Delta: Warri Council of Chiefs Calls on Oborevwori to Investigate Ethnic Tensions

The governor of Delta State, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, has been asked to immediately form a Panel of Inquiry to look into the interethnic conflict between the Itsekiri and Ijaw people in the state’s Warri Federal Constituency.

Speaking to reporters at the Palace of the Olu of Warri, the Itsekiri Traditional Council, acting under the auspices of the Warri Council of Chiefs, made this call. They took a stance on the recent contentious removal of banners celebrating the 10th anniversary of the coronation of the Pere of Ogbe-Ijoh, Warri Kingdom, HRM Couple Mackson Oromoni, Monbene III, from certain areas of Warri city, stating that the aforementioned localities are under Itsekiri jurisdiction.

“This is our homeland,” said High Chief Mene Brown, the Ogwa-Olusan of Warri Kingdom, speaking on behalf of the Council of Chiefs. We do not want it to be misrepresented. We support peace.

On Thursday, September 18, 2025, High Chief Mene urged the Inspector-General of Police “to immediately conduct a thorough investigation into the recent killing of Dele Ogunbayo in the Pessu area of Warri.” The government ought to reevaluate its practice of giving private citizens control over the security system.

The Itsekiri Traditional Council also urged HRM Monbene III, the Ogbe-Ijoh monarch, to “cause to be removed, all the said banners and billboards mounted in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State of Nigeria, same being outside the reign of His Majesty by the judgment of the Lower Court that His Majesty has appealed against.”

“We call on His Excellency, the Governor of Delta State, to please urgently do the necessary, which is to cause a proper investigation of this development with a view to calling on all those involved to order; in order to destabilize the government, they cannot be seen serving in the same government,” High Chief Mene continued.

We recognize that this is an ongoing crisis that he regrettably inherited rather than started. We pray that he will have the discernment and resources necessary to take the necessary action to not just ease the tension but also to settle it amicably.

“Disregard for the rule of law and the constant balancing act between the fist and the brain are more likely to cause unrest and disturb the peace in any society.” It follows logically that the first approach, which has come to define certain of the characters, poses a greater threat to the area’s peace and serenity than it does to respect for the law.

As a people, the Itsekiris have continuously urged the national, state, and local governments to uphold the law without caring whose ox gets gored.

“We carried our investigations for the first 48 hours, immediately the incident occurred, and the position of the military was quite clear that they were not involved at all,” said Chief Robinson Ariyo, Egogo of Warri Kingdom, who also spoke.

“We want to accept what they said in the first 48 hours (about the gruesome death of Ogunbayo), not the most recent statement released 72 hours later. The military personnel cannot be perceived to be approving and reprimanding.

The military cited the characteristics of guns. Our response to an emergency situation differs from our response to a typical situation. An Ijaw WhatsApp group has threatened to kill someone in Pessu, which is what I have here. This man (Dele Ogunbayo) was shot and killed less than six hours prior.

“This is not a time for us to say we should start talking about social media, we are talking about lives,” attorney Chief Ariyo said in response to a journalist’s question on Governor Oborevwori’s statement on Friday, September 19, 2025.

“The protection of people and property is the government’s top priority. The authorities will classify a person’s murder as homicide.

“A government is not a government if it does not fulfill its responsibility to safeguard people and property. No matter the tribe, every other human being should be affected by a person’s death.