Delta State Commissioner of Police, CP Samuel Erale, has warned that the lingering dispute over the delineation of electoral wards in Warri Federal Constituency could threaten peace and security in the state.

E rale gave the warning on Wednesday when more than 100 Urhobo and Itsekiri residents staged a protest at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Asaba, accusing the commission of introducing alleged irregularities into the area’s electoral structure.

The protesters demanded an urgent review of the delineation exercise, insisting that the electoral structure should reflect genuine ancestral settlements and guarantee fair representation for the different ethnic groups.

The police commissioner, who assumed office barely two months ago, said he was hearing about the grievances for the first time and urged the protesters to submit copies of their previous petitions and reports to his office.

He also promised to formally draw the attention of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to the dispute.

He said: “All the issues you have raised are new to me because I have spent barely two months in Delta State. You said you have submitted several letters. Please, bring your reports and submit them to my office.

“I will write to the Inspector-General of Police to inform him that this matter has the potential to cause trouble in Delta State and urge him to look into it.”

Erale appealed to the protesters to cooperate with security agencies, assuring them of his commitment to maintaining peace.

“I am ready to replicate the same thing here in Delta State. Please, on my honour, do this for me,” he appealed, citing his experience as Commissioner of Police during the last governorship election in Osun State.

Earlier, an Itsekiri leader, Samuel Meyiwa, expressed disappointment that the latest electoral list released by INEC allegedly failed to reflect an understanding reached by stakeholders to remove fictitious names and addresses from Warri South.

He said the community had embraced a political solution following meetings involving stakeholders at the office of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources.

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“We were all at the meeting, and the understanding was that the fictitious names and addresses in Warri South should be removed. But INEC has released another list. So, what has happened to the agreement we reached?” he queried.

Meyiwa stressed that the protest was not intended to create hostility between the ethnic groups but to demand fairness and compliance with the agreement.

Similarly, an Urhobo representative, Eforele Marcus, accused INEC of introducing unfamiliar ward names and altering existing electoral arrangements in ways he said could undermine Urhobo political representation.

“They brought names not in existence in our communities. Some of the ward names are strange to the people of Warri South. I have never heard of them before,” Marcus alleged.

He called on the commission to correct the alleged irregularities, insisting that the protesters wanted INEC to address what they considered errors in the exercise.

“We are here for INEC to correct the wrongs it has done,” he said.

Responding, Delta State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Sir Etekamba Udo Umoren, urged the protesters to submit their grievances in a comprehensive position paper for onward transmission to INEC’s national headquarters in Abuja.

Umoren said the document should clearly outline their complaints, previous engagements with the commission and the corrective measures being demanded.

Acknowledging their right to peaceful protest, he cautioned against violence, saying: “The important thing is that we must do everything peacefully and avoid violence.”

He urged the protesters to pursue their demands through dialogue, assuring them that his office remained open to receiving their complaints and would forward the submissions to the national headquarters for consideration. (Vanguard)