The Itsekiri National Association in Canada (INAC) has raised the alarm over a planned attack on the Olu of Warri, His Royal Majesty, Ogiame Atuwatse III, by some elements in Effurun, Uvwie Local Council Area of Delta State, while expressing determination to prevent him from visiting Itsekiri communities in Uvwie.

The Olu of Warri, as part of Itsekiri tradition, is to pay a royal visit to the Itsekiri Community of Ugbolokposo, which is located in Uvwie Local Council Area of the state.

The INAC, in a statement jointly signed by its President, Fiogho Tonwe; Secretary, Owen Fregene; Tosan Eyide and Oritseweyinmi Adodo-obadoni, said such action as preventing His Majesty from visiting his subjects at Ugbolokposo and other Itsekiri communities in Uvwie, is provocative and designed to inflame inter-communal tension for the sake of political visibility.

According to them, the Olu of Warri has a legitimate and historic responsibility to his subjects wherever they reside; hence, a visit to Itsekiri communities within Uvwie that have co-existed with their Urhobo neighbours for generations “is neither an encroachment nor an act of aggression. It is the exercise of a monarch’s duty of care to his people. To frame it otherwise is to distort history and manufacture grievance where none exists.”

While recognising that not everybody in Uvwie endorsed the planned protest against the visit, the INAC condemned “those elements who have chosen to exploit communal sensitivities for personal relevance and political capital.”

The group also described the silence of the state government and the broader Urhobo political leadership as deeply troubling, saying: “At a moment when a clear, authoritative voice is needed to de-escalate tension and reaffirm the rights of all communities to practise their traditions freely, that voice has been absent.

“Silence from those in authority is not neutrality; it is, in effect, permission. It emboldens those who incite and abandons those who suffer the consequences.”

INAC therefore called on the Governor Sheriff Oborevovri to speak publicly and unambiguously in defence of peaceful coexistence and the legitimate rights of the Itsekiri people within his jurisdiction.

It also called on the leadership of the “Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) and other Urhobo traditional and civic bodies to distance themselves clearly from those fomenting division, and to reaffirm the shared interest in peace that defines the best of the Urhobo-Itsekiri relationship. (The Guardian)

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