Okuama: Ewu indigenes dancing while their sons rot in Army cells ~ Truth Reporters

By Moses Darah

In my previous articles addressing the unlawful detention of Ewu leaders by the Nigerian Army for over a year without trial, I drew attention to the disturbing silence and lackadaisical attitude of the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) and various Kingdom Presidents-General (PGs). I questioned how such institutions, supposedly the guardians of Urhobo welfare and dignity, could remain docile while their own sons are subjected to military captivity and injustice. I had also raised my voice in protest, yet even the church—despite the fact that the victims are fellow Christians—refused to speak or pray against the injustice.

Today, I feel compelled to speak—not out of malice or political bitterness—but out of deep sorrow and shame for what has become of the sons and daughters of Ewu Kingdom. As their own brothers—community leaders, respected elders, and the President General (PG) of Ewu Development Union, Prof. Arthur Ekpekpo—languish in Army detention cells in Port Harcourt without trial for over a year, what have the people of Ewu done? Have they raised their voices in outrage? Have they demanded accountability? Have they challenged the injustice meted out to their own flesh and blood? Have they staged peaceful protests? Have they embarked on hunger strike? Have they gathered in their shrines or churches to swear or curse? Have the rejected Government appointments or resigned?

No. Instead, many have chosen to remain silent. Worse still, they dance and sing praises for the very machinery of their oppression—the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and its leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Their political leaders and followers have recently decamped to the APC, and flooded social media platforms with their posts, all in honour of a second term for the man under whose watch these atrocities continue.

What manner of people rejoice in the house of their tormentor while their own sons are chained and broken? What has become of the famed Ewu Urhobo pride, courage, and communal defense of her own? The same voices that once roared and went to court against injustice in the UPU Ighelle election have gone mute under the weight of party loyalty and promises of stomach infrastructure. Let us not deceive ourselves: silence in the face of oppression is complicity. Dancing with your oppressor while your kin suffer is betrayal.

I wish to lend my voice to the calls made by Professors Gabriel Darah, Patrick Muoboghare, Sunny Awhefeada, Chief Sleek Oshare, Mr. Abraham Ogbodo, Council of Urhobo Professors and the Urhobo Reinasance Society (URS), who have repeatedly urged the Federal Government to rebuild the Okuama community, unconditionally release the detainees or charge them to court, compensate the people, and establish a Wetland University in the area. Sadly, the government has continued to turn a deaf ear to these legitimate appeals.

It is not too late to reclaim our dignity. The UPU, the PGs, the church, the Ewu political class, and the ordinary people must rise with one voice to demand justice and freedom for their sons. Otherwise, history will remember this generation as the one that dined while their own bled.