Prominent Itsekiri leader, Chief Rita Lori Ogbebor, has sent a Save Our Soul to President Bola Tinubu, the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, security agencies, and other relevant organs of government, urging them to move swiftly to save the Itsekiri from what she called ‘looming genocide’ in Warri, Delta State.
The businesswoman, hotelier and philanthropist, who is also the Igba of Warri, raised the alarm during a media briefing in Lagos, on Friday, in response to a joint world press conference by Ijaw and Urhobo leaders in Delta State, which was held the other week in Warri.
At the earlier media conference, Ijaw leaders had asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to prevaricate on a reported proposal to delineate Warri and create more wards and polling units in Warri North and South Local Government Areas (LGAs). The Ijaw leaders threatened to ‘do what we know how to do best’ should their agitation not be heeded by the electoral umpire.
Mrs. Ogbebor condemned what she called the ‘brazen threats of violence’ by the Ijaw leaders, maintaining that the agitation was a ploy to emasculate the Itsekiris on their ancestral land.
She described the ‘purported delineation’ as a ‘looming genocide’ against the Itsekiri ethnic nationality in the state, warning that the situation could degenerate rapidly into full-scale conflict if the Federal Government fails to take urgent action.
The elder stateswoman accused politicians of fueling ethnic tensions in the oil-rich Warri axis for selfish political and economic interests tied to control of oil resources.
According to her, the Itsekiri people are under coordinated attacks and intimidation from neighbouring ethnic groups, particularly the Ijaw and Urhobo, who, she alleged, told their kinsmen across the globe to unite against the Itsekiri.
She said: ‘You may say the word genocide is harsh, but it is true. It is a fact. There is a looming genocide against the Itsekiri, and the whole world, the President of this country and Nigerians must know that the Itsekiri are being battered’.
Ogbebor recalled the deadly crisis that roiled Warri between 1997 and 2003, which, she said, was triggered by disputes over local government headquarters and political structures allegedly manipulated by politicians.
She categorically accused a former governor of the state, Chief James Ibori, of worsening the crisis by creating additional LGAs and relocating local council structures without due process.
That move by Ibori, she further said, ignited years of bloodshed in the region.
She continued: ‘For eight years they fought us. What is at stake is the oil money? Every politician wants to control that area because of the oil wells in our land’.
Ogbebor maintained that the Itsekiri are the original owners of Warri, insisting that all disputed territories had been adjudicated up to the Supreme Court in their favour.
She described the Ijaw and Urhobo as settlers who quietly pursued an expansionist agenda and later began claiming lands belonging to the Itsekiri.
‘There is a judgment that says everybody in Warri, except the Itsekiri, is a settler’” she stated.
The Itsekiri leader warned that continued suppression and territorial encroachment could spark another round of violent conflict in the Niger Delta if the federal government fails to act proactively.
‘Nigeria will wake up one morning and the whole area will be in flames,” she warned. “And then it will not be the Itsekiri alone; it will be a war’, she said.
Ogbebor urged the Federal Government to urgently intervene by providing adequate protection for the Itsekiri people and revisiting past decisions surrounding ward and local government delineations in Warri.
She declared that the creation of a separate Warri State is the permanent solution to the problem, arguing that the Itsekiri people deserve political autonomy and protection.
She declared: ‘We want Warri State. We were a nation on our own. Warri is viable and meets the conditions required for state creation’.
She further demanded the reversal of the relocation of the Warri South-West Local Government headquarters from Ogidigben to Ogbe-Ijaw, insisting that the original gazetted location should be restored.
Ogbebor also called for the enforcement of existing court judgments on disputed lands in Okere and other parts of Warri, stressing that failure to respect judicial pronouncements would continue to fuel unrest in the region.
The activist said the Itsekiri had remained peaceful despite years of provocation, but warned that there was a limit to endurance.
She said: ‘We are in our land. We have not gone to anybody’s land. Why do they want to wipe us out’?
