The Paramount Ruler of Upata Kingdom in Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State, Eze Igbu Upata 111 of Upata Kingdom, King Felix E. Otuwarikpo, has described peace as a necessary ingredient for the development of any community.
Otuwarikpo, who stated that while speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt on Monday, noted that no meaningful development could be achieved without peace.
The Eze Igbu Upata 111, who was reacting to some fatuous allegations made against him by a wanted criminal in the state popularly called VIP, explained that he had done a lot in the area of maintaining security in his kingdom.
Earlier, the notorious criminal, a native of Upata kingdom had alleged on the radio that the monarch was after him because he had refused to kill his perceived enemies as he had directed him to do.
Otuwarikpo dismissed the allegations as having no substance and noted that they were woven by the fleeing criminal, his sponsors and cohorts to tarnish his good image.
He pointed out that some of the persons whom the notorious criminal had alleged he wanted to kill were his relatives.
The monarch remarked that he had initiated an amnesty programme in the area in order to stem the killings therein but the notorious cultist would not let go even when his contemporaries had accepted the amnesty programme. 
Otuwarikpo said the cultist had fled with bullet wound after security operatives invaded his camp in the forest following his refusal to embrace peace.
He accused those who were uncomfortable with his emergence as the Eze Igbu Upata III of sponsoring the cultist as well as being responsible for the media campaign to tarnish his image.
He said some chiefs in the kingdom had gone to court to challenge his emergence as the Upata monarch but the court of first instance had ruled in his favour and stated that the process of his emergence was in order.
Otuwarikpo appealed to his opponents whom, he said were already on appeal to await the judgment of the appellate court instead of fomenting trouble in the kingdom.
The Upata monarch pointed out that more than 500 persons had been killed in the area by cultist.
He described himself as a king who neither hobnobbed with cultists nor used them as security details.
The monarch noted that he was anti-crime in his kingdom and had stood vehemently against the illegal refining of crude oil in his area.
He said despite assassination attempts on his life he was not deterred in doing what was right.
King Otuwarikpo remarked that both his palace and his convoy had been attacked at various times by criminals but it did not hinder his determination to give the best to his kingdom.
He expressed regret that his enemies had sponsored cultists to demolish the central palace he was building for the Upata kingdom in spite of the good intention he had for building it.
He noted that he was not one of the traditional rulers who ruled from outside their kingdoms.
The Eze Igbu Upata III stated that he had initiated various development programmes in his kingdom such as skills acquisition for the youths and sundry others.

By: Chidi Enyie