From Emma Ogoigbe, Warri
A silhouette of the bloody Warri Crisis of 1997-2003,in which thousands of persons were killed, reappeared today in petro-dollar-rich Warri, Delta State,South South Nigeria.
Ethnic Ijaw and Urhobo leaders have threatened a total breakdown of law and order if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) goes ahead to conduct any election in Warri federal constituency without releasing and implementing a report on the delineation of wards in the constituency. The delineation exercise was ordered by the Supreme Court.
They said stakeholders in the oil city had painstakingly embarked upon the delineation with relevant bodies,in compliance with the order.
But, according to them, INEC is deliberately delaying the report to undo them in the next electoral process.
Their position was contained in a statement read by Chief Albert Okumagba at a world press conference organized by the Indigenous Ijaw and Urhobo peoples.
They vowed not to take kindly to any act capable of denying them of their rights, threatening that “heavens will fall” if INEC denied them of their democratic rights.
Chief Okumagba stated: “It is with great sadness, yet unbroken resolve, that we the people of indigenous Ijaw and Urhobo Peoples of Warri Federal Constitutency bring to your attention the alarming plan of INEC to undermine and debase the Rule of Law, suppress and strangulate our fundamental democratic rights to participate in the electoral process and consequently deal a blow to democracy in our area.”
They contended that previous elections have always been against them as a result of injustice done to them through wrong ward delineation, pointing out that now that the Supreme Court has corrected the wrong, INEC “and its collaborators” should not do anything capable of generating fresh crisis in the constituency.
“We will not take anything that will disenfranchise us this time. Enough of the cheating,” they declared.
The Ijaws and Urhobos further accused INEC of being teleguided, stressing that what the electoral umpire is allegedly doing by not implementing the court judgment “is criminal”, which they urged should be condemned by everyone.
Warning of dire consequences, they vowed that “there is no way INEC can conduct any election until they comply in full with the judgment of the Supreme Court.”
Recall that the Warri Crisis had major incidents in 1997, 1999, and early 2003.
The violence escalated significantly in 1997 due to the creation of new Local Government Areas (LGAs) and the relocation of newly created Warri South-West LGA headquarters from Ogbe-Ijoh to Ogidigben, leading to widespread death and destruction.
Renewed fighting occurred in late 1999, coinciding with the transition from military to civilian rule, and then significantly in early 2003 before the April/May elections, with thousands killed and displaced over this period.
In the 2003 crisis, the major outbreak of violence occurred particularly during the lead-up to state and federal elections.
Hundreds of people died in conflicts between the Itsekiris and Urhobos, triggered by disputes over the number and boundaries of wards for the Delta South senatorial district.
PHOTO CAPTION: Some personalities at the press conference.
