Jonathan's Aide, Reno Omokri Breaks Into A House For Robbery
President Goodluck Jonathan's aide on New Media,
to forcefully evict a tenant in his late mother's house,
in Warri, has resulted in a robbery scandal to the
tune of N25 million that was kept in a 'Ghana-Must-
Go bag'.
Unfortunately, the stolen money was meant for the
South South Mandate, a pro-Jonathan campaign
group, and supposed to be used for the campaign
ahead of the presidential election on 28th March this
year.
The building, located at Plot 17, 19 Street, DDPA
Housing Estate, Ugborikoko-Effurun, opposite the
Warri residence of former Governor of Delta State,
Chief James Ibori, was allegedly burgled by nine
heavily armed men, some of whom wore police
uniforms, suspected to have been hired by Omokri.
The building was inhabited by Prince Alex Oyoro, a
former Peoples Democratic Party Ughelli North/Udu
Federal Constituency aspirant and head of the group
campaigning for President Jonathan. He was in Abuja
on Tuesday when the armed men stormed the
building and carried out the act in a case that is still
pending at the court.
However, in a hurry to vacate the building after
ransacking it and allegedly stealing the money, the
hired thugs left behind document that have
implicated Omokri. The document contained an
incriminating write-up with the heading: 'Eviction
notice,' which had Omokri's name and which sources
said they intended to paste on the wall of the
building.
Oyoro said the money, which was kept in one of the
bedrooms, was to be deposited in a bank upon his
return from Abuja but that he was still there when
the act was committed.
The armed men who allegedly gave the impression
that it was an armed robbery operation, reportedly
gained access into the compound by cutting the gate,
which had padlock on it, and then climbing into the
ceiling through which they entered the apartment.
Even though they wanted to just turn the apartment
upside down and make the building unhibatibale for
the occupant and his family, they ended up stealing
the money.
Prince Oyoro, who said his wife called him to inform
him of the development, added that the armed men
damaged the building on behalf of Omokri.
He said Omokri had several times, harassed and
threatened his family members using his office in the
presidency even when no court had ruled over the
case in court concerning the property.
He said his wife told him that the men stormed in
with various items including guns, hammer, cutters,
ladders and such items to make their entrance easy.
While calling on the police to investigate the matter
and bring the perpetrators to book, he stressed that:
"about six of them wore police uniform and the
others were on mufti and they came with three cars.
They broke the gate, some jumped over the fence
about 8am and tried to force their way into the
house.
"When they couldn't, they used the ladder to climb
through the ceiling and started ransacking the house
for what I don't know. They saw a 'Ghana-Must-Go'
bag containing N25 million and carried it.
"The money belonged to the South-South Mandate
and I was to deposit it the following day when I
return from Abuja. But it appears they calculated I
was not in town and that was when they stormed my
house.
"As soon as they got the bag, they fled, but
unfortunately for them, they left a vital information,
which contained the name of Reno Bemigho Omokri,
who happened to be the Special Assistant to the
President on New Media.
"Before now, this Bemigho had been harassing me,
claiming that he is the owner of the house and that I
should leave the house. Before now, he had also
taken me to court on the same issue and the matter
is still pending in court but he has been trying to get
justice through the back door.
"I don't know why a man who claims he is working
for the President should use the seat of the President
to intimidate a law abiding Nigerian during this
electioneering time. I believe the attack was political
because if it was a landlord and tenant issue, they
could have just pasted the purported eviction notice,
which ordinarily goes with court judgement. But in
this case, it was not so.
"They invaded the house, ransacked it and stole from
it while shooting sporadically in the name of eviction.
So I believe it was political because Reno Omokri, we
know his antecedent.
"He was an aide to Atiku Abubakar and it was
through him that they planted him in the Presidency
again. So if he is working from the opposition and he
is a mole in the Presidency, this incidence would
reveal it.
"If Omokri is hiding under the umbrella of the
Presidency to commit crime, the world would know
because this is injustice. The trauma we have passed
through would not be left to go like that. We have
been sleeping in this roofless house like for three
days now.
"It is unfair, an injustice and oppression of the
highest order and I pray the law must take its course.
I am also crying to the civil society organizations to
stand by me on this because this is oppression in
high places.
"I have not done anything wrong to Omokri. I was not
the one who took him to court. He did and the courts
are yet to decide. So where have I gone wrong that
Omokri is after our lives?"
The building had been a reason for a clash between
Omokri and the Oyoros and the case had been in
court.
Oyoro's wife, Fina Maiki, allegedly got the lease to the
house from the original owner, Omokri's mother,
Helen Igbene, who then resided in Enugu State and
who was a friend to the Oyoros before her death in
2004 while the lease agreement remained.
Oyoro also claimed that his family renovated the
building which was already dilapidated before the
lease agreement was reached.
After Igbene's death, a Lagos-based lawyer, Festus
Anekwu, who wrote the Oyoros that administrators
had been appointed for the property. But not long
after, Omokri started laying claim to the property
arguing that he owned the building being the first son
of the deceased.
This forced the Oyonos to pay rent in 2005 and 2007
to Omokri in spite of being in a lease agreement as
they allegedly could not bear the pressure and
harassment. In one of the occasions, Omokri
reportedly collected N175,000 from the family and
personally thumb-printed a written agreement for a
receipt of the rent. Another of such rent was
reportedly paid to his wife's account.
In a petition dated October 21, 2014 on behalf of Fina
Maiki-Oyoro by F. O. Olokor (Esq), the petitioner said
following another letter threatening eviction from the
lawyer of the family of Igbene, the tenants again paid
rents for 2007 to 2013 to the chambers of Urowayino
on behalf of one Misan Igbene-Okotigor (acting on
behalf of the administrators of the late Helen Igbene
estate) after a suit No UACC/234/2010 was instituted
at the Uvwie Area Customary Court, Ugborikoko-
Effurun.
This payment to another person got Omokri, who
had travelled out of the country after the end of
Atiku's tenure as Vice President, angry. He took the
tenant to court in suit No UACC/561/2012. The case is
still pending at the Area Customary Court, Effurun.
Since then, the family said they have been constantly
harassed. For example, Maiki-Oyoro alleged that in
2012 at about 9pm, Omokri deployed armed men
who claimed they were from Abuja to harass and
threaten her family.
In February 2014, Maiki-Oyoro said she had a car
accident on her way from the Ugborikoko Police
Station in February 2014 where the case was
reported against her by Omokri and she was
hospitalised at the Oghara Teaching Hospital,
Oghara. Again on November 13, 2014, Omokri
allegedly used an official letter-head paper of the
Presidency to initiate a petition against the Oyoros in
a bid to further intimidate the family.
Calls to Omokri for his response to the allegations
were not taken.
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