AIG Salman-Dogo Garba
By John Egie
The three ethnic groups in Warri: Ijaw, Itsekiri and Urhobo have been warned to desist from any act that could jeopardize the peace and lead to a relive and repeat of the 2003/2004 Warri War.
The warning was handed down to leaders and representatives of the three ethnic groups by the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun during a security stakeholders’ meeting held yesterday in Benin City.
The IGP was represented by the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 5: AIG Salman-Dogo Garba at the meeting.
Others who attended the meeting include: the Commissioner of Police, Delta State, CP Abaniwonda Olufemi, the Area Commander, Warri; local government chairmen of Warri North, Warri South and Warri Southwest.
The spokespersons and representatives of Gbaramatu kingdom, Palace of the Olu of Warri, Isaba kingdom, Itsekiri and Okere-Urhobo; the Pere of Ogbe-Ijoh kingdom and Agbarha-Warri kingdom amongst others.
The agenda of the meeting was a postmortem of the fallout of the delineation exercise carried out in Warri Federal Constituency by INEC.
Opening the discourse, CP Abaniwonda Olufemi said bad blood flows among the people of the three ethnic nationalities in Warri following the delineation exercise and that the situation could possibly erupt to violence and breakdown of law and order.
Representatives of all stakeholders who attended the meeting took turn to speak and they all sued for peace, urging a steer away from factors that could cause a relive and repeat of the bloody Warri crisis of 2003/2004.
They all noted and agreed that the delineation exercise carried out by INEC was yet to be completed and finalized and hence, INEC has asked all aggrieved persons to study the draft report and come up with their complaints, observations and contributions.
Following this, the IGP took note of the cultural homogeny of the people of the three ethnic groups and appealed to the stakeholders to exercise control on their youths and ensure they refrain from making inciting and inflammatory statements, especially on social media, moralizing that “when a life is lost nobody can bring it back.”
He further warned that any breakdown of law and order and attempt to embark on any protest will not be tolerated.
He therefore charged all stakeholders to henceforth, desist from name-calling such as customary tenant used to derogate other ethnic group.
At the end of the meeting the IGP secured a deal as all parties agreed to work together towards peace and security of Warri Federal Constituency.
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