The Federal Government has been alerted to address the grievances of Itsekiri people over plots by the Delta State governor, Sheriff Obovrewori, in collaboration with some ethnic groups, to take by force territories belonging to the Itsekiri.
The governor appears to be on a vengeance seeking mission with the sole aim of rewriting the almost 1000-year old history of the Itsekiri people that was well documented and preserved by local and international authorities, Oodua Nationalist Coalition (ONAC), a pan-Yoruba group said on Friday.
According to the group, the Delta governor, in collaboration with some unscrupulous officials in the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) were plotting delineation of wards to reduce the Itsekiti voting potential and to further stunt the future of the ethnic group.
In a statement after its national meeting held at Ibadan, ONAC said the Yoruba Nation was following with keen interest conscious plans to alienate and subdue the Itsekiri people by all means necessary.
The group warned that the plan would only fuel a major crisis that might create instability in the Niger-Delta region, accusing the state governor of carrying out policies that overruled various existing judgements of the Supreme Court on land ownership in Warri Kingdom, adding that there could never be two kings in a kingdom.
“The Yoruba Nation is blood-bound with the Itsekiri. We stand shoulder-by-shoulder, heart-by-heart and hand-by hand to protect and vehemently defend the interests of each other wherever there is a threat. We warn of dire consequences if the Delta State Governor and his collaborators continue with the grand plot to destroy Itsekiri Nation,” the coalition declared in the statement signed by Chief Akinola Adelugba and Usman Oriola.
The group also accused the governor of creating artificial kings right on land owned by Itsekiri people, saying since 1999, the government had tried to pick people from the streets and declare them kings in order to polarise the heritage of Itsekiri people and undermine their ancient authority.
“Royalty is being created where there were one. Crowns are being purchased from street hawkers to establish fake Kingdoms on Itsekiri land. The Governor should stop his primordial instincts of face serious consequences for his criminal actions,” ONAC said.
The group observed that the ethnic policies of the state government risked sending the state to an era of atomic society in perpetual conflict with itself.
The coalition noted that since 1999, successive governments in Delta State with the exception of Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan had tried to subdue the Itsekiri through various policies that were calculated to destroy them.
“The Yoruba Nation and Itsekiri will not accept this. We are going to work with our Itsekiri brothers, live together and fight together our common enemies. Any attack on Itsekiri is an attack on the Yoruba Nation”, ONAC stated.
