A group, the Esan Descendants Assembly (EDA) has called on the Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo and the security agencies to wake up and tackle the level of insecurity in the state.
The group made the call in reaction to the recent mob attack in Uromi, a community in Esan North East Local Government Area of Edo State, which claimed the lives of seven people.
“Let them (security agencies) rise with the same swiftness they showed after this tragedy, and fight the terror that has long tormented our villages. Let them protect the living with the same zeal they now use to count the dead. All lives matter,” EDA said.
A statement signed by its Chairman, Prof. G.R.A Okogun and its General Secretary, Saintmoses Eromosele, respectively, the group said “a great evil has visited one corner of our land — Uromi – one that has shaken the soul of Esanland and brought sorrow to many homes beyond our borders.
“Seven human lives — men, flesh and blood like us — were taken by fire in the town of Uromi. Burnt alive by a mob, (not the whole Uromi people) driven to madness. And we, the sons and daughters of Esan n’Omon Udu, cannot be silent.
“The Esan Descendants Assembly (EDA) Worldwide, the umbrella of all Esan people and organisations at home and abroad, condemns this act in the strongest of terms.
“It is an abomination. An unspeakable tragedy. And though the deed was done by few hands, the shame falls upon all of us like harmattan dust,” the statement added.
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EDA offered apologies to the victims, their communities and the states they hail from, adding that “we say sorry, because we know that no child should be taken by fire, no mother should be made to weep in this way, and no land should be stained by such horror.
“Yet, as we mourn and apologise, we must not pretend that all has been well in our land. For years now, worse within the last one year, Uromi and its neighbouring towns have lived under the shadow of terror; of kidnappers who snatch women, virgins, children, and elders alike; of rapists who know no fear, and of killers who walk boldly on market days.
“And while our people cried for help, the silence from those who bear the burden of governance was louder than a thousand drums. Frustration oftentimes lead people to insane delusions like the unacceptable madness we witnessed in Uromi.
“When a people are pushed to the edge, when mothers can no longer sleep in peace and fathers must hide their children, something inside begins to die.
“And what we saw on that dark day in Uromi was not justice; it was the bitter fruit of neglect, the madness that comes when a people are left to fend for themselves.
“But madness must not become our way. Esanland is a land of honour, of kings and scholars, of farmers and warriors. We do not kill in the name of fear. We must return to the path of law and of justice.”
