Major armed conflict brewing in Delta State, Yoruba group warns

Ologeh Joseph Chibu

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu have been asked to move swiftly to stem a major crisis that may engulf Delta State and the Niger Delta.

In a statement issued on Thursday and made available to Journalists, leading Pan Yoruba group, O’odua Nationalist Coalition, (ONAC) warned that Delta State may witness a repeat of armed conflict between Ijaw and Itsekiri unless the federal authorities urgently address the lingering cases of injustice against the indigenous Itsekiri in Warri Federal Constituency. The group warned that the crisis has the potential of drawing the entire Yoruba Nation into a major conflict in Delta State making the oil producing State an avoidable theatre of renewed hostilities.

According to ONAC, the two major issues if not resolved stand the risk of plunging Nigeria into another circle of violence which can and should be avoided. The group warned that any crisis at this moment in the Niger Delta has the potential of destabilising the entire country.

ONAC said the first is the creation of new wards in Itsekiri land designed to scuttle the Itsekiri people voting strength, and make them politically impotent in their own ancestral land; the second is the award of pipeline protection on Itsekiri land to their sworn enemies. The group said these two issues can spark unprecedented violence at any time unless they are urgently addressed by the Presidency and the Office of the National Security Adviser, (NSA).

‘The Itsekiri are being treated as underdogs in their own motherland. They are being intimidated, subdued and threatened by people who claim they have imported enough illicit weapons to take on Nigeria, people whose only weapon is the use of violence and bribery of institutions to the extent that such institutions disrespect and abuse various pronouncements of the Supreme Court on land matters in Warri Kingdom,’ ONAC said.

The group said the Yoruba Nation would not stand by and watch the insult and humiliation to continue warning that it would be a mistake for Itsekiri foes to assume they can continue to intimidate and short change the ethnic group without consequences.

ONAC, a coalition of 25 Pan Yoruba groups established in 2002 alleged that the enemies of Itsekiri ethnic group have been amassing dangerous weapons under the false guise of pipeline protection to the detriment of peaceful co-existence in Delta State.

The coalition said Itsekiri have been pushed beyond reasonable limit of patience in the face of aggravated assault and usurpation of their ancestral land by the bigger ethnic groups who exploit their higher population to consistently humiliate and undermine the Itsekiri in Delta State.

‘We draw the attention of the President and the National Security Adviser to what is now an issue of emergency National security issue. We note the forceful delineation of WARDs in Warri Federal Constituency by the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) as a calculated attempt to reduce the voting strength of Itsekiri people and create unprecedented political exclusion that will weaken their political history,’ ONAC said in the statement signed by 25 members of the coalition released on Thursday. Those who signed the statement are Chief Kunle Oshodi, Hakeem Akinwale, Chief Sanusi Adeuya among many others.

The group said the award of oil pipeline protection belonging to the Itsekiri to Ijaw has created a situation whereby armed men currently invade ad occupy Itsekiriland under the pretense of protecting pipelines.

‘There is no ethnic group in the Niger Delta that will accept the injustice being unleashed on Itsekiri people, the humiliation and the arrogant usurpation of their land by people who boast openly that they have the capacity to ruin Nigeria with the arms in their possession. When the time to defend Itsekiri land comes, the violent groups should be ready to face the entire Pan Yoruba groups who are alarmed and troubled by the current state of affairs in Delta State, ’ the group stated.