Attack on Ijaw Nation: Egbesu Warns Wike
Wednesday’s vituperation against the Ijaw Nation and some of its leaders by the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, has attracted the ire of the Supreme Egbesu Assembly. Egbesu is a religious deity of the Ijaws.
Worshippers of the Egbesu god are perceived to have extra-ordinary powers and in Ijaw land, the powers are used to fight oppression. No harm befalls them, neither can gun shots or knives penetrate them, especially when they are on a mission for justice.
In the early days of the Ijaw struggle, the Egbesu powers were invoked, making it possible for the warriors to fight the government of the day which they considered oppressive.
About 1998 for example, the invocation of Egbesu powers made it possible for the Ijaw youths to disarm policemen and soldiers, force their way into the Government House in Yenagoa, freed one of their leaders who was held hostage there and moved to the waterfront where they dropped the guns, before taking off with their leader into the sea.
Not much was heard of the Egbesu deity and their followers in the rencet past, as peace had returned to the Niger Delta, until Wednesday when Wike spoke in derogatory terms against the Ijaw Nation, while also deriding the governor of Bayelsa State and making comments to show his support for the impeachment of the Rivers State governor, Sim Fubara, another Ijaw son.
Leader of the Supreme Egbesu Assembly, SEA, Sergeant Werinipre Digifa, on Wednesday night issued a statement warning Wike to behave himself or be ready to face the wrath of the Egbesu gods.
Digifa, in the statement that he personally signed and a copy sent to TNN said “we are keenly watching the ongoing political trend which is pure harassment and the intimidation of the Governor of River state. We are listening to the insults, the unguarded utterances and the abuse that is being heaped on the Ijaw ethnic nationality by Hon Wike.
“The Niger Delta is a community and when controversies arise in a community, reasonable people don’t jump into (band)wagon to talk. There is an African adage which says ‘two mad people never behave madly at the same time.’
“It is a bad omen in the Niger Delta for two mad people to talk at the same time, so some of those that have capacity to talk will avoid talking like Hon Wike for now. We all must not talk because Hon Wike is talking.
“However, we are not sleeping, neither are we cowards. But note that we have always won our just battles and this will be no exception. This crass arrogance being displayed by Wike was avoidable, but for former president Goodluck Jonathan and his lovely wife, Patience Jonathan that jettisoned credible candidates and imposed this thoughtless talkative that does not remember good deeds and inflicted this pain on the Rivers State.
Secondly, we feel highly disappointed by the way our president, Bola A Tinubu has allowed this crisis to fester. I had earlier thought that he had the capacity to rule Nigeria as a president, but from the showings on ground, it is evident that we had a misplaced value on President Tinubu’s leadership capacity.”
The Egbesu leader urged Tinubu to call Wike to order, even as he predicted that just as Wike had disrespected men like Jonathn who helped him get to the top of his political career, he would someday insult and disrespect him.
“Mr President, by the time Wike finishes with you, the Yoruba nation would have incurred the anger of the Ijaw man. The spirits that have protected the Ijaw Nation over the years will bring the wrath on the Yoruba to teach them a lesson that could be worse than what has happened to those who attempted to humiliate us. Remember, what goes around comes around.”
