Rights activist, Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor, has cautioned the Federal Government and Delta State Government to ignore the demand for the delineation of wards in Warri Federal Constituency by the Ijaw.
The Rights activist made this call on Wednesday in a signed statement, copy of which was made available to newsmen, just as she charged the Ijaw to obey the constitutional provisions of 10 wards per local government in the country.
Lori-Ogbebor reiterated that Warri Kingdom belongs to Itsekiri, recalling that the history of Urhobo and Ijaw fighting the Itsekiri is very historical indeed but quickly pointed out that the Itsekiri had tried to avoid such being people who don’t want violence and were law-abiding.
“The history of Urhobo and Ijaw fighting the Itsekiri is very historical indeed but the Itsekiri have tried, especially because they are people who don’t want violence.
“They believe that if you beat the Itsekiris, the only place they can run to is the law court, which they have been doing. The reason is that the Itsekiris are the owners of Warri and it is called Warri Kingdom.
“And all the legal judgments have proved beyond reasonable doubt that Itsekiris are owners of Warri. They have attacked the Olu of Warri in several judgments from the lowest court in our land to the highest court and that case had been settled.
“But this seems to give our neighbours nightmares and they cannot accept it. So, they try to attack us in every possible way. They go legally and legally we have won all the cases.
“Now they are beating us to stupor and they believe the Itsekiris will not fight because they want peace. So that is violence and that violence is telling a lot on us,” Lori-Ogbebor.
Lori-Ogbebor said she was raising an alarm now because there is a case going on where the Ijaws were asking for creation of what she described as illegal wards, saying that the only way to know best about these illegal wards which had been created for them a long time ago “is to go to court.”
“I’m raising an alarm now because there is a case going on where the Ijaws are asking for illegal wards and these illegal wards have been created for them long time ago, and of course, the only way we know best is to go to court.
“It is quite clear in our constitution that the structure of the Federal Government regarding the wards and local governments is that all over the country, we have 10 wards in every local government.
“The Warri Kingdom has three local governments and each one has 10 wards. The Ijaws are the same and the Urhobos the same and these were created in 1992.
“We enjoyed that privilege or that was what was in place until 1996 and 1997, suddenly the new electoral body, which is called the National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (NECON) invented 12 awards.
“The Itsekiris again went to court and we say no, that according to our constitution 10 wards is what is stipulated for the three local governments and all the other local governments in Delta State. Why did you select us out to add more wards and you are doing that knowing fully well that to do that we have to have a referendum,” she stated.
“The Itsekiri have to be in the know because you don’t just do things and put aside the constitution because you know that going through the constitution, we have defeated you several times in the court.
“So, the court then told them to go back to the Federal Constitution of 10 wards and that was in 1996 and 1997. They went back and then in 2003, they smuggled it back again and we complained.
“Again, the court is our refuge, we went back to court and the court told them that they were wrong and that they should go back to the Federal Constitution. But they didn’t care. They undermined the law.
“Still in order to avoid violence, we went back to court and they swore an oath that they have been obeying the order because we took them there for contempt of court. When they swore an oath, the judge gave them 60 days to comply with the constitution, but they undermined us, the court, the constitution, and the country.
“Now we have gone back to court because it is our only refuge and we are a small people, but very vital to that area. We own the land, but we are not saying people should not stay and we produce two-thirds of the country’s oil, you don’t hear us making noise.
“We allow everybody to stay and have peace because peace is what we want. The Olu of Warri is doing everything and trying to make himself accessible to everybody so that we can have peace, but what they want is to rule Warri.
“That is actually the problem that we have and of course at this stage in our country where even soldiers and officers are killed, there is tension and we are tensed because it is not a joke to kill a soldier and to kill an officer. That is why I’m asking all Nigerians to come to the Niger Delta because the Niger Delta is not the Niger Delta of everybody but Niger Delta of Ijaw.
“I have written to the police, the defence headquarters and the National Security Adviser to tell them of the imminent danger in the Niger Delta. And I don’t want anybody to make a mistake to think that the problem in the Niger Delta is a tribal problem,” Lori-Ogbebor stated.
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