Assassination attempt tears MOSOP apart

The of the Movement for Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) Chief Legborsi Pyagbara, and Spokesman of the movement, Fegalo Nsuke, on Thursday, disagreed on the assassination attempt on Nsuke.

MOSOP’s Publicity Secretary claimed that Pyagbara sent assassins after him in Bori, the traditional headquarters of Ogoniland, which is the seat of Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, calling for resignation of the MOSOP president.

Ogoni Activists’ Forum, in a statement signed by a former Chairman of the MOSOP Kingdom Coordinators’ Forum, Frank Jonah, described the assassination attempt as despicable and condemnable.

The Ogoni activists’ forum said: “We are particularly appalled that the attack on Mr Nsuke was planned by the current MOSOP President, Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, and executed by a gang led by Bariledum Yaamene, with funding from Pyagbara, through the Financial Secretary of MOSOP, Chief Theophilus Dike, an indigene of Buan in Khana LGA.

“A confessional statement obtained from the gang leader, Bariledum Yaamene, clearly showed that Mr. Pyagbara called the gang leader and asked him to deal with Mr Nsuke.

“Pyagbara’s recent conduct, including the plot to assassinate the Publicity Secretary of MOSOP and his blatant disregard for the constitution of MOSOP and failure to put in place the necessary processes for the conduct of elections, which are overdue, is unacceptable.

“We ask for the immediate resignation of Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, as he has sufficiently constituted himself into a security threat and also an embarrassment to the Ogoni nationality.”

MOSOP president, while reacting through the Administrative Manager/Secretary of the umbrella organisation, Peter Nbotem, described the assassination claim as false, ill-conceived, totally misleading, and should be discountenanced in its entirety.

Nbotem said: “It is indeed an amusement to read the campaign of hate and calumny being concocted by a faceless group and its sponsors on a daily basis, aimed at assassinating the character of the MOSOP President, for no apparent reason, other than to please some desperate men and power mongers. It is, however, counterproductive, as, despite the strength of the smear-campaign, many genuine watchers now know that all the lies have been falling like a pack of cards.

“MOSOP, ordinarily, would not react to such frivolous claims, if not for the purpose of putting the records straight. This also becomes necessary for the fact that the claim is part of a larger campaign of calumny and a calculated attempt by the sponsors of the campaign of hate to smear and assassinate the character and the hard-earned reputation of the MOSOP President.

“As a responsible organisation, we took steps to inform the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Bori, about the planned attempt to invade and occupy the MOSOP Peace and Freedom Centre, Bori, requesting him to provide adequate security around the centre. As requested, the DPO deployed officers and men of the police to protect the centre and patrol the area. By 4 pm., the policemen retired to their station.”

As soon as this happened, some unknown young men, numbering about ten, tried to forcibly enter the centre, but they were gallantly repelled by the local security guards, who have been securing the property since 2017. These local security guards are well known to Mr. Fegalo Nsuke, because most of them are from his community, Yeghe. It is on record that on most occasions, Mr. Nsuke had been the one dealing with the security guards, as people from his community.

“Some moments after the invaders were chased away, Nsuke arrived and threatened the local security guards, but he was informed that the centre could not be opened for him, because there was no approved application to use the place for any meeting and he started a fight with the leader of the local security team, whom he accused of betraying his community, and that he would be dealt with, upon his (Nsuke) becoming MOSOP President.”

MOSOP’s administrative manager also stated that the local security arrangement was put in place in the wake of the constant invasion and looting of the centre by criminal gangs, which was described as a collective decision of the national executive of MOSOP, with Nsuke proposing the membership of the team, insisting that it was laughable to hear the spokesman claiming that the guards were hired by Pyagbara.

MOSOP president was described as a non-violent person, who remained the symbol of the non-violent struggle in the Niger Delta, with Nbotem calling on all well-meaning persons, institutions and lovers of the struggle for justice and equity to ignore the false and deceitful claims of Nsuke and his supporters.