Open Letter to the Federal Government of Nigeria and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu:
I am writing to bring to your attention the continuous oppression and marginalization that we have suffered at the hands of the Delta State Government since its creation. Despite our peaceful nature, we are tired and exhausted of the provocations and attacks on our communities. We hold the Delta State Government responsible for the oppression and violence that we face, and we implore you to take immediate action to address our concerns.
The deployment of the Delta State government as an instrument of oppression against the Itsekiri people, perpetuated since its inception, must cease immediately. Failure to do so will prompt us to take appropriate measures in response to the relentless attacks on our communities.
Whenever an Urhobo man assumes the governorship, the Urhobo communities around itsekiri’s perpetuates a series of assaults against the Itsekiri people, emboldened by their belief that they will enjoy impunity and the backing of the Delta State government. The hatred for the Itsekiri people is so deep that the Delta State government made sure that political ward delineation is carried out in the three Warri local governments alone, which belongs to the Itsekiri people, in favor of Ijaws and Urhobos. When there are Itsekiris in five other local governments in the state, the Delta State government refused to come to their aid when they were being oppressed and treated unfairly in their own lands. Instead, they focused on making sure the Itsekiri are politically destroyed in their own lands.
We are all aware of the origins of the Okuama crisis, which was sparked by land grabbing. This same tactic is being employed once again, with the state government being utilized against the Itsekiri people, a pattern that has persisted since the creation of Delta State in 1991.
Today, Monday, June 17, 2024, some Urhobo’s encroached on our lands in Warri, entered Odion Community, and used the Delta State police to arrest Itsekiris in Eyube-Numa, Odion Community, Warri. Those Urhobos there are not even up to 20. They came to Odion and bought lands from Numa and Ereku families to stay there. Now, the Delta State government backed ethnic group has turned a family compound inside the Itsekiri community into a fake Odion-Urhobo community, and they are using the state government to enforce their claim to our lands. This land grabbing of the Urhobos is going to cause fresh ethnic violence in Delta State.
We are urging the federal government to recognize that if a crisis erupts in Warri itsekiri land and in Ethiope West, where Itsekiri people are similarly facing oppression and attacks on their own lands, the federal government should acknowledge that the Delta State government bears responsibility for the crisis in the state.
We refuse to remain idle and tolerate this oppression any longer. The Itsekiri people opt for peace not due to weakness, but to prevent our homeland, Warri, from being ravaged by conflict again. For if hostilities erupt, the Urhobos will invariably flee to their ancestral lands in Ughelli, whence they originally migrated, as they did in 1999, 2000, 2002, and 2004.
Sincerely,
By Lord_of_Warri on 𝕏 (Twitter).
@officialABAT
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