Uneasy Calm In Delta After Ijaw/Itsekiri Clash

Uneasy calm pervaded the Escravos area in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State following midnight reprisal attack by suspected Ijaw militias on Madangho, an Itsekiri community.

At least two houses were were torched when about 30 heavily armed Ijaw youths stormed the community from Gbaramatu, an Ijaw home clan of former warlord, Chief Government Ekpemupolo (AKA Tompolo). Two suspects were also arrested for the initial attack, which left a 50-year-old security guard in critical condition. It was gathered that the attack was a revenge mission by the marauders following an unprovoked machete attack on the Ijaw security guard at Kpokpo, site of the $16bn gas city project by three Itsekiri youths from Madangho.

An Ugborodo source, who denounced the action of his kinsmen, said, “The old man was guarding tractors and swamp bogey being used to clear the land for the deep sea port when he was attacked by our brothers from Madangho. “The Ijaws later came back in anger and started shooting and burning. Two houses were burnt before they left at about midnight. “They came back very early in the morning again and I counted over 30 youths armed with sophisticated weapons. They shot for several minutes until some soldiers came and engaged them in a shoutout, which forced them to flee,” a source said.

The Commanding Officer, 3 Battalion of the Nigerian Army, Lt Col Ekong Bassey, confirmed the report, adding that calm had been restored. He said the matter was being handled by leaders of both communities amicably.

Nevertheless, it was gathered that the incident heightened tension between the two ethnic groups that have been locked in a cat-and-mouse game over the $16billion Gas City and Deep Sea Port project. Kpokpo, the site of the deep sea port, is a subject of contention between the two sides.

Various sources told our reporter that the face-off almost degenerated into a full blown war on Tuesday morning following a blockade on the waterways around Gbaramatu kingdom by the Ijaw militias. “Boats leaving Ugborodo and other Itsekiri villages for Warri and other upland communities were turned back by the Ijaw youths. They also didn’t allow boats coming into their barricades to Ugborodo.”

However, it was learnt that calm was gradually returning to the area at the time of this report (3:30pm) on Tuesday following the intervention of Tompolo and Itsekiri leaders who are suing for peace. It was gathered that the peace shuttle was helped by the arrest of two of the three recalcitrant Itsekiri youths who carried out the unprovoked attack on the Ijaw night guard.