Police condemn UPU’s 14-day ultimatum to Ijaws
From Ben Dunno, Warri
Solders of the Operation Delta Safe (ODS), yesterday, conducted an aerial bombardment of suspected militants camp along the Burutu River in Delta State.
Military sources said the raided executed with fighter jets and gunboats, hit major targets in Okosugbene creek believed to be one of the administrative bases of militant groups.
The raid, which lasted over an hour, reportedly caught the indigenes of the riverside community by surprise.
“It happened this morning, as early as 6:00am. After a tip-off, the military mobilised two fighter jets and about eight gunboats to attack the camp.
“The camp was an abandoned MEND militants’ camp which was later occupied by pirates and now converted to an operational base of a militant group with the resurgence of militancy in the region,” a source, who is a native of the community, disclosed.
There was no information about casualties, but the raid was reported to have caused panic among dwellers of riverine communities.
Sector 1 Commander of the Joint Task Force (JTF) codenamed, “Operation Delta Safe” (ODS), Col. Alhassan Grema confirmed the operation in a text message, but declined further comment on casualties figure.
Meanwhile, Delta State Police Command has urged the public, particularly the Ijaw indigenes to discountenance the 14-day ultimatum to the Ijaws to leave Urhobo communities in Udu Local Government Area and its environs.
Commissioner of Police, Mr. Zanna Ibrahim, yesterday, described the directive purportedly issued by the Urhobo Progressive Union (UPU) as illegal, unconstitutional and criminal.
He advised the leadership of UPU, the umbrella body of Urhobo ethnic nationality to withdraw the ultimatum in the interest of peace as the police would not tolerate any act of lawlessness or attacks on non-natives in any Urhobo community.
The police commissioner urged non-natives, especially the Ijaws within Udu council area and its environs to be calm and go about their daily activities as the security operatives have been placed on red alert to tackle any issue that borders on breach of public peace in the affected communities.
He said the command and other security operatives in the state were on top of the situation. He said there had been series of peace meetings with stakeholders involved in the crisis.
The umbrella body of the Urhobo ethnic nationality had told Ijaws resident within Delta Central Senatorial District to vacate their land or face unpleasant consequences.
The warning was in solidarity with the Aladja community (an Urhobo settlement) which had been involved in a protracted ethnic war with the Ogbe-Ijoh community (an Ijaw area) in Warri South West Council Area and recently, the Isaba people over boundaries adjustment.
There had been claims and counterclaims of casualties and missing persons by both ethnic nationalities since resumption of hostilities in the area.
An action that prompted the UPU to declare support for the Aladja people by issuing the 14-day ultimatum based on the perception that the Urhobo community was being oppressed by the Ijaws in the area.
“Last Monday, November 14, I was personally in Warri and held series of meetings with stakeholders at the Government House Annex in conjunction with other security operatives and some far-reaching decisions on how to restore peace and confidence among the people were made.
“Immediately after that meeting where all the parties agreed to the peace accord and signed undertaking to that effects, we (representative of security operatives present) embarked on the on-the-spot assessment of the affected communities to appraise the extent of damage and also build confidence in the people that we are on top of the situation.
“We did not stop there. On November 22, based on the rumour that the Ijaws are being threatened, I directed, the Warri Police Area Commander, Mr. Mohammed Shaba, to immediately convene another stakeholders’ meeting at the same venue with other security operatives, at the end of which all parties reaffirmed commitment to the earlier peace accord and jointly addressed the press to show they are speaking in one accord to maintain peace in their areas.
“Again, on Wednesday, the combined team of army, navy, Air Force, police and DSS also moved into these communities to build confidence in the people and reaffirm to them that we are committed to the peace pact,” he said.
The police boss said it would therefore amount to breach of trust and irresponsible leadership on the part of the those who signed the peace accord on behalf of the affected communities to renege on it now, stressing that any attempt to truncate the effort of the security operatives by any group or individual would be resisted by the operatives.
The umbrella body of the Urhobo ethnic nationality had issued a 14-day ultimatum to Ijaws resident in Urhobo communities within Delta Central Senatorial District to vacate their land or be prepared to face unpleasant consequences.
The warning was in solidarity with the Aladja community, (an Urhobo settlement) in Udu Local Government Area who had been involved in a protracted ethnic war with the Ogbe-Ijoh community (an Ijaw area) in Warri South West Council Area and recently, the Isaba people over boundaries adjustment between both ethic groups which shared the same boundaries but belong to different administrative headquarters.
There had been claims and counter claims of casualties and missing persons by both ethnic nationalities since resumption of hostilities in the area.
An action that prompted the UPU to declare support for the Aladja people by issuing the 14-day ultimatum based on the perception that the Urhobo community was being oppressed by the Ijaws in the area.