A former Niger Delta agitator and leader in Deghele Community, Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State, Comrade Smart Amola Ani A.K.A. ‘Gentle Lion’, has called on the Gbaramatu Youth Council, GYC, to stop what he described as the reoccurring issuance of threats to people of Deghele and other Itsekiris in the Abiteye axis.
Ani in a statement on Sunday warned that such threats by the GYC at the slightest opportunity pose a serious threat between the Itsekiris and their Ijaw neighbours adding that “nobody has the monopoly of violence or afraid of war”.
‘Gentle Lion’ said, “Itsekiris have done everything and sacrificed so much politically and otherwise, just to foster peace between us and our Ijaw neighbours, yet at the slightest opportunity, the Ijaw of Gbaramatu, particularly our neighbours in Benekruku, would either issue threats to our people or evacuate them from Abiteye and its environs in a show of power and perceived supremacy, just as they just did.”
While condemning the reported beating of war drum by the Gbaramatu Youth Council over the proposed JIV by Chevron Nigeria Limited, Ani, warned, “The disagreement we couldn’t manage led to the infamous Itsekiri/ Ijaw crisis between 1997 to 2003, of which several lives were lost from both sides of the divide, property worth millions of naira destroyed with impunity. The Itsekiris are yet to fully recover from the trauma and agony.”
He added, “The Itsekiris at large see the need to live in peace with them (Gbaramatu Ijaws) as our brothers and neighbours, not because of cowardice as they may have imagined, nor stupidity, but because we believe it is necessary to do so.
“We and they have a common destiny as a people; we suffer the same challenges and deprivations from the international oil and gas companies and can only achieve our ultimate goal of development of our difficult terrain if we work together in an atmosphere of peace and mutual respect for each other instead of making unguarded and provocative utterances, capable of igniting another round of ethnic crisis”.
