… President Tinubu, Akpabio, save Warri
By G.T. Addey (Agolokorobosin), Ode-Itsekiri (Big Warri)
The silence of history often bears the weight of unspeakable truths. Between 1997 and 2003, the Itsekiri people of Warri bore witness to one of the darkest chapters in Nigeria’s post-colonial ethnic history. Entire villages were razed, families torn apart, and innocent lives- children, women, the elderly, and the sick- were lost in what can only be described as a genocidal purge, led by armed Ijaw militias. Those who fled never returned, leaving behind once-thriving communities that now stand as ghost villages, overgrown by forest and haunted by memory.
Years have passed, but the trauma remains unhealed, and the fundamental issues that led to such destruction remain unresolved. Most of the affected communities—Kantu, Jaghala, and others- remain deserted, with a few courageous returnees living under a blanket of fear. Some of these villages have even been renamed, rebranded, and annexed as Ijaw territory, erasing history and heritage in one stroke of ethnic revisionism. The three tiers of government- executive, judiciary, and legislature- have collectively failed in resettling the displaced, restoring peace, and preserving the indigenous identity of the land and its people.
Now, disturbingly, the signs are emerging that the ethnic fault lines that nearly tore Warri apart are being redrawn, not with bullets, but with a biro. This time, it is not militias, but the apparatus of the state, specifically, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), that appears poised to ignite another round of tension and potentially irreversible damage.
In a recent and highly controversial ward delineation exercise conducted in Warri Federal Constituency, INEC stands accused of blatant disregard for its own procedural guidelines and Supreme Court judgments, particularly those relating to land ownership. Indigenous Itsekiri communities were renamed with Ijaw and Urhobo identities, a move seen not just as administrative malpractice but as an existential threat to the cultural and political survival of the Itsekiri people. For a commission tasked with upholding democratic integrity, this raises serious ethical and constitutional questions.
Of even graver concern is the reported involvement of individuals with vested ethnic interests. Prof. Rhoda Gumus, an Ijaw by ethnicity, headed the INEC team responsible for this exercise. The optics of this are troubling, particularly when viewed alongside allegations of intimidation, harassment, and militarized surveillance in affected communities under the guise of pipeline security contracts. The fear among many Itsekiris is that these actions are calculated—not only to reduce their electoral strength but to erase their ancestral claims altogether, silently disenfranchising an entire people without a single shot being fired.
The federal and Delta State governments have remained deafeningly silent in the face of these developments. While violence has not yet erupted, the current trajectory eerily mirrors the events that preceded the Warri crises of the late 1990s. The deliberate provocation, disenfranchisement, and ethnic gaslighting of a people who have already suffered too much is a tinderbox waiting for a spark.
As someone who believes in justice, equity, and the unity of Nigeria, I must express deep concern—not merely as a member of the Itsekiri ethnic group but as a citizen who has seen what happens when history is ignored, and institutional biases are left unchecked. The Warri we know today cannot afford to return to the chaos of yesterday. This is no longer about one tribe’s grievance; it is about national stability, constitutional respect, and the protection of all Nigerians from ethnic erasure.
It is my considered opinion that the Federal Government, the Defense Headquarters, and the Office of the National Security Adviser must urgently intervene. INEC must suspend and thoroughly investigate the staff involved, particularly those overseeing this flawed delineation process. Communities that have been renamed outside INEC’s legal jurisdiction must have their original identities restored. And above all, the Delta State Government must rise above political cowardice and fulfill its constitutional duty to protect the rights and lands of all its citizens, including the Itsekiri people.
What is at stake is more than land or wards; it is the soul of Warri, and the principle that no Nigerian should be made a stranger on their own ancestral soil. If this dangerous trend is not halted, we may once again find ourselves dealing with avoidable violence cloaked as political restructuring. And this time, the consequences could be far more devastating, not only for the Itsekiri, but for the fragile peace of the Niger Delta and Nigeria at large.
The time to act is now, not later, when the flames of conflict make dialogue impossible. It is not a plea nor a warning, but a civic call for conscience, balance, and justice in the hope that we can avert the looming clouds of another inter-ethnic disaster. Let us not turn INEC’s ink into the blood of our children.
G.T. Addey (Agolokorobosin) sent this piece from Ode-Itsekiri (Big Warri), Delta State
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