Delta Communities Engages In Fierce Gun Battle Death Number Soar

On May 24, 2016, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa set up a committee headed by Prof Abednego Ekoko to look into the issues and proffer solutions on the way forward. But from then till

date, the area is still ridden with crisis as there are reports of deaths following the youths’ unwillingness to agree to the terms of the state government and lay down their weapons for peace to return.

Despite efforts which Delta state government seems to have put in to quell the vexed issue between Aladja in Udu local government area and Ogbe-Ijoh in Warri south west local government area of the state, fierce battle is still going on in this war torn area of the state.

The issue has been boundary dispute between the two communities, a development which has led to several bloodshed and deaths from both warring factions. All efforts the Delta state government has put in seems to have waned as the warring factions have continued to flout the decisions reached by the state government and it negotiating teams.

For over a year, the battle has been on and countless souls have been wasted over the long standing boundary tussle between the two warring communities. At the onset of the trouble, there were counter accusations from either party as being the first to strike leading to retaliation from the other end. However, the battle grew and lives are being wasted over a parcel of land.

Interventions by police authorities have proved abortive as the people have continuously rebuffed moves by the police and army to quell the uprising in the area. This is even as police stations were razed down in the area. Several clashes between the two communities have left scores dead and properties worth millions of naira destroyed in the unfolding rage. It has been a protracted civil war between the two communities as brotherliness has been thrown into the trash can.

Even community executives and traditional rulers have not been helpful in the entire scenario. They have even been involved in fuelling the crisis that has engulfed the area of the state. They have been reported to have supported their youths in the rage to pour venom on the opposing side just for the sake of a parcel of land standing between the two communities.

Youths from both factions invaded the police station there and carted away arms and ammunition. This was even as some youths blocked the only access road leading to both communities. Reports emerged that residents of both communities abandoned their homes and took refuge in wherever they could. Homes were razed, several injured even as soldiers and police took over the area.

There were series of meetings to broker peace, they have failed to yield the needed result. Since the Ogbe-Ijoh people are familiar with the water, it was reported that on several occasions, they attack the people of Udu through the waterway. And since the battle started for over a year now, many people especially youths have paid the supreme price for their communities.

In the clashes, guns, cutlasses and other dangerous weapons form part of the artillery for the warfare. And when the battle commences, the area becomes a no go zone for all people. However, police authorities in the state have received accusations of not being fair in their handling of the crisis in the area. Only on Sunday, January 15, 2017, there were reports of violent warfare in the area where some people were reportedly killed.

Aladja and Ogbe-Ijoh communities were said to have engaged in fierce warfare once again. Guns were freely used, a development which led to scores of people dying with some sustaining bullet injuries from the gun duel. On several occasions, there were allegations of one party employing the services of the military to hunt down the other.

There were also allegations of army uniforms being distributed to hired assassins in the area. Allegations went wide that Okowa’s government is too weak to handle the matter, hence the people are calling on the federal government to intervene and save the lives of the people of Delta state.

Only last year, December 21, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa declared the area a military zone when he convened a security meeting involving the army, the navy and the police. It also involved traditional rulers and youth leaders from the warring communities. He charged them to obey constituted authority and shun violence.

He explained that government had made frantic efforts to broker peace between the two communities which have not yielded any positive results, and directed security agencies to arrest the president generals, women and youth leaders if any further crisis erupts in the communities.

Okowa said: “We have been doing a lot to stop the crisis but it appears these our brothers are not ready for peace and are ready to drag us into an ethnic war which will not help anybody, we cannot close our eyes to the inherent danger in their actions.

“I have directed the security agencies that the president-general, youth and women leaders of the communities should continue to report weekly to the naval base and they should be held responsible if there is further escalation of the crisis.

“I have not gotten enough cooperation from the traditional rulers of Ogbe Ijoh and Aladja communities and we have a lot of respect for your office, but I wish to caution that, that respect would be withdrawn if we have further crisis, and I will not hesitate to take appropriate actions against the two traditional rulers if we hear any further crisis. We cannot continue to act in this manner it is time to maintain law and order in the area”.

He described as worrisome, security reports which indicated that the crisis was degenerating into a full scale war between the Urhobo and Ijaw ethnic nationalities and appealed to traditional rulers in the state to compliment government’s efforts at ensuring the restoration of peace as it is difficult to maintain peace without the cooperation of royal fathers.

As it is now, there seems to be confusion on the way forward. The state government seems helpless while the traditional rulers and youths of both communities are hell bent on having their way. Which of the communities will blink first and surrender is a matter of conjecture. This is so because youths of both communities are not ready to lay down their arms.