By Jimitota Onoyume

Itsekiri ethnic group has called on governor Sheriff Oborevwori to order a thorough investigation into issues that gave rise to recent tension in some parts of Warri ,Delta state.

It would be recalled that there was a recent protest in the oil rich city over issues relating to bill boards on the coronation anniversary of the monarch of Ogbe Ijoh.

Speaking at the palace of the Olu of Warri , Chief Brown Mene who was flanked by other chiefs of Warri kingdom said the probe into the cause of the tension could help the government find an enduring solution to the situation.

The chiefs expressed doubt over the allegation by the military that a youth who was shot dead in the area was a cultist, calling for proper investigation into the issue.

He said : “We call on His Excellency, the Governor of Delta State to please urgently do the needful which is to cause a proper investigation of this development.

“We appreciate that this is a festering situation which he has, unfortunately, inherited rather than created by him. We pray he will have the wisdom and all that he needs to do to douse the tension and to finally resolve it amicably.

what is more likely to cause unrest and breach to peace in any society is the disregard for the rule of law and in the ongoing gymnastics between brain and fist, it is only logical to conclude that the fist approach which has become the characteristic of the some of the characters constitutes more of a threat to the peace and tranquility of the area than the respect for the rule of law.

“On the 18th day of September 2025 at about midnight, eyewitnesses testify that they had multiple gun shorts, apprehension, they came out of their house in Pessu Community in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State an aboriginal Itsekiri community. They saw four Trucks with armed military personnel suspected to be attached to a company owned by an Ex-Jaw Militant the armed men were identified by the shirts/polo and caps.The long and short of it is that they shot multiple times at Dele Ogunbayo one of the heads of the vigilante in the area, ensured that he was dead and took his remains to the Morgue The deceased joined the list of persons of Itsekiri ethnic extraction murdered in this crisis. We have lodged a petition with the Police for investigation of the incident which the military immediately denied but later we have seen a recent publication of the military claiming responsibility.”

He also spoke against placing bill boards in Itsekiri areas that could provoke ethnic tension.