April 19, 2008 Meeting Minutes - EVI Monthly Meeting

Attendees: Mr. Abraham O. Okomanyi, Dr. Joseph Akomodi and Dr. Sunday Okomanyi Abraham.

President’s Opening Remark
The President thanked everyone for finding the time to attend the meeting.

Interviews of Scholarship Applicants.
The interviews of the applicants for EVI scholarship were wrapped this month and feed back on the results has been provided to EVI. EVI executive members will now go on to assessing the academic records and essays provided by the applicants. We should be in the position to decide on the successful candidates by the next meeting.

Ogaminana Massacre.
The concerns of Ebira people over the killing of innocent people of Ogaminana during the recent conflict between Ebira youths and mobile police force deployed by the Federal Government to mitigate the seizure of truck load of iron ore concentrates heading from Itakpe to Port Harcourt by the youths was brought to the attention of EVI. As reported, over 50 people were killed, and hundreds of people maimed and left homeless. This senseless killing has not been condemned either at state or federal level. EVI has drafted a letter to be sent to the President of Nigeria, asking that the affected people be compensated. However, EVI noted in the letter that both the youths and mobile police force acted irresponsibly and should be brought to justice. The letter is being reviewed by the executive members after, which it will be sent to the President of Nigeria.

Gubernatorial Election in Kogi State
News received from home claimed that the Kogi State Gubernatorial election was peaceful thanks to the deployment of mobile police forces by the Federal Government to the Ebiraland and other regions in Kogi State. It was noted that the violence in Ebiraland subsided for sometimes following the elections but then it was rekindled again as Oziogu and Oziomoye people were playing tits-for-tats burning properties belonging to each clan. There was a lengthy discussion on what role EVI can play in bringing a lasting peace to Ebiraland. As agreed, EVI will seek collaboration with other reputable organizations at home on this front. A plan will be drafted for further discussion in the next meeting.

Invitation from Home to Participate in Ebira Day Event
EVI received an invitation from home to participate in Ebira Day Event scheduled to hold in January 2008. According to the invitation, this event is supposed to engage in a peaceful project in Ebiraland. EVI will do some research on how genuine this request is.

Meeting Adjourned
The President thanked all the participants for role we they playing in this organization and then, adjourned the meeting.