Sunday Okobi
The Odionwere of Iru community in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State and the Elders-in-Council have declared that the Iru people did not agitate or request to be part of the proposed Anioma State.
The leaders of the community were responding to reports on social media that they are clamoring for Iru to join the proposed Anioma State.
In a statement issued and signed by the Odionwere of Iru Community, Pa James Osakwe, and the President-General of the Elders-in Council, Mr. Emmanuel Mordi, which was made available to THISDAY yesterday, the people said: “Having read the spurious campaigns on the social media, we as a community wish to state as follows: ‘that Iru people did not agitate or request to be part of the new Anioma State through any mass media, and we hereby rebut the stories making rounds in the social media especially a video purporting that Iru people canvased to be in the new Anioma State.”
The statement disclosed that the Iru people in Orhionmwon LGA have been in Edo State dating back to the early 1920s, adding that: “We are bona fide Edo indigenes and a generation of Isi and Oso children whose origin is from the ancient Benin kingdom.
“We are not the Igbo community residing in Edo State as claimed by the fake campaigns. Our culture and traditions were copied from the Binis, even though we speak the Ika language.
“All the social media stories and videos circulating online, including one named Spirit Almighty, are the handiwork of mischief makers desperate for Anioma State creation. The video clip is spurious in its entirety, and we advise readers to treat it as trash.”
The further stated that it is the sole prerogative of the federal government to create states.
“This is entrenched in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and the National Assembly is vested with such powers in the delineation of the boundaries for the creation of new states. “We hereby appeal to members of the public to desist from the circulation of all such fake stories on social media platforms. Iru people remain grateful and loyal to the Edo State Government and the Oba of Benin,” the statement noted.