Ex-military administrator points ways to check Warri crisis
From Lawrence Njoku, Enugu
AFORMER military administrator of Delta State, Air Commodore Luke Ochulor (rtd) on Monday, said that unless the leaders of Ijaw, Itsekiri and Urhobo call their youths to order, the much needed peace in the area would remain a mirage.
The state government had last Wednesday reacted to the withdrawal of a section of the Ijaw from the peace process, accusing those pursuing dissenting opinions of having a hidden agenda. It added that security agents had been detailed to go after them.
Ochulor, who spoke on the crisis he called "national catastrophe", expressed concern over the uprising.
His words: "I can assure you that unless all the leaders from Warri-North, Warri-South and other areas come together to find a solution and also call their vibrant and violent youths to order, this problem will never stop, no matter how government feels about it".
He lamented that the crisis had rendered some people homeless while a good number of them would live in perpetual agony, adding that there was the need for a positive action to quell the uprising.
"A situation like that in which people could be killed as if they are animals is a bad precedence. This situation has become catastrophic but looking at it from outside, people will say it is a small issue. I tell you it is not as small as you think", Ochulor added.
He stated that the problem arose from "greed and insatiable" desire of some people to amass wealth by every means possible, adding that nobody would want to live and see that happen.
"People came and found the place comfortable, settled and began to carry out their activities. They began to grab as much as possible, using every available means and the moment others saw it, they started complaining and today, you can see where it has taken us to", he said.
Calling on the people of Delta State to live amicably with one another, the former military administrator said the forgiveness of one another and forgetting the past irrespective of what has happened would give the souls of those already killed a repose.
