Delta Community  Seeks Arrest, Prosecution of Onuwaje’s Killers

Sylvester Idowu in Warri

Ugborodo Community Management Committee (UCMC) in Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State has called on the Department of State Services (DSS) to arrest and prosecute those behind the recent murder of a youth leader, Emiko Onuwaje, in Ogidigben.

The committee also urged the National Security Adviser (NSA) and Chief of Defence Staff to treat the December 20, 2025, murder of the said youth as a matter of national security concern “ involving organised crime, illegal arms, and sabotage of state authority.”

The Secretary of Ugborodo Community Management Committee (UCMC), Mr. Eyengho S. Besidone, made the demands at a media briefing over the weekend.

He said the demands became necessary “because the central figure in the violent activities at Ogidigben (name withheld) ,who is a traditional chief, has continued to walk freely on the streets of Warri, untouched by law enforcement agencies, regardless of several petitions written against him.”

Eyengho, who read a statement heco-signedd with the Chairman of Ugborodo Community Management Committee, Mr. Emmanuel Onuwaje, therefore called on the Inspector-General of Police (IG) to ensure the immediate arrest, investigation, and prosecution of the said traditional chief and all his identified accomplices.

Whilst demanding the immediate investigation into the alleged involvement of compromised security personnel and their command structures in the gruesome murder of Emiko Onuwaje, the Ugborodo leadership called for the protection of witnesses and community members facing threats and intimidation.”

The Ugborodo Community scribe alleged that since the murder of Onuwaje, members of a “criminal group” have openly threatened to inflict further harm on Ugborodo residents, repeatedly boasting that the matter is settled, nothing will happen, claiming an indigenous top security official of the Delta State Government is behind the boast.

“We have observed with grave worry that certain individuals are deliberately attempting to manipulate, dilute, and mischaracterize this case, presenting it as a miscarriage of justice, rather than the cold-blooded murder that it clearly is.

“This deliberate distortion is dangerous. It emboldens criminals, erodes public confidence in the justice system and sends the wrong signal to our community, already under pressure of future attack,” Eyengho lamented.

Prominent Ugborodo indigene, Chief Ayirimi Emami, disclosed that some highly placed persons were going to Abuja and other places to make sure that the suspects in Emiko’s murder escape justice.

Whilst stating that he will never support kthe illing of innocent Itsekiris, Chief Emami stated that his surveillance security company had written a series of petitions regarding the alleged illegal bunkering activities of one Okpeyo in Ogidigben, but all efforts to arrest the situation have been resisted. The Deputy Olare-Aja of Ogidigben community, Pa James Mene, while fielding questions from journalists, appealed to the federal, Delta State Governments ,and the relevant security agencies to ensure that those responsible for Emiko Onuwaje’s death face the wrath of the law.