Okwagbe, the community chairman, Mr. Ighoteguono Onomu and the community’s electoral committee chairman, Mr. Matthias Emesechovwe respectively condemned the purported impeachment moves against the community’s President-General and his executives.
They maintained that the community’s present executive members as headed by the President-General were constitutionally elected and sworn-in in December 2020 during the national conference of the community to pilot the affairs of the community for the next four years.
However, the embattled President-General of Orere community, Comrade Donatus Emesechovwe told journalists that he is not perturbed by the purported impeachment moves by those allegedly routing for the sack of his executives.
He said, “sometimes in the month of May, 2021 nine communities of Ewu kingdom wrote the Director General of Obakpor construction company, Chief John Oguma handling the construction of Orere bridge to give the community indigenes job slots.
“This same unscrupulous elements in the community ganged up to remove me from office for adding my voice to the clarion call.
“It took special intervention of the Archbishop of Bendel province (Anglican communion), Most Rev’d Dr. Cyrill Odiboroghene Odutemu to restore peace to the community”.
The President-General then called on Delta State government, the State Commissioner of Police and all other relevant security agencies to invite those causing crisis in the community for peace dialogue.