Delta enmeshes in protests over creation of wards, chairmanship imposition
Protest from various groups rocked Asaba, the Delta State capital and other locations on Tuesday as the protesters took to the streets to vent their displeasure over the creation of the political wards and alleged imposition of chairmanship candidates.
Business activities also came to a halt as the protesters blocked strategic routes into and out of the city centre culminating into traffic gridlock which lingered for several hours.
Gentechnews gathered that protesters from the Ijaw ethnic nationality assembled at the gate of the Government House, over what they described as “political oppression by the Okowa-led administration”.
Some of the protesters displayed placards which had inscriptions such as “Enough of this oppression,” “Okowa, do things right,” “Give us our ward,” “Ijaw cannot be intimidated,” “Okowa, don’t push Ijaws to the wall,” among others.
The protesters declared that they will scuttle the forthcoming local government election if their demands were not met.
One of the protest leaders, Friday Deinghan, lamented that the Ijaw people of Delta State were marginalised in spite of their huge economic contribution to the state and the nation.
Deinghan said, “We are Ijaws in Warri South Local government. Recently, the state created wards, Ijaws was neglected. We don’t have even one ward, but others have 10, 9 respectively.”
The Commissioner for Urban and Rural Development, and his counterpart in the Power and Energy ministry, while addressing the protesters commended the peaceful conduct of the protesters, insisting that their agitation was germane.
There was similar protest from the people of Aniocha South and Oshimili South Local Government Areas of the state who protested over the imposition of Council Chairman for the forthcoming coming election.
It was also learnt that protesters from over 15 local government areas have so far protested against the alleged imposition of Council Chairmanship candidates so far within a few days.
