Delineation: Okere Community rejects ceding of units in Warri GRA to Ogbe - Ijaw, cites court judgements affirming ownership

The people of Okere Community in Warri South Local Government Area, have rejected the ceding of reasonable units in the GRA Ward in Okere, Warri South Local Government Area, to the Ijaws of Ogbe - Ijaw in Warri South - West Local Government Area.

The Acting Olare - Aja of Okere Community, Chief Kofi Edomi Kartey, who made the position of Okere people known Sunday May 31, during a media briefing at Okere Community Hall in Warri, Delta State, said the recent proposal for delineation of wards, units and constituencies in Warri Federal Constituency, which was released to stakeholders at Asaba, by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is a grave injustice meted on indigenous people of Okere Community.

Chief Kartey, said judicial pronouncements affirmed that the Ijaws, have no land ownership rights in Warri urban or Warri South Local Government Area, stressing that despite the Supreme Court judgement that barred Ijaw people of Ogbe - Ijaw from laying claim to land in Warri metropolis, INEC ceded units in GRA Ward, Okere Community to the Ijaws of Ogbe, in its recent proposal.

The Okere Community leader, who chronicled series of court judgements to back Okere people's position, vowed that they will not allow any inch of Okere land in Warri GRA to be ceded to Ogbe - Ijoh, under the pretext of units or ward delineation.

The Acting Head of Okere Community, called on the Federal and Delta State governments , the Independent National Electoral Commission, the National Security Adviser and other relevant government agencies, to uphold the rule of law, " which guarantees due process and safeguards individual, group and liberties, such as freedom of speech and expression, from government over reach."

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