Delta Woman Leader Appeals to Govt to Avert Ijaw, Itsekiri Crisis

By Sunday Okobi

In order to avert another Ijaw/Itsekiri crisis in Delta State, rights activist and Itsekiri leader, Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor, yesterday appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, to caution the Gbaramatu Youth Council over an alleged threat to shut down operations of Chevron Nigeria Limited and sack Itsekiri people from their community over a recent oil spill in Gbaramatu in the state.

Members of the youth council were alleged to have threatened a showdown if the Itsekiri people were made a party to the Joint Inspection Verification (JIV) team of the government and relevant stakeholders, insisting that the deal must be an all Gbaramatu affair.

However, in a swift reaction, the Itsekiri leader pleaded with the federal and state governments to avert a repeat of the Warri mayhem that lasted for many years, which claimed many lives and property, adding that it took the intervention of the federal and state governments as well as key stakeholders to resolve.

At a press briefing held yesterday in Lagos, Lori-Ogbebor warned that recent events in the area were reminiscent of the early days of the sad Warri incident that involved the two ethnic nationalities.

In her speech titled: ‘Averting Another Warri Crisis’, Lori-Ogbebor warned that another war in the region would compound the already compounded security crises in the country.

“As I am briefing you, war is going on in Warri North Local Government Area. I want to assure everybody concerned that another war will not do anyone any good. Therefore, I am asking Governor Okowa, whom I have always respected as a deep thinker going by his education, to look into this matter urgently and seriously. This is to avoid another war in the region.

“It is history repeating itself should we allow bad history to repeat itself when we know it is bad.

“Do we allow it to repeat itself? It is not long ago when we had the Ijaw/Itsekiri war, which we now call the Warri crisis.

“That crisis was one, which we never thought would happen in our land, because the Itsekiri and Ijaw have a lot in common, including marriages. But it happened. There were a lot of killings, destruction of homes, separation of families, divorces among couples among others.

“It took the country, the president and governors to bring the war to an end. Both sides have never forgotten the war. The consequences of the war are still felt presently.”

The veteran journalist, who also cautioned the youths’ leader, Ebikeme, that he is too young to call for war, said: “I am a witness of the war. I was involved in ensuring the war between Ijaw and Itsekiri ended.

Lori-Ogbebor has also called for the investigation into the death and kidnapping of three Itsekiri people-one killed and two kidnapped-in the ongoing crisis in the Itsekiri community