Some young Itsekiri people violently protested Monday at the well-known Okumagba Estate in Okere-Urhobo territory over the INEC ward delineation, leading to a potential catastrophe in Warri, Delta State.
Challenging High Chief (Dr.) Oweizide Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, his private security firm TANTITA Security Services Nigeria Limited, and the Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, the Itsekiri youths carried placards bearing various inscriptions and chanted war songs.
In addition to threatening INEC with war over the ward delineation, the Itsekiri youths have also contacted their Ijaw neighbors and the Urhobos of Warri.
According to our reporter who was there today, the youths of Okere-Urhobo showed maturity by disregarding their Itsekiri peers, who were planning to start a new round of fighting amongst the Warri family over this same issue.
After last week’s celebration of the day of the late Maj. Jasper Isaac Adaka Boro, the Ijaw youngsters stayed within and did not bother to come out.
What the Itsekiri youths did was an invasion of Ijaw communities in NPA and Okere-Urhobo land, according to Comrade Austin Ozobo, national president of the Ijaw People’s Development Initiative (IPDI). They stormed a business premises, brutally assaulted employees, and caused carnage and injuries.”
Comrade Ozobo claims that the Itsekiris’ behavior is a demand for conflict. However, I talked to individuals who had been invaded or assaulted by the angry youth of the Itsekiris, and they urged me to be calm and follow the law.
In the sake of restoring calm, he pleaded with Sheriff Oborevwori, governor of Delta State, and CP Olufemi, commissioner of police, to look into what happened at NPA today and punish the responsible youths from Itsekiri. As of press time, the Okere-Urhobo youth president had not returned requests for comment.