INEC DELINEATION OF WARRI FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY: IJAWS OF GBARAMATU ISSUE 2-DAY ULTIMATUM TO IJAGHALA COMMUNITY TO EVACUATE OR BE ANIHILATED: A SAVE OUR SOULS CRY TO THE NIGERIAN SECURITY AGENCIES

*CONCERNED IJAGHALA INDIGENES NETWORK (CIIN)* 

INEC DELINEATION OF WARRI FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY: IJAWS OF GBARAMATU ISSUE 2-DAY ULTIMATUM TO IJAGHALA COMMUNITY TO EVACUATE OR BE ANIHILATED: A SAVE OUR SOULS CRY TO THE NIGERIAN SECURITY AGENCIES 

The Ijaghala Community is a peaceful island community located along the escravous river in the Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State. Ijaghala is one of the principal indigenous communities in the Ugborodo federated communities. The people of Ijaghala Community are historically partly Ugborodo and Oporoza communities. 

This urgent Save Our Souls (SOS) petition to the Nigerian security agencies is borne out of their existential  threat in the hand of the Ijaws, particularly those of Gbaramatu extraction. The threats became intense and indeed climaxed today, July 11, 2024, when the Ijaws stormed Ijaghala Community in a commando style, harassed, humiliated and threatened residents with a 2-day ultimatum to voluntarily evacuate the community or be brutally chased out of the community on the expiration of the ultimatum. The gun-on-the-head reprieve conditions given by the invaders to Ijaghala community are as follows:

1. That the Ijaghala Community Management Committee (ICMC) should write that the community wishes to leave Madangho Ward in Ugborodo federated communities and join Gbaramatu Ward, as directed by the Gbaramatu King and Chief Government Ekpemuopolo (a.k.a. Tompolo). Apparently, the Ijaws are vexed that Ijaghala was rightly captured by INEC and other official documents as an Itsekiri community.
2. That the Ijaghala Community should immediately agree to the change of name of the only school in the community from Egogo Primary School to "Igbeha Primary School." The Ijaghala Community also pushed back on this weird order.
3. That l Ijaghala Community or that of Ajeyesangbene Cultural Group Festival must change from the Itsekiri culture to that of Ijaw, including the appearance of the masquerades. Again, the Ijaghala community disagreed totally with them.

In all these, the Ijaws have declared that if the people of Ijaghala community refuse to abide by their weird orders , they should pack their belongings and leave the commor else, they shall forcefully and violently invade the community and evacuate every living Souls therein from the community within the next 48 hours.

The Concerned Ijaghala Indigenes Network (CIIN) is not in doubt of the capacity of the Ijaws to carry out their threat against Ijaghala Community, particularly for the following reasons:

(a). During the wake of the needless fratricidal Warri crises in the late 90s, Ijaghala Community was  the first community along the escravous river to be pulverised by the Ijaws, and as such made indigenes and residents of the community to become internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Nigeria for over a decade. They did it before. They can do it again!

(b). A few years ago, the Ijaws did everything to enforce their burial culture on Ijaghala Community to the extent that they exhumed the corpse of an Ijaghala Indigene who was buried in the usual Itsekiri culture, and reburied him in tandem with Ijaw burial culture! What can be more bizarre?!!! The Ijaws have continued to use force of arms and intimidation from time to time in Ijaghala Community, as if the people are conquered! 

It is for the above reasons that CIIN call on the Nigerian security agencies to immediately call on the Pere of Gbaramatu and Tompolo to stop tormenting Ijaghala Community with the recent threat to forcefully evacuate and pulverise the community within the next 48 hours if the community refuse to abide by their weird and insane orders, which of course the Ijaghala Community SHALL NOT YEILD TO NO MATTER THE THREAT!

Thank you and God bless. 

NOTE: We deliberately did not put names to this petition because the Ijaws will come all out for such persons. Also, we do not want to use fictitious names. However, we are willing to manifest ourselves at any stakeholders meeting called  by the Nigerian security agencies.

Cc.:

DPO, Madangho Police Station, Ugborodo. 

Nigerian Navy B.O., Escravos.

Nigerian Army, Escravos. 

C/O, 3rd Battalion, Nigerian Army, Warri.

Commander, 63 Brigade, Nigerian Army, Asaba. 

Commissioner of Police, Asaba, Delta State.

DSS Director, Warri South-West LGA.

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