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Avert another Ijaw, Itsekiri crisis in Delta, Lori-Ogbebor begs Buhari, Okowa

By Clarkson Voke Eberu
23 April 2021   |   4:06 am
Rights activist, Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor, has pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to caution the President of Gbaramatu Youth Council, Comrade Shedrack Ebikeme...

Rita Lori-Ogbebor

Rights activist, Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor, has pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to caution the President of Gbaramatu Youth Council, Comrade Shedrack Ebikeme, for going about threatening to shutdown operations of Chevron Nigeria Limited and sack Itsekiri people over a recent oil spill that took place within the community in Delta State.

In a viral video, the youth leader was seen and heard threatening a showdown if the Itsekiri were made party to the Joint Inspection and Verification (JIV) team of government and relevant stakeholders besides insisting that the deal must be an all Gbaramatu affair.

But the Igba of Warri Kingdom urged both leaders to avert a repeat of the Warri mayhem that lasted for years, claimed lives, properties and took the intervention of the federal and state governments, as well as key stakeholders to resolve.

Briefing reporters yesterday in Lagos, she 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 a speech titled, “Averting Another Warri Crisis”, Lori-Ogbebor cautioned that another war would not be in anybody’s good.

She said: “As I am writing, war is going on in Warri North (Local Council).  I want to assure everybody concerned that another war will not do anyone any good.  I am now asking Governor Ifeanyi 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.

“It is history repeating itself should we allow bad history 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 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 whole 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 everyday.

“I am a witness of the war.  I was involved in ensuring the war ended.”

She continued: “All the old men in ijawland remember the war. I am, therefore, sad and shocked to see a video on the social media by an Ijaw group, led by one Shedrack Ebikeme, beating the drum of war.

“ He threatened to bomb Chevron’s facilities and sack all Itsekiri from their homes. He threatened to stop boats from moving up and down the rivers in Itsekiriland. I was afraid and sad. It reminded me of the war between the Itsekiri and Ijaw.  This is how it started gradually before snowballing into a huge crisis.”

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