Following the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recent delineation of the Warri Constituency, thugs have destroyed multiple homes and shot one person dead along Odion Road in the Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State.
Reports gathered by NaijaEyes correspondent revealed that soldiers, police, and other security personnel have been deployed to the area to control the situation and to further enforce law and order in Warri.
Additionally, some Itsekiri youths have taken to the streets of Warri to protest, believing that INEC had cheated them politically.
According to a statement made this morning by Eyewuoma, a well-known Itsekiri chief, the Itsekiri people would use all available legal channels to seek compensation,
It has not been warmly accepted that the Itsekiri seem to have lost out considerably, based on the INEC delineation.
The delinaeation was as a result of the supreme court’s ruling.
Concerns have been raised that this political settlement could lead to more conflicts between the Ijaws and Itsekiris. However, it could also result in another Urhobos-Itsekiri conflict.
According to reports, last Friday INEC gave the Urhobo, Itsekiri, and Ijaw ethnic nationalities a presentation on the ward and polling unit demarcation in the Warri Federal Constituency, Delta State.
At a stakeholders’ meeting in the state capital of Asaba, Sir Etekamba Udo Umoren, the State Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC, gave the report to community representatives.
Dr. Andrew Igban, Dr. Joe Bisina, and Chief Victor Okumagba received the report on behalf of the Itsekiri, Ijaw, and Urhobo ethnic groups, respectively.
Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of INEC, stated during the ceremony that this was the fifth meeting with stakeholders since the Supreme Court’s decision on December 2, 2022, requiring INEC to delineate wards and polling places in the federal constituency’s three local government areas.
Professor Yakubu, speaking on behalf of Professor Rhoda Gumus, INEC’s National Commissioner overseeing the Cross River, Delta, and Edo States, stated that the stakeholders’ attendance showed their support for democracy and faith in INEC as an impartial organization.
He said, “We recall that in our last engagement meeting on the 8th of July, 2024, in Warri Federal Constituency, we concluded all discussions with stakeholders and promised to commence the fieldwork of the wards in the constituency. The Commission carried out the exercise between the 10th and 27th of July, 2024,” he said.
“The entire people of Warri Federal Constituency played their role as committed citizens,” he added.
In his remarks, Sir Etekamba Udo Umoren, the State Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC, described the event as significant because it demonstrated the resolve, fortitude, and unity of purpose of all parties involved in order to get past the Supreme Court’s decision from December 2, 2022, to the present.
According to a source from the ethnic nationalities, the Ijaws have 10 wards in Warri North along with 8 Itsekiris; in Warri South West, they have 15 wards along with 4 Itsekiris; and in Warri South, they have 3 wards out of 20 wards, with the Urhobos of Warri holding the majority.
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