ADJOGBE & UNAGHA FAMILIES OF EVWRENI KINGDOM, UGHELLI NORTH L.G.A. DELTA STATE: 08030708612, 08038394449
4th April, 2022
His Excellency, Sen. Dr. Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa
The Governor of Delta State
Government House
Asaba
Delta State.
Excellency Sir,
RE: SUBVERSION OF REPORT OF THE JUDICIAL PANEL OF INQUIRY INTO THE INTRA-COMMUNAL CRISES IN EVWRENI COMMUNITY IN UGHELLI NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF DELTA STATE.
Our attention has been drawn to the spurious and frivolous petition written by Jabin Irikevwie Ebinum, Esq, dated 21st March, 2022 against the report submitted by the panel set up by Your Excellency to look into the lingering crises in Evwreni Community, after signing the said report himself as well as participating in the presentation ceremony of the report by the panel to Your Excellency.
One pertinent question that is agitating our minds about the activities and conducts of Jabin Irikevwie Ebinum, Esq, a retired Deputy Commissioner of Police and a lawyer, is that: why did he sign the main report, participate in the presentation of the said report to your Excellency and turn around to write a petition, one week after, against a report he cosigned and participated in its presentation? This is a bid to rubbish the good work of the panel for whatever amount he may have been paid or promised to be paid.
We wish to point out that we also discovered that the relationship between Jabin Irikevwie Ebinum, Esq and Hon. Samuel Mariere, Esq, span over two decades, indeed while Jabin Irikevwie Ebinum, Esq was serving in the Cross Rivers State Command of the Nigerian Police, Hon. Samuel Mariere, Esq was a law student in the University of Calaba. Jabin Irikevwie Ebinum, Esq who was a serving police officer was the one who help free Hon. Samuel Mariere, Esq from police custody when he was arrested for his involvement in secret cult-related issues.
We are reliably informed that immediately after the committee was set up, Hon. Samuel Mariere, Esq, one of the persons heavily accused of sponsoring, directing, aiding and abetting all the atrocities and terrorism that have happened in Evwreni Kingdom, started to go round the committee members with a bid to compromise and have them do his bidding by subverting justice in the Panel’s Report. Hon. Samuel Mariere, Esq however, succeeded in recruiting Jabin Irikevwie Ebinum, Esq his old-time ally to do his bidding. This resulted in several physical and phone call meetings between Jabin Irikevwie Ebinum, Esq and Hon. Samuel Mariere, Esq, where they surreptitiously had discussions about how Jabin Irikevwie Ebinum, Esq should influence the panel into write a report that will exonerate him and HRH, Oghenekevwe Kumane. The evil phone call meetings that took place between them on the 15th, 16th and 20th of December, 2021 are good evidences in this case.
When it was obvious to Jabin Irikevwie Ebinum, Esq that he will not be able to influence the other members of the panel, they decided that Jabin Irikevwie Ebinum, Esq should write an independent report tagged minority report. It is very pertinent to ask Jabin Irikevwie Ebinum, Esq to explain what he was discussing on phone with Hon. Samuel Mariere, Esq, a party and respondent to several petitions and memorandums before the panel in which Jabin Irikevwie Ebinum, Esq is a member. We make bold to state that the purported Minority Report was written or coauthored by Hon. Samuel Mariere, Esq and given to Jabin Irikevwie Ebinum, Esq to adopt and submit with a bid to rubbish the good work of the panel as some facts and postulations therein were not issues that were presented before the panel.
Also, it is instructive to mention, that the area of descent by Jabin Irikevwie Ebinum, Esq, was properly captured in the main report, which is that the king should not be suspended while standing his trial.
The whole effort by Jabin Irikevwie Ebinum, Esq and his cohort Hon. Samuel Mariere, Esq, to smuggle in the purported minority report and the petition that is flying around against the panel and its report is a bid to have HRH Oghenekevwe Kumane exonerated from all the culpabilities which the main report has placed squarely on him.
Direct response to Jabin Irikevwie Ebinum, Esq minority report.
1. He claimed that some persons were arrested and were not charged to court nor granted bail for two years now. This is a big lie and the figment of Jabin Irikevwie Ebinum, Esq’s imaginations as all persons arrested so far have criminal charges against them and are remanded in prison custody in Warri and Abuja in Charge No. FHC/WR/95C/2020 between the Inspector General of Police Vs. Oghenekevwe Kumane & 2 Ors and Charge No: FHC/ABJ/430/2021 between the Inspector General of Police Vs. Peter Okuah & 3 Ors.
2. Jabin Irikevwie Ebinum, Esq tried to postulate in his purported minority report that there were attacks by the two factions in the crises which is another misrepresentation. The evidence before the panel and during the panel’s investigative visit to Evwreni shows that all attacks, killings, destruction of properties and burning of houses were done by HRH Oghenekevwe Kumane and his gang against persons they claimed and/or perceived to be loyal or sympathetic to our families. HRH Oghenekevwe Kumane and his gang were at all times the aggressors and never the victims.
3. He also stated that the President General of Evwreni Clan Improvement Union (ECIU) do not have the powers to disband and set up vigilante groups. This is another evil lie as the constitution of ECIU is very clear, to the extent that the President General is well empowered to set up a Security and/or Civil Defense Committee which is now popularly called Vigilante Group in consultation with the Nigeria Police Force.
4. It is so ironical that in his minority report he clearly stated that we and HRH Oghenekevwe Kumane sponsored different candidates for the election to the office of President General of ECIU. However, Jabin Irikevwie Ebinum, Esq did not see anything wrong in the king,(who is supposed to be neutral and father to all indigenes of Evwreni) participating in partisan politics to the extent of directing the killing of his subjects.
5. Contrary to paragraph 5.04 of the minority report, our families were never financiers or sponsors to the killer vigilante gang neither have we procured arms and ammunitions for them or any group in Evwreni. From evidence presented to the panel, it was HRH Oghenekevwe Kumane, Hon. Samuel Mariere, Esq. and their cohorts that have been arming and using the killer vigilante to perpetrate atrocities in Evwreni Community.
6. Contrary to paragraph 6.04, HRH Oghenekevwe Kumane is still standing trial before the Federal High Court sitting in Warri in Charge No. FHC/WR/95C/2020 between the Inspector General of Police Vs. Oghenekevwe Kumane & 2 Ors.
It is our firm believe that the purported minority report of Jabin Irikevwie Ebinum, Esq is the handiwork of Hon. Samuel Mariere, Esq, in a bid to have himself and HRH Oghenekevwe Kumane exonerated from all their atrocities and terrorism acts in Evwreni, while trying to indict only those (vigilante group members) who foolishly took instructions, supports and directives from them to kill and maim innocent people, destroy and burn valuable properties of innocent indigenes of Evwreni community.
Another bizarre and desperate effort by Hon. Samuel Mariere, Esq to exonerate himself and HRH Oghenekevwe Kumane from all their atrocities in Evwreni is the purported legal report dated 18th December, 2021 with Ref. No. 3/6/109888/28 procured from the office the Director of Public Prosecution in the Delta State Ministry of Justice, purportedly exonerating HRH Oghenekevwe Kumane and Hon. Samuel Mariere from their atrocities of terrorizing Evwreni Community orchestrated, sponsored and organized by them while the panel setup by Your Excellency had not completed their assignment and submitted their report.
All the efforts by Hon. Samuel Mariere, Esq. and the various sentiments he is weeping up that if HRH Oghenekevwe Kumane is suspended or removed as the king of Evwreni Community, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) will lose all elections in Evwreni is unfounded as winning elections cannot be a basis to leave persons who have committed several atrocities to go unpunished.
We have a strong reason to believe that Jabin Irikevwie Ebinum, Esq and the Director of Public Prosecution in the Delta State Ministry of Justice have been financially induced to manipulate the whole issue with a bid to exonerate HRH Oghenekevwe Kumane and Hon. Samuel Mariere from their atrocities and terrorism in Evwreni Community.
In conclusion, while we will continue to remain calm and law abiding in the midst of all the continuous unwarranted provocation and nuances of Mariere and his cohorts over the gruesome murder of our loved ones and terrorism on the entire community, we wish to pray your Excellency to use your good office to see that Jabin Irikevwie Ebinum, Esq, is properly investigated and punished for violating the oath he took as a member of the panel. The office of the Director of Public Prosecution should also be investigated and whoever is found wanting for procuring the frivolous legal opinion be punished for allowing the office to be used to pervert justice and undermine the panel which was duly setup by Your Excellency. We also humbly pray that the panel report and recommendations be given effect and properly implemented through a white paper.
Thank you.
Dr. Adjogbe Lucky Alh. Barr.A. A. Mumakai-Unagha, Esq.
(For Adjogbe’s Family) (For Unagha’s Family)
08030708612 08038394449
Cc:
Delta State Attorney General & Commissioner for Justice, Asaba, Delta State.
Chairman, Panel of Inquiry into Evwreni Crises, Asaba, Delta State.
Secretary, Panel of Inquiry into Evwreni Crises, Asaba, Delta State