20-yr-old communal war gathers fresh cloud in Delta

Suspected guerrillas are daily streaming into Aladja and Ogbe-Ijoh, Urhobo and Ijaw communities in Delta State respectively, as the two towns prepare for full blown war.

The two sides are also said to be stockpiling arms and ammunition to settle their two-decade-old tussle over land.

The protracted land ownership tussle has claimed over 200 lives in the past two decades. Many people have been injured while buildings, cars and other property worth millions of naira have been destroyed since fresh hostilities broke out on Thursday.

Although armed soldiers and mobile policemen have been deployed in the two communities in the aftermath of the invasion and looting of a police station on Thursday, there was palpable tension when our correspondent visited the ‘war zone’ yesterday.

The police said yesterday that they were on top of the situation and had created a buffer zone between the two communities until the state government settled the boundary dispute.

Sources said one of the two warring sides was shipping in weapons in coffins and other unusual means, while the other side was mobilising ex-militants and bringing in weapons used in the Niger Delta crisis

”We learnt that the Aladja people are importing fighters from other clans and are stockpiling weapons which they bring in coffins and also disguised as goods,” a young Ijaw man told The Nation at Ogbe-Ijoh.

He added: “We cannot fold our hands and wait for them to come and kill our people before we do something, so we are making our own arraignments to ensure that we are not caught unawares.”

At Aladja, a source said the people were fleeing because of report that Ijaws were mobilising militants, arms and ammunition from Ijaw riverside communities preparatory to an attack..

“Nobody is sleeping with two eyes close now,” the source said.

At Ogbe-Ijoh, there was power blackout because youths from Aladja had cut off power supply by pulling down three high tension poles which transmit electricity to the town.

“That has been their stock in trade. Whenever there is a disagreement, they would block government road leading to Ogbe-Ijoh.

“This time around, they went further by pulling down the electric poles, thereby cutting us off from the national power grid,” an aggrieved youth in the town said.

Meanwhile, one of the victims of Thursday’s bloody clash, Mr Freeborn Makrigbene, told our reporter that he escaped death by a whisker when he attempted to broker peace with the Aladja youths who barricaded the road leading to Ogbe-Ijoh.

“My sin is that I am an Ogbe-Ijoh man. They used machetes on me, cut my body in several parts and even a soldier who came to assist me was not spared.

“We want peace and we think it is the inaction of the government that is causing all these fights,” Makrigbene added.

Speaking in the same vein, Mr Aaron Aghorigho told our reporter that his business premises located in Aladja, near Ogbe-Ijoh boundary was pillaged by irate youths suspected to be from the Ijaw community.

He said: “I got the information last night that my house and shop were looted. I could only sneak in to get my mother out of the trouble spot.”

Meanwhile, the President of Ijaw Youth Council, Comrade Udengs Eradiri and other stakeholders, have urged the two warring communities to sheathe their swords in the interest of peace and security of the area.

Speaking in the same vein, Jerry Oromoni and Chief Michael Jonny, while suing for peace, advised the state government to take action and not wait for heavy casualties before wading into the conflict.

The Commander of the Warri Area of the Delta Police Command, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Mohammed Muazu, who announced the creation of a buffer zone between the two communities, warned that anyone caught violating the security arrangement would be treated as an offender and an aggressor.

He confirmed that a peace meeting had been held with both communities.

Muazu said::”I can confirm to you authoritatively that all the stolen items that were stolen yesterday were recovered. Everything was brought back because at yesterday’s (Thursday) meeting I read the riot act to them that if they failed to produce the guns, I would raid that community.

“And sincerely speaking, I had the intention to enter the community. It was the CP who said I should not. I already had a unit on standby.

“I told them to go and maintain peace and they should wait for the government to come and give them the proper plan or demarcation or the so-called buffer zone so that we will now know where belongs to who and nobody should encroach on the buffer zone, pending when government decides on what to do with it.

“In the meantime, I have a complete unit of mobile policemen, headed by an ASP. I have gunboats manned by the navy and marine police. The conventional police have been put on high alert that they must make peace and make sure no miscreant comes to constitute any nuisance.

“Anybody, whether on the water or on land, who comes to cause trouble should be picked and be decisively dealt with.

“So there is relative peace, normalcy has been restored now, pending when government will bring out whatever decision on Wednesday, after the security council meeting.

“Five representatives each from the two sides, including the council chairmen, will go to meet the governor on Wednesday so that the government will issue a white paper.”.

It was gathered that all the arms and ammunition looted from the Ogbe-Ijoh police station on Thursday by the youths of the community had been returned to the police.