Ijaw Protesters Barricade Delta Govt House, Gate Over Ward Crisis
This is the third protest organised by the aggrieved Ogbe-Ijoh people since the ward creation in 2020 by Delta State Independent Commission.
by SaharaReporters, New York
Dec 22, 2020
Hundreds of placard-carrying protesters from Ogbe-ijoh urban communities barricaded the main gate of Government House, Asaba, Delta State Tuesday, demanding a ward in the Warri South Local Government in the state.
This is the third protest organised by the aggrieved Ogbe-Ijoh people since the ward creation in 2020 by Delta State Independent Commission.
They have organised two protests in Warri recently, drawing the state governor s attention to their plight.
TODAY
December 22, 2020
The people of Ogbe-Ijoh Community, an Ijaw ethnic group in the Warri South Local government area of Delta State, on Tuesday, protested the new electoral Wards creation by the Delta State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC).
The Protesters, who alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission failed to incorporate their ethnic group into the new wards in the local council; said that their proposed ward has met all DSIEC’s requirement for ward creation in the state.
They accused DSIEC and Delta state government of sidelining them in favour of the Urhobos and Itsekiris of Warri South Local government area.
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The Olu of Warri, His Majesty, Ogiame Ikenwoli, has frowned at settling communal disputes by bloodshed, saying: “No human needs, wants, demands or ambition is worth the blood of any of our people.”
It will be recalled that Ogbe-Ijoh people have, recently in protests, accused the Itsekiris of hijacking an electoral ward created for them by the Delta State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC) which Chairman, Warri South, Michael Tidi, PhD, has since described as untrue.
The first class monarch, who described his 5th coronation anniversary as a significant milestone, called for a peaceful coexistence beteeen Itsekiri and their neighours in Delta State.