By Chinelo Obogo, Lagos
The President General of Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), Moses Taiga, has called on Urhobo politicians stakeholders in Delta State to eschew violence and killings as the 2023 general elections approaches.
In a statement on Monday, Taiga said the rate of what the UPU alleges are political motivated killings in Urhobo community has become worrisome. He made reference to the three killings; two last year and one this year, of a young politician who was killed on his way to Asaba during the local government elections in 2020. He also cited the case of another politician that was killed in Ughelli South last year while he lamented that in the last few days, another young politician was hacked down in Sapele.
‘Local government campaigns and the 2023 elections politicking are already on, though the elections are still two years away. Are these deaths coincidences? The UPU does not know, but they are worrisome and ominous. Urhobo politics and elections have always been intense, but killing of political opponents is not part of our political life,’ Taiga said.
‘As we get closer to another round of elections, the UPU calls on all Urhobo politicians to play their politics without killings, violence and bitterness. Do not shed the blood of any Urhobo son or daughter to achieve your political ambition. Power belongs to God and no one gets to a position without the knowledge of God.’
The UPU president general urged the people of Urhobo nation and Delta State in general to aspire for public office with the desire to serve, saying: ‘Anybody desiring to serve does not need to eliminate political opponents to get the position. You do not kill because you want to serve. A call to public service is a call to restore and uplift life, not a call to take life. While we await the police to unravel the perpetrators of these killings, the UPU says enough of these killings. The Urhobos are peace-loving people. Nobody should turn Urhobo land into a river of blood.’