Tension has gripped residents of the oil-rich city of Warri over a violent clash between Itsekiri and Agbarha-Warri (Urhobo) youths on Saturday afternoon, sparked by renewed territorial claims and a disputed celebratory procession.
The conflict erupted around noon in Warri South Local Government Area where Agbarha-Warri youths reportedly attempted to block a procession by Itsekiri youths commemorating the fourth coronation anniversary of the Olu of Warri.
Witnesses claimed that the incident quickly turned violent after the Agbarha youths reacted angrily to chants of “na we get Warri” (“we own Warri”) from the celebrating Itsekiri youths.
The violence escalated in the Ibo Market and Okere Market areas where shops were hastily shut down over fear of the conflict intensifying.
Video footages circulating on social media showed youths from both sides brandishing cutlasses, wooden planks, and stones during the altercation.
Several youths sustained bullet wounds after security personnel at the scene fired shots in an attempt to quell the unrest, The Nation reports.
Though the exact number of injured remains unconfirmed, observers worry that the development, one of a few others in the past months, could ignite longstanding ethnic rivalry of land and territorial claims.
As of the time of filing this report, the Warri South Council chairman, was yet to make any official comment on the incident.
The Delta State Government and Warri South Local Government Council had been criticised prior to now, for what some call a failure to act decisively in preventing the clash.
In the thick of the initial outcome of the Supreme Court ordered Warri Federal Constituency delineation exercise fieldwork in April, both parties,*] while protesting against the report had a couple of clashes over same territorial assertions.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the Delta State Police Command, SP Bright Edafe, confirmed the incident.
“The incident is confirmed , but there are no casualties,” he said.
