HRM Ovie Tobore Anthony Ogbogbo
By Oye Chijioke
The adage that says “many days for the thief but one day for the owner” came to play as nemesis caught up with His Royal Majesty (HRM) Ovie Tobore Anthony Ogbogbo, the traditional ruler of Ozoro Kingdom, headquarter of Isoko North Local Government council, Delta State for allegedly aiding and abating criminal activities in his kingdom.
HRM Ogbogbo was alleged to have duly signed the community’s letter headed-paper with the President-General (PG) of the kingdom, Raphael Afemari, the Vice President, Mr. William Ubini and the Secretatry, Mr. Johnson Uyeri to disconnect seven old but sound and working transformers in the community while one, a 2.5 MVA was allegedly kept in his palace and the remaining six were taken to Onitsha, Anambra State for sale under the pretence of repair.
Our correspondent was reliably informed that the said transformers were removed from Otoro, Erovie among other quarters which are over populated in the town and installed in areas with less population while new ones were used to replace them.
Speaking with our correspondent, Mr. Emmanuel Akukwuata who claimed he saw the cohorts vandalizing the transformers said, “They stole the transformers, seven numbers of them. One of them is 2.5 MVA, they criminally removed them from their positions where they were fenced, secured and locked up after breaking the padlocks”, stressing that the transformers until they were vandalized were in a fenced area in Ozoro.
Mr. Akukwuata, a retired army, revealed that the transformers have been installed before they were stolen and have been in use for about 30 years ago but for the developmental stride in the community, “the influx of people into the town, they decided to order for new ones that can carry the capacity of the load because the town is growing very fast geometrically in population. So, they were now disconnected to relocate to developing areas while the new ones will serve the densely populated areas”.
He argued that the culprits smartly arranged with a buyer and came with two loading trucks and were removing the transformers, “they didn’t just remove them verbally, they wrote a document purportedly addressed to the manager of NEPA in Ozoro, that they want to sell them, let the man come and advise them. The letter which they wrote was not sent to Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), they just wrote it and kept it in their files”.
He alleged that on the day they were removing the transformers, they wrote another letter, “purporting that they were going to take them for repair, tagged; To Whom It May Concern, addressed to nobody. In case if they were accosted on the way, they will say they are taking them for repair. They now gave that one (letter) to the Igbo man and he signed that letter recommending his own company with the community’s letter headed-paper and then they started removing them so that anybody who sees them will think is the community that is responsible for the removal”.
Akukwuata said, “When I caught them in the site where I am building my house, I asked them who is removing them? They said the PG asked them to remove them for repair. And I asked how can you repair transformers that are working? Who tested it and see that the things are faulty? Nobody. So, you cannot tell me you are taking them for repair. They now brought the letter to me written and signed by the President and Secretary General and the Vice President and then I was shocked when I saw that even the Igbo man who bought the transformers signed it. That was how I knew that fraud was somewhere”.
He stated that after much interrogation, he requested for the PG who refused to honour his invitation but noted that with the help of the PG, the Igbo man escaped with the other six that were already loaded in the truck, “but when I saw the pressure on ground, I quickly alerted the police and the NEPA people who came and discovered that the people were completely strange. NEPA said that they are not aware, the committee chairman of Power and Energy in Ozoro, said that he is not aware”, he stressed.
He disclosed that the Ozoro police was doing seek and hide over the matter which led him to pursue the course in Zone 5 Benin City where there was an order for their arrest but hurriedly took those document to NEPA but were rejected, “they mention the name of the Ovie, they said it was the Ovie who gave them the go ahead to remove them”.
According to him, six of the transformers have been recovered from the Igbo man at Onitsha and are presently in Zone 5.
Mr. Patrick Okpaje who aligned with Akukwuata hinted that “the Ovie of Ozoro kingdom, Ovie Tobore Ogbogbo Anthony, PG of Ozoro kingdom, Afemari Raphael with William Ubini the Vice President and Johnson Uyeri teamed up to vandalize seven transformers and one was deposited at the Ogbogbo’s palace and carried the remaining six to Onitsha under the canopy that they want to repair them but behold luck ran against them only to discover that they went to sell them and they were arrested along with the person who bought them at Onitsha (the Igbo man).
Okpaje recall that on the 23rd of December 2014, the criminals were arrested to Zone 5 Benin City but were given bail in the sum of N200, 000 each.
Okpaje, a concerned community member said anyone involved in any criminal act should be brought to book, just as he alleged that the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Mr. Ovouzourie Macaulay was also aiding and abating the criminals from been prosecuted.
Text message sent to the Ovie by our correspondent was not replied while the PG declined comment when contacted, saying that the matter was already on the way to the court, “the matter is already going to court, I cannot speak on anything that is already going to court”, he said.
