23 March 2013, Warri – Military personnel have chased away the gunmen, who laid siege, on Thursday, to the Benin River in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State and hijacked four boats.
The siege caused tension in Sapele, Koko and other communities, as Ijaw and Itsekiri natives, well aware of the dangerous dimension, skirmishes between the two ethnic groups had taken in the past, ran helter-skelter.
However, security agents, moving in gunboats, acted promptly, as they launched series of raids on suspected hideouts in some communities in search of the gunmen, who abandoned their location in the face of superior firepower.
A member of the Delta Waterways Security Committee, DWSC, Comrade Omolubi Newuwumi, disclosed that security agents recovered the four hijacked boats same day, adding that peace had returned following military intervention.
An organization, Egbema Radical Change, ERC, which claimed responsibility for the siege, however said, “We want to make it clear to the public that the ongoing protest is not meant for criminal activities, but for political injustice in Warri North Local Government Area by our Itsekiri brothers.”
*Vanguard
