A former Commissioner for Higher Education in Delta State, Professor Patrick Muoboghare, has said the hunger and insecurity that the people of Uwheru Kingdom have been subjected to for over 15 years are what Nigerians have started suffering.
He observed that the economic plight that Uwheru indigenes have been suffering and enduring for many years is one that the average Nigerian is now battling with and is now calling for a nationwide protest against the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
The former commissioner said protests are not the solution to the current challenges bedevilling the country.
He noted that Nigerians, for whatever reason, failed to rally support for the Uwheru people, who had long been driven out of their farmlands and had been suffering hunger for years.
Uwheru Kingdom, comprising tens of communities in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta, has been under the siege of arms-wielding herdsmen who prevent indigenes from accessing their farmlands for years.
The Uwheru siege has resulted in the deaths of many indigenes who were slaughtered by herdsmen on their farms without help from the government at all levels.
Uwheru Kingdom is an agricultural hub in Delta and is known for having some of the sweetest groundnut and potato in the world. But since herdsmen’s occupation of their farmlands, the people have been avoiding farming for fear of being killed.
Addressing newsmen in Ughelli, Delta State, on Friday, Prof. Mouboghare said it was “painfully delightful” for other Nigerians to be hit with the ‘Uwheru fate’ of hunger, unemployment, and economic starvation.
The fiery academician stated that Uwheru indigenes home or in other parts of Nigeria would not participate in the forthcoming protest slated for August over the raging hunger in the country.
According to him, “How can the Uwheru man or woman be part of a protest against hunger or whatever? For over fifteen years, the Uwheru people have endured hunger because of the annexation of their farm lands by killer Fulani herdsmen. We have been left to our fate.
“On February 15, 2020, 12 of our youths, aged between 20 and 30 years, who dared into the farm lands due to excruciating hunger, were slaughtered by the killer herdsmen. Nigerians are just experiencing what the Uwheru people have endured for almost two decades.
“They should survive it without a protest. We have our survival strategy; protest is not part of it. Make una go come o. Abi una expect Ewhu people to join too? When Okuama was destroyed, na who protest? Abegi.”
