Oyigbo: Rivers Panel Dismisses Lawyers’ Petition Seeking End To IPOB Activities

BY IBRAHIM BAKARE

Attempt by Oyigbo Indigenous Lawyers on behalf Oyigbo People to stop the existence and activities of the Proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB in Oyigbo has been struck out by the Rivers State Judicial Commission of Inquiry on Police brutality.

The petition, which was filed on behalf of the entire people of Oyigbo local government area, also sought that the Rivers State government should rebuild all the public infrastructures destroyed in the area when hoodlums hijacked the #EndSARS protest in the area.

Dismissing the petition, Chairman of the Panel, Hon. Justice Chukwunenye Uriri (Rtd) said the matter has no affinity with the terms of reference of the Commission, which has to do with Police brutality.

Speaking with newsmen shortly after, OILA’s counsel, O.C Higher-King, said the proscibed IPOB successfully hoisted it’s flag in Oyigbo because they felt that the area had been abandoned by the state government.

Higher-King said: “We came here basically  assist the Commission; we did out private findings and found out that there was actually Police brutality and military brutality and other people during the mayhem in Oyigbo. We discovered that and we documented and brought to the Commission.

“Although we have several indigenes of Oyigbo we know that we’re brutalized by the Police and military but we wanted to come as a neutral body, an association of eminent lawyers on Oyigbo to present to the Panel..

“We recommend that the state government take over Oyigbo and own Oyigbo because a bride that is abandoned is a public property. It is not just this government that abandoned us, precious governments. That is the problem we have, but they have struck it out.

“We also demanded that they should rebuild all the damaged infrastructure in Oyigbo including Police stations and all the Courts. In fact, everything that was destroyed. You can see they those recommendations were actually not supposed to be struck out but that is the law for now.

Typical road leading to Oyigbo in Oyigbo Local Government area in Rivers State.

“We further demanded that the state government should do all it can to curtail the excesses of IPOB and all that because they have been alleged to be the people that destroyed those things and all that with the military and the Police.”