Call Ayiri Emami to order – WIPMG

THE Warri Ijaw Peace Monitoring Group, WIPMG, yesterday, called on the Ugborodo Interface Committee on the Export Processing Zone, EPZ, to call Ugborodo people, led by Chief Ayirimi Emami, who went to court to stop the naming of the Deep Sea Port in Escravos, Warri South-West Local Government Area, Delta State, after Gbaramatu, to order.
However, Chief Emami, an Itsekiri leader, slammed the Ijaw group, saying: “The rule of law must apply. We filed a suit at the court and we will pursue it to a logical conclusion. In any case, I am not answerable to the Interface Committee in the suit we instituted.”

WIPMG, in the statement by Mr. Paul Bebenimibo, said: “Our attention has been drawn to the litigation regarding the proposed Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Deep Seaport in Gbaramatu by Ugborodo people, led by Emami, that the naming ought not to be Gbaramatu, but Ogidigben.
“We wish to call on the Ugborodo Interface Committee to call Emami and his colleagues to order so as not to stall the progress that had been made in this matter. The committee should tell Emami to show respect for issues he has no competence to contest because this issue was settled before the groundbreaking ceremony and the port is so designated as ‘Gbaramatu Deep Seaport, GDS.
“The committee should let Emami know that he is fanning the embers of war and also let him know that he is putting obstacles on the road to development, which is not good for our people.”
Emami told Vanguard on phone, “There is rule of law in the present government of President Muhammadu Buhari, it is not the government of President Goodluck Jonathan where they arm twisted Itsekiri people. That is why we have gone to court for the law to take its course.
“The land where the Deep Sea Port is sited does not belong to Gbaramatu people. It is an Itsekiri land and I, as an Itsekiri man from Ugborodo cannot open my eyes and allow them to take what belongs to us. Gbaramatu is the name of an Ijaw clan, not a community. If the port is located in an Ijaw community, why is it not named after the community?”