Some suspected hoodlums on Saturday attacked the palace of Etsu Lokoja, HRH Emmanuel Akamisoko Dauda-Shelika, Nyamkpa IV, and burnt his automobile and houses throughout the premises.
The palace which is positioned on plot 306, Fresh Sequence, Lokoja, was once allegedly attacked by means of hoodlums at about 1:00 am on Saturday, who burnt his automobiles date the monarch narrowly escaped by means of scaling the fence.
Our reporter amassed that Nupe Natives of Lokoja Construction Union have been making plans to host the 2d Version of Nupe Natives finish of the life tournament, tagged: “Lokoja ’24 Nupe Cultural Fiesta”, on Dec. 21, 2024, sooner than the incident befell.
The development was once, on the other hand, aborted because of the unpleasant assault, when many Nupe natives from neighbouring states had began arriving at the eve of the development.
Narrating his ordeal to our correspondent who visited the scene on Monday, the monarch mentioned: “It was once round 1 am at night time that I had a obese bang on my door and I awoke to test in the course of the window, questioning what can have came about.
“Next, I noticed wildfire popping out of my automotive because it were lit a fire by means of attackers. I knew it was once an assault at the palace, and due to this fact I may just now not pop out on account of concern of being attacked. So, I controlled to come back out in the course of the again door and scaled the fence to resignation for my age.
“Thereafter, I came out to the road and realised that all my neighbours in the community were on the ground trying hard to quench the fire, but unfortunately the car was burnt, as well as other properties inside it.”
Dauda-Shelika appealed to the federal government and safety companies to research the reason for the assault and produce the perpetrators and their sponsors to justice.
He, on the other hand, appealed to the Nupe natives in Lokoja, to steer clear of any method of reprisal however proceed to stay non violent, and law-abiding and make allowance govt and safety companies to behavior thorough investigations at the assault.
“We’re interesting to His Excellency, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo, and safety companies to delight usefulness their excellent places of work to research this unpleasant incident and produce to justice whoever is anxious whether or not at once or not directly.
“We additionally need the federal government to kindly consult with our problems by means of recognising and grading the stool of Etsu Lokoja which were in lifestyles sooner than colonisation. By means of formally recognising and grading the Etsu Lokoja stool, we all know the whole lot will likely be laid to remains as a result of that’s the energy of the federal government.
“If the government remain silent and looks away, it leaves the door open for this kind of thing to happen. And as a people, we will not want to see such things continue to happen. I urge my people to remain as peaceful and law-abiding as we have always been because this incident has drawn the attention of the government to our issue,” Dauda-Sheika added.
He famous that the Government Chairman of Lokoja LGA and his safety equipment got here for an on-the-spot evaluation that Saturday morning in addition to the Police, DSS and NSCDC.
He added, “The DPO, ‘A’ Section was once additionally right here along with his males upon listening to the incident to establish what if truth be told came about. All of them condemned the unsightly incident in sturdy phrases. We have now additionally been invited to the Police station and we have now written our remark.
“Nupe people are law-abiding and we are not known for violence. Nobody in Lokoja will classify Nupe people as violent and lawbreakers, no! We like accommodating everyone. And that is why other tribes like marrying our daughters.”
Talking at the conceivable reason behind the assault, Dauda-Sheika mentioned, “I believe it must be mentioned accurately mentioned; Lokoja is historically Nupe and we have been making plans to have the once a year Nupe Cultural Fiesta that we had closing life.
“That was once why we despatched out letters of invitation to the entire related stakeholders together with the media, and safety companies such because the Police, NSCDC, and DSS, in addition to extending invites to all alternative ethnic teams in Lokoja such because the Ebira, Yoruba, Oworo, Igala, Igbo communities to come back and honour with us and our tradition.
“We additionally prolonged the invitation to Maigari of Lokoja being the Chairman of Lokoja Native Executive Conventional Council, to come back and be the Particular Royal Father of the presen. However to our amazement, instead than accepting our invitation, the Maigari faulted it, and wrote again to us, pronouncing, ‘Our letter lacks royal courtesy’ as a result of we didn’t come with the Chairman, Lokoja Conventional Council in our letter.
“The Maigari additionally went forward in his letter to mention that there’s not anything like ‘Etsu Lokoja’. So, we miracle how can you say there’s no Etsu Lokoja when we have now existed even sooner than the colonialists got here, and we have now our personal approach of administering ourselves abinitio.
“We were the earlier settlers here, and it has always been Etsu Lokoja before the colonialists came. In an attempt to set up their own thing, the colonialists put together this arrangement, and today we have a Maigari. But we have no problem with that at all because we have lived together peacefully for many years”, he mentioned.
He wired that the federal government was once conscious about the efforts and constructions that the management of Nupe Natives in Lokoja had installed park to facilitate the federal government’s reputation of the Etsu Lokoja stool, as a way to administer themselves freely as an ethnic workforce.
He added, “So, the aborted cultural fiesta was once by no means a coronation rite because it was once being interpreted in some quarters, however a cultural birthday party for the reason that factor of coronation may be very mundane. Essentially the most impressive factor for us is the set up of Etsu Lokoja which we did on January 23, 2024. We additional did a nation reenactment of that set up once more on July 27, 2024, at the mountain which was once the foundation of Lokoja, and can ship a letter of reminder to the federal government at the wish to acknowledge and grade Etsu stool.
“We even have a compendium of all our actions that we’ve got performed which was once additionally despatched to the Condition Executive in addition to the entire safety companies. We’re ensuring as law-abiding folk to apply ideas and due procedure as a result of we aren’t violent however very clever and builders that upload price when we have now the liberty to take action. The federal government has known Lokoja as a Cosmopolitan town and this is why they have got selected to spot, acknowledge and grade sure ethnic teams together with the Ohi Anebira of Lokoja, Onu Igala of Lokoja, Oba Yoruba of Lokoja, Maigari Lokoja for Housa, in addition to Etsu Lokoja.
“So, the Nupe folk should be recognised and feature a graded stool of Etsu Lokoja which were in lifestyles lengthy sooner than the colonialists got here. That is to safeguard equity, fairness and justice in order that we will be able to all the time trust within the movements of the federal government, and we need to all the time take part within the building of the land.
“We are not happy that we are sidetracked; we want to be part of the players because we were one of the early settlers but we are not in the scheme of things. We want to be included because we do not have another home, Lokoja is our home and we have nowhere to go like others. What happens to our children and unborn generations if we refuse to get things right now,” Dauda-Shelika mentioned.
Additionally talking, the Nationwide President, Nupe Natives of Lokoja Union, Alh. Abubakar Ndashite, mentioned the development scheduled for Saturday, December 21, was once a birthday party of Nupe Cultural heritage and now not any method of coronation as being insinuated from some quarters.
He expressed his displeasure over the aborted cultural tournament, noting that the union had expended such a lot of it, and suggested the federal government in order perpetrators to hold.
When our correspondent visited the palace, the police officer declined to put together feedback as he claimed to not were permitted to talk at the subject.
Efforts to get the order police command to react proved abortive because the nation family members officer, SP William Aya, didn’t rush repeated shouts to his cellular quantity. He additionally didn’t reply to a textual content message despatched to him.
Our correspondent additionally made spirited efforts to get the Safety Helper to talk at the building to incorrect avail as he didn’t rush repeated shouts to his cell phone quantity.
He has additionally now not replied to a textual content message despatched to him on the generation of filling this file.