Itsekiri Elders Plead with Youths Not to Retaliate Attacks As the casualty figure Thursday shot up to at least 13 following Tuesday’s attack on several Itsekiri villages in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State by suspected armed Egbema Ijaw youths, some Itsekiri leaders have pleaded with Itsekiri youths to resist the urge for retaliation. The Itsekiri leaders hinted that they were in dialogue with eminent Ijaw leaders who had dissociated themselves from the dastardly act, which they blamed on common criminal elements in the area. THISDAY reliably gathered last night that as many as nine lifeless bodies were recovered when security personnel deployed to halt the violence and restore order in the area combed the surrounding bushes and burnt houses in the affected communities. Four persons were reported killed on Tuesday following sporadic attacks by the militant Egbema-Ijaw youths allegedly belonging to Egbema Radical Youths, a hitherto unknown group that reportedly burnt over 50 houses and sacked about seven villages. Several persons were also injured in the attacks. The reports indicated that a husband and wife, an infant, two brothers and an aged man were among the dead persons recovered Thursday. There were yet no official statements on the casualty figures from the latest bloody attacks in Warri North, which has been attributed to long suppressed acrimony between the Itsekiri and Ijaw brothers over local political positions. However, the Itsekiri National Youth Council (INYC), which had in a strongly worded statement on Wednesday condemned the action of the said Egbema Radical Gorup, said it was not considering any revenge. Speaking while playing host to members of some Itsekiri youth groups at his Warri residence Thursday, the INYC Chairman, Hon. David Tonwe, ruled out retaliation plans. “I appeal to you (youths) not to be used for crisis; we are not prepared to fight,” Tonwe said, adding, “We have lost 13 of our brothers and sisters; let’s all ensure that it does not escalate. “We have just come out from a crisis (Ijaw/Itsekiri) and we are not prepared to take that road again. Nobody who witnessed that crisis would encourage what just happened. So, I want to appeal to everybody to remain calm and hope that the law will take its course.” He, however, disclosed that he had received assurances from prominent Ijaw leaders in the area that they did not support the violent attacks allegedly carried out by their kinsmen. “This is not about all Ijaws; it is just some criminals who want to cause another crisis,” the INYC chairman and erstwhile chairman of Warri South-West Local Government Area further said. Tonwe however lamented that the latest violent incident testified to claims that some individuals were still in possession of illegal arms and ammunition in the area despite the effort of the Federal Government to end militancy in the Niger-Delta. Nonetheless, he appealed to security agencies to bring to justice ensure the perpetrators of the dastardly act against Itsekiri people in Warri North in order to at least console the victims of the attack, especially those who lost their loved ones, homes and valuable property as well as to serve as deterrent. Speaking at the occasion, the President of National Association of Itsekiri Graduates (NAIG), Ms Alero Tema, expressed the grief of all Itsekiri people, saying the youth groups were particularly pained by the unwarranted mayhem in Warri North though the appeal by Tonwe and other Itsekiri leaders was reassuring. Although, the Delta State Government and the state police command assured on Wednesday advised people in the area to go about their lawful businesses as they were “on top of the situation”, the government nevertheless declared a a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the area. The government also placed a ban on operation of speedboats with two horsepower or above, as part of measures to arrest the ugly situation taken at the State Security meeting in Asaba on Wednesday. Tags: News, Nigeria, Featured, Itsekiri Elders, Youths
Posted on: Sat, 06 Jul 2013 09:10:34 +0000
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