Alleged Tag Of Impostor: Rivers VGN Boss Spits Fire, Calls Publication ‘Rantings Of Interlopers’
The Rivers State Commandant of Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN), Mr. Manbo T. Wilcox, has dismissed media reports (not National Network) in which he was labelled an impostor, and urged the general public to disregard such statements, as they are what he called ‘rantings of interlopers who want to reap where they did not sow’.
Mr. Wilcox who stated this in a statement he jointly signed with the National Assistant Commander-General, Chief Reuben J. Amakiri, said his traducers lacked the locus-standi to talk about the VGN as, according to him, they have since been dismissed from the organization and are no longer members of the body.
In the rebuttal, copies of which were made available to journalists in Port Harcourt on Monday, the Rivers VGN boss described the publication as not only fallacious but also vexatious, frivolous, malicious and a calculated attempt to mislead the public.
“The self-acclaimed acting Commander, Chukwuka Osumah, the Assistant Commander, Boate Ayebaemi, Provost Denson Ala Bipislsks, Dr. Clement Isaiah West, Joseph Koyor, Henry Gordon Akpan, Philip Mbiabu Jackson and all others who claim to be members of the VGN are not members of the organization”, the statement affirmed.
He claimed that his traducers are a faction loyal to one Usman Mohammed Jahun, who, according to him, attempted to impeach his boss and founder of VGN, late Alhaji Ali Sokoto at the National Headquarters of VGN, then in Kaduna.
His words, “They are only but some group of impersonators who want to hide under the umbrella of the good VGN to deceive members of the public, after they were dismissed from the organization”, the statement said, challenging these individuals to show proof of their membership of the body.
He said that when the impeachment plot failed, he (Jahun) went to the court to remove Alhaji Sokoto, adding that VGN is fully incorporated as a legal entity with the Corporate Affairs Commission as a security outfit with Registration Number RC11834.
He stated that the original Certificate of Incorporation, original seal and the only bank account documents of the organization are, according to him, all in the custody of the authentic Commander-General, Navy Captain A.B. Umar (Rtd).
The VGN state Commandant who also supplied the National address of the organization as 52B Ishaya Shekeri Crescent, Setraco Gate, Gwarinpa Estate, Abuja as well as Rivers State address, No. 581 Ikwerre Road, Rumuigbo, Port Harcourt, affirmed that contrary to the vexatious publication against his office, “The VGN is not in court with any person or group of persons and neither is the Commander-General, Navy Captain A.B. Umar (rtd) in court with any person or group of persons”.
He went on: “There is also no court judgment or court order anywhere in the country precluding Navy Captain A.B. Umar (Rtd) as the authentic, de-facto and de-jure Commander-General from performing his duties and or functions as the Commander-General of VGN, contrary to the claims of the impersonating group”.
The statement emphasized that there is no division in the leadership of VGN in Rivers State, stressing that the state command has always been intact under the leadership of Mr. Manbo T. Wilcox to the knowledge of all the state security agencies such as the Police, Department of State Service, Nigerian Army and Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps.
On the supposed subsisting Appeal Court Judgment mentioned in the said publication, Mr. Wilcox said the suit was only but ‘a personal action between Usman Mohammed and Eleven (11) others and Late Alhaji Ali Sokoto’.
His words: “The VGN as a corporate body was not a party to the said suit and or judgment, beginning from the court of first instance until the appellate court and cannot be bound by the said Appeal Court judgment. The state Commandant of VGN, Rivers State Command was also not a party to the said suit and or judgment”.
The statement also revealed that individual data of the VGN members throughout the federation have all been captured by the Federal Ministry of Interior and service numbers generated and given to each of the members, adding that Usman Mohammed Jahun and his Osumah Chukwuka group have not had that opportunity.
“We therefore urge the government and good people of Rivers State and members of the general public to ignore them with their antics while also reiterating our earlier call on law enforcement agencies to arrest and bring them to book so that this impeccable VGN group under Commandant Manbo T. Wilcox in Rivers State will not be rubbished and or distracted”, the statement said.
