Many keen observers of the relationship between the Ijaw and Itsekiri, two age-long neighbours in the Warri, Delta State, are hoping that the newfound peace between them will last forever. Since both sides accepted the peace deal brokered by former Governor James Ibori in 2004, none has slept with two eyes closed. Suspicion and distrust greets every step one or the other takes. The mutual distrust is honed by equally shared suspicion that both sides still own sizeable armoury, in spite of the Federal Government’s amnesty and other deals brokered over the past years.
The overdue local government election in the state slated for tomorrow will again test this fractious relationship. The stakes couldn’t be higher because of the debate and controversy over fielding of candidates for the highest position in the three councils.
The Ijaw and Itsekiri have much more in common than their differences. Sadly, their transformation has been far from peaceful, never minding that they intermarry, live among themselves, eat and dress the same way and do most things in common.
The sharing of political offices and largesse from oil resources, which both sides have in abundance, have often seen them going for each other’s jugular in the past. Only recently, acrimony over the ownership of the land for the proposed Export Processing Zone (EPZ) threatened to open another war front in the area.
For nearly a decade they fought over the location of the headquarters of the Warri South West Local Government Area. Thousands of persons were killed; hundreds of community razed and plundered while countless families were rendered homeless. The fight was sparked off when the late dictator, Gen Sani Abacha relocated the headquarters of the council from Ogbe-Ijoh (an Ijaw town) to Ogidigben (an Itsekiri town).
Ten years after the end of the Warri Crisis in 2004, tempers are again rising between the two neighbours. At the centre of the latest imbroglio is the sharing of the political offices in Warri South, Warri South West and Warri North Local Government Area of the state.
Three Itsekiri candidates are flying the flags of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in Saturday’s election, much to the chagrin of their Ijaw counterparts, who feel that the elective position in the area should be rotated between them and their Itsekiri counterparts.
Our investigation revealed that the zoning arraignment is applicable in Warri South West LGA, where the last elected chairman of the council was Chief George Ekpemupolo, the younger brother of Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo). In view of the agreement, an Itsekiri is expected to occupy the seat after him. Mr Weyinmi Omadeli Bobby, an Itsekiri is the PDP candidate.
Nevertheless, the zoning agreement is either not applicable or abandoned in the other two Warris – North and South – depending on which side of the argument you hear. The Ijaws of Egbema are seething over the arrangement, which they alleged have constantly favoured their Itsekiri counterparts. If they expect a change, they might not get it this time. The candidates of the PDP and All Progressive Congress (APC) are Itsekiris.
It was against this backdrop that a pressure group from Gbaramatu Kingdom, which was the hotbed of the 1997 – 2004 crisis, Warri Ijaw Peace Monitoring Group, in a statement on Sunday, barely stopped short of declaring a war ahead of the election.
The group’s Coordinator, Chief Patrick Bigha, who signed a pithy statement, warned: “There will be trouble if they (Itsekiri) refuse the Ijaws to feature a candidate, especially in the Warri North and Warri South West state constituencies. As it stands now, all the three Warri local government area Peoples Democratic Party flag bearers in the October 25 election are Itsekiris.”
Earlier, another Ijaw group, Concerned PDP Members in Kurutie Town, Gbaramatu Ward of Warri South West LGA, had also written to the National Chairman of the PDP, urging a political arraignment of ‘give-and-take’ to nip the ugly situation in the bud. The Kurutie petitioners urged Muazu to use his “good offices to bring peace to Delta State” and to use wisdom to steer the “PDP ship to safe harbor.”
Nevertheless, at the time Bigha sent out his release, the ship for tomorrow’s election had already sailed and the Itsekiri were on it with the three flags of the PDP. It was also unlikely that the Ijaws in the three councils had projected any strong candidate on any other political platform.
Yet, the WIPMG cautioned that “It will not be well with the Itsekiri in Warri” in the election and the 2015 elections if they corner all the positions. “They are hell bent in grabbing all the House of Assembly constituencies in Warri as well as the House of Representative seat. We smell danger in Warri, hence this warning,” Bigha warned.
Those who know Warri and its history of violence are wont to take such threats seriously. During one of several false starts preceding this Saturday’s election last year, armed Ijaw youths, suspected to be members of the Egbema Radical Group, attacked several Itsekiri villages in the Benin River area of the state. At least 13 persons were killed, hundreds of houses were burnt and nine communities, including Obaghoro, Ajamita, Gbokoda among others, were pillaged.
Speaking on the Sunday’s threat, an Itsekiri traditional titleholder and chieftain of the PDP in Warri, Chief Ayirimi Emami, who was contacted by our reporter, advised that elective offices are not won by “threat of war or violence” as is being done by their Ijaw counterparts, but “(by) negotiation and political lobbying.”
Emami further stated that “It is unfortunate and sad that the Ijaws are making threat over an election that is a product of lobbying and choice of credible candidates. People who ran away from the PDP cannot come and dictate candidates to the PDP,” he stated.
His kinsman from Benin River, who asked not to be named was not so civil in his reaction to the threat. The well-known Itsekiri youth leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, reminded the Ijaws that they “do not have a monopoly on violence.”
He warned: “This is no time whereby somebody hides in the city and uses his boys to destroy Itsekiri villages. Any attack on Itsekiri villages will be met with equal, if not more violent reprisal on Ijaw towns.”
Meanwhile, further investigations by Niger Delta Report indicate that the saber-rattling over tomorrow’s election is just a precursor of the battles for tickets of the PDP in the forthcoming primaries of the party in the state. There are four State Assembly, a Federal House of Representatives and one Delta South Senatorial tickets up for grabs. These tickets are coveted by politicians from the two sides.
Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, an Itsekiri, is widely believed to aspiring for the upper chamber of the National Assembly. He has the incumbent, Senator James Manager, to contend with. There are eight local government areas and four ethnic groups in the district. The Isoko had the first bite of the cherry in 1999, when Senator Stella Omu was elected on the platform of the PDP. In 2003, James Manager succeeded her, in line with the zoning arrangement. He is the only politician in the state to have three unbroken tenure in the senate and there are calls for him to be replaced.
The Itsekiri, who are next in line are expected to project Uduaghan. By virtue of his position as leader of the leader of the PDP in the state, he is expected to easily picket the ticket. But the Ijaws have a different idea. They have expressed their resolve to challenge the arrangement. The Kurutie group vowed to truncate Uduaghan’s bid, using their superior number of their electoral wards.
Apostle Monday Torousei and Powede Uyadongha, who spoke for the group, said: “It may interest you to note that the Ijaws with over 40 electoral wards to the Itsekiris’ 16. Ijaws will not stop at anything to deliver Senator Manager to the Nigerian Senate in 2015 elections.”
But a political analyst views the tough talk as a negotiating strategy. “Maybe they want the slot for any of the constituencies or other position. They want to back the governor into a corner and arm-twist him into releasing some position for their group. That is democracy,” our source added.
Nevertheless, fears still persist that the 2015 election may be the toughest test yet of the existing peace in the area. For people living in the riverside communities, particularly in the Benin River and Warri North, the terror of June 2013 is still fresh and a painful reminder of how fluid the peace in Warri.
