The controversy surrounding the violence that erupted in Effurun on Sunday has deepened, with the Delta State Commissioner for Works (Highway and Urban Roads), Hon. Reuben Izeze, accusing the Executive Chairman of Uvwie Local Government Area, Chief Tony Ofoni, of personally orchestrating a brutal assault against him during the incident.
In a strongly worded statement, Izeze alleged that Ofoni ordered that he be handcuffed before directing a group of thugs to attack him, leaving him injured and dispossessed of his valuables.
According to the commissioner, the council chairman supervised the assault after he was restrained, making it impossible for him to defend himself.
“After you had personally handcuffed me, you took off my blue-coloured Tinubu/Sheriff hat and, to ensure that I could not defend myself or recognise my attackers, you purposely took off my glasses because you knew how badly shortsighted I was,” Izeze alleged.
He claimed that despite pleading for his prescription glasses to be returned, Ofoni allegedly refused.
“I begged you thereafter that you should remember I can’t see clearly without my prescription glasses, to which you responded that I should go to hell,” he said.
Izeze further alleged that the attackers made away with his blue-strapped Guess wristwatch, about ₦400,000, prescription glasses and other personal belongings while he was being assaulted.
“Mr. Tony Ofoni… spilled my blood and presided over the theft of my blue-strapped Guess leather wristwatch, ₦400,000 and my prescription glasses,” he stated.
The commissioner said he sustained injuries after being punched in the face.
“Someone I knew and thought would defend or at least protect me threw the sucker punch that hit me on the nose and the blood came cascading,” he alleged.
He also claimed that Ofoni repeatedly incited those around him to continue the assault, alleging that the council chairman shouted “Kill, kill, kill am” in reference to another party member shortly before the violence escalated.
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Izeze further alleged that Ofoni claimed he was acting on the directive of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori.
“To make matters worse, you claimed to all your hirelings and the PTI Guest House staff that you had the Governor’s directive to do what you did,” he wrote.
The commissioner, however, stressed that he had informed those who contacted him after the incident that he did not believe the governor authorised the attack.
“Nobody sent that council chairman. He forgot himself because he has become power drunk,” he declared.
Izeze also disclosed that he was speaking on the telephone with the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo (SAN), when the incident occurred.
“Unknown to Tony Ofoni, I was on the phone with the Honourable Minister when my phone was snatched,” he claimed.
Maintaining that he posed no threat to anyone, Izeze questioned why he was allegedly subjected to such treatment.
“Did I hold a gun? No! Did I sling a bow? No! So what was my offence? For refusing to die?” he asked.
He vowed to seek justice through lawful means, saying, “We shall be taking every legal and legitimate step to seek justice from you and your hirelings.”
Meanwhile, the Delta State Government has condemned the violence in Effurun and directed security agencies to ensure those responsible are brought to justice.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Commissioner for Works (Rural Roads) and Public Information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, described the incident as disturbing, particularly the attack on Simon Mudi, popularly known as Temple.
According to Aniagwu, the Oborevwori administration would not tolerate violence regardless of the status of those involved.
He said Governor Sheriff Oborevwori had directed security agencies to identify, arrest and prosecute all perpetrators, reaffirming the government’s commitment to maintaining peace and public order across the state.
The latest development comes barely a day after the Delta State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) rejected reports that violence disrupted its Delta Central Senatorial District stakeholders’ meeting held at the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) Conference Centre, Effurun.
In a statement signed by the party’s State Publicity Secretary, Valentine Onojeghuo, the APC insisted that the stakeholders’ meeting was peaceful from commencement to conclusion and that the violence captured in widely circulated videos occurred at a different location within the expansive PTI complex and not inside the conference hall where party leaders were meeting.
The party also dismissed reports suggesting internal factional crises within the Delta APC, maintaining that it has one recognised State Executive Committee under the leadership of Chief Solomon Arenyeka, JP.
While demanding a retraction and apology over what it described as misleading reports linking the violence to the stakeholders’ meeting, the APC maintained that the unfortunate incident should not be used to misrepresent the outcome of the gathering, which it said ended successfully without disruption.
With Izeze’s allegations, the government’s directive for arrests, and the APC’s insistence that its meeting remained peaceful, attention has now shifted to security agencies, who are expected to investigate the circumstances surrounding the violence and determine those responsible.
