Okenyi Kenechi
Ula-Ikata was once a vibrant community, one of the 21 communities that make up the Upata Kingdom. Its people had enviable traditions, something that they had so much pride in.
One of the many shrines
A live cock suspended on a bamboo stem
There were hopes and aspiration and children hoped to grow up and rule the land of their own umbilical cords. That was four years ago before a thick darkness was cast over it and fighting broke and made the community a 21st-century ghost town.
Located just a 30 minutes drive from Bayelsa State and about 45 minutes from Port Harcourt, the community has become one of the Ahaoda-East’s major burden on conscience, a community that burnt within, leading to an unprecedented level of destruction that marveled 21st-century historians. The word on lips was “how did it get to the point where only wild animals inhabit a land that humans thrived in?”
A destroyed home
The rest of the world watched with folded arms while it burnt and the people killed themselves without let or hindrance despite the fact that it could be accessed easily.
The community, a local told me, had over a thousand indigenes but they are all strangers and scattered in other communities due to fears of being killed. She says that although the killings have abated, people are still unsure whether to return or not, as a man who had come to clear his compound two weeks ago was killed by thieves who came to de-roof a building.
A destroyed Anglican church
What started as a land dispute in 2014 between two families, gradually took a political undertone and became a source of dispute between two rival cult gangs, creating a never-seen-before enmity that saw hundreds of people killed, massive destruction of unquantifiable proportion and a dashed hope. In Ula-Ikata, nothing was too dear to escape the viciousness of those who chose to ruin lives and exterminate the whole community. Nothing was left untouched by the ravaging crisis – not the schools, the church or even the shrines survived. Everything was destroyed while the indigenes of the community took refuge in neighbouring towns and communities.
Indigenes walk towards a cleared path to inspect their abandoned homes
The only school in the community was not spared
Hope of a fresh start
Eze Felix Otuwarikpo
Hope is filtering-in that the town ravaged by years of intra-family disputes and political differences will be rebuilt. Engineering such possibilities, is the new king of Upata Kingdom, His Royal Majesty, Eze Dr. Felix Otuwarikpo, Eze Igbu Upata 111.
The king has taken giant steps towards ensuring that the warring families sit at a table and negotiate a ceasefire. This, he said, was achieved through months of continuous mediation.
The King tells me that he has also written to the United Nations, National Emergency Management Agency, Rivers State Government and many other donor agencies to help in rebuilding the town and to restore economic activities. There were many promises, especially from prominent indigenes of Ekpeyeland.
The people and their culture
The king says that rebuilding the community will take years, adding that he has sent words to indigenes of the town scattered in neighbouring communities to return before the end of the year or be banished from the kingdom.
He tells me that the most important thing is to make sure that such level of carnage does not repeat itself again in the kingdom.
Some of the indigenes who spoke to me expressed optimism that normalcy has finally returned to the community. They expressed profound appreciation to the King for resolving the age-long dispute, saying that they can finally return to their own ancestral home and rebuild it.
They equally called on the Rivers State government to come to their aid and restore basic amenities and infrastructure in the community.
