CALABAR — Fifteen months after the last governorship election in Cross River State, hatred and bitterness still trails the outcome of that election. That eagerness to seek vengeance through any means has led to the recent killing of the Special Adviser to the state governor on Inter-Governmental Affairs, Mr. Eshu Ade Egbelo. The man was not a candidate for any position in that election, he was simply a Cross River man who went out to support the candidate of his choice.
That decision of his and his right to choose any candidate may have cost him his life.
Egbelo was once a member of the State House of Assembly. He was fondly called ‘‘congressman’’. That was a distant past. In his small way, he went into business, living his life like every other person but he still had time to romance with politics. Then came the charged political atmosphere, which embraced the state in the wake of the 2003 governorship race. Egbelo pitched tent with the incumbent governor of the State, Mr. Donald Duke.
In that race too, was former Nigeria’s Ambassador to South Korea, Akpang Obi Odu. The ex-envoy hailed from the same community —Mbube — as Egbelo. As it is customary with the politics of village people, any dissenting voice in a community’s choice was considered an enemy.
And so the stage was set for mischief-makers to peddle rumours of division, aimed at widening the gulf of disintegration. Egbelo was accused of sponsoring a town crier who went round Odajie, Mbube in Ogoja Council to spread a rumour. From community to community the crier was reported to have announced that Obi Odu had stepped down for Donald Duke. Also, that Odu was said to have been bribed to the tune of N2.5 million.
As was expected, the rumour caused a stir among Obi’s supporters. Some vowed to deal with him (Obi Odu) for selling out. Others simply shrugged it off and perceived Odu with disdain. But Obi Odu and his supporters later debunked the rumour which genesis was allegedly trailed to Eshu Egbelo. They vowed that he must pay for the betrayal. So it was. Not long afterwards, the opportunity arose for the bottled up anger to be unleashed on the community.
In that feat of anger, some youths who acted on hearsay embarked on the burning of houses of real and imagined enemies. Egbelo’s edifice, an impressive architectural showpiece was torched. Egbelo was not mentioned in the act that triggered the alleged spontaneous action of the arsonists, but he had earlier been penciled down to “be taught a lesson.”
Another dimension was also added to the Egbelo affair; the involvement of his cousins of the Eweh family all of Odajie, Mbube. The duo of Tom and Joe Eweh were accused of allegedly instigating the arrest of the entire leadership of Odajie. In 2003 when the incident took place, Vanguard sought the views of the chairman of the Odajie Community and he said “At 6.45 pm on April, 20 Easter Sunday, the DPO of Ogoja came to my community in Mbube with a long list of names including me requesting that we report to the Area Commander’s office the next day being Monday April, 21 at 9 a.m.
"On enquiry, I was informed that the Ewehs (Tom, Joe and Sylvanus had reported at the police station that the mentioned people were out to foment trouble, in view of the result of the governorship election the previous day. Meanwhile, the community had been sad with the conduct of the election the previous day, in which it was alleged that the Ewehs who are chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), manipulated the results, allotting no votes to Obi Odu in Odajie, his home town. It was too heavy for the community to bear. In spite of that, I calmed the people not to react negatively.
"Based on that, the community was already angry with the Ewehs. So, to know that these same people had sent the police to invite the large number of 15 people may spark off an unpleasant situation.
"It was then agreed that the number be reduced. As a result, I went with the community’s chairlady, Madam Pauline Bikwe, Chief Simon Ofere, Chairman Council of Chiefs and Thomas Taylor Obi, one of the Chiefs of the town, four in all. As soon as I stepped out of the car. I was attacked. They beat me thoroughly right at the premises of the Area Commander’s office. After which I lost consciousness and was later revived at Ogoja General Hospital where I was taken.
"The chairlady was chased by one of the attackers and she ran across the road from the Area Commander’s office to the DPO’s office where she was rescued. As soon as I fell down and passed out, the other chiefs in the car ran back to inform the community that I had been killed by the Ewehs hence the reaction from the youths in the community in the burning of the houses of the Ewehs. It was spontaneous.”
On why Eshu Egbelo’s house was burnt even when he was not part of those who beat him, Osang said he had spoken to members of the community in respect of the message allegedly sent to him by John Egbelo through his (Osang’s) younger sister, Regina.
“He told my sister at the PDP office in Ogoja, because my younger sister is a PDP member, to inform me that I would be dealt with and that what happened in Ogoni (where kinsmen slaughtered one another) would happen in Odajie. Even then, I told the people not to bother. So that message of his and the people's perceived knowledge of the involvement in the alleged rigging coupled with his alleged going to neighbouring communities and the town to announce through a town crier that Obi Odu had stepped down for governor Duke at a cost of N2.5 billion, angered the people and probably prompted the burning of the house of Egbelo.”
Egbelo may have seen his death coming. He had petitioned the Inspector-General of Police Mr. Tafa Balogun, informing him of threats to his life by certain people in his community.
The IG obliged him a quick response. Two senior police officers were dispatched from Abuja to Calabar to effect the arrest of those who Egbelo fingered. At Odajie, one of the suspects was picked up. As the team moved to arrest the second suspect, a mob emerged. The Police took off, Egbelo was left alone in the cold and in the hands of his attackers.
The man was beaten black and blue. A failed first-aid treatment at Ogoja General Hospital, necessitated the need to move the man to Calabar. A distance of about 300 kilometres. He never made it. He died at Ikom, on the way to Calabar.
In any case, whatever may have led to the brutal killing of Eshu Egbelo is now immaterial. What matters now is the primitive bestiality displayed by those who seem to be living in the stone age and had no qualms in murdering a man in cold blood in the presence of his people and by his people. It is condemnable and unacceptable. Human life is sacred and can only be taken away through the due process of the law. Those who killed Egbelo were in search of political power, when it eluded them. They sought to vent the reason for their failure on the soul of a man. A man who had toiled all his life for the greatness of the same people who killed him.
How would the Mbube people have felt if Eshu Egbelo, who is one of them, was killed by some brigands from another local government or another state entirely. Would they not have considered it as an affront and sounded the battle drum. What then gives them the celestial audacity to extinguish the life of a human being with sacrilegious impunity?
Today it is Egbelo, some other day it may be someone else. No society will tolerate such unbridled brigandage. All those linked to the death of this promising son of Cross River State must be apprehended and brought to justice.
