Warri Killings: Itsekiris mourn 25,000 victims

Remember slain kinsmen

*Slam Jonathan's silence

Woman who lost 4 family members

 

Pa Atseyinku lost two sons

Scene of Destruction

Hon Reyenieju (l) with Commander 19 Battalion of the Nigerian Army They say perpetrators must be brought to book

A pin drop would have the same effect of bomb explosion at the Yesuo Hall within a private property located in an exurb part of the Warri GRA, Warri Delta State on Saturday, July 27 2013, 25 days after the killing, burning and devastation of Itsekiri communities in Warri North Local Government Area of the state.

Hon David Tonwe, Chairman of the Itsekiri National Youth Council (INYC) and other top members of the group had just made a bloodcurdling presentation, comprising video and slideshows of the bestial incident where at least 12 persons were killed in Ajamita, Gbokoda, Eghoro, Obaghoro, Tisun and other villages in the area.

The legal adviser of the group, Mr. Robinson Ariyo, a lawyer, had earlier told our reporter that the purpose of the presentation was to ensure that the horrific killings were not flipped over as "just another chapter in the chequered history" of his kinsmen, who he said lost over 250,000 persons since the commencement of violence in the region in 1997.

"We have invited you here today in the belief that you carry humanity within you. If what you will see here today does not inspire you to take action in your own way to save humanity, then you probably are not a member of the human family!" Ariyo, decked in a mourning all black attire and a matching black ribbon tied across his head, warned before the presentation.

"We gather not for the Itsekiris but for some of our human community members; men and women, boys and girls adult and infants who were gruesomely murdered 25 days ago and whose corpses are now at different stages of decompositions," he said in an emotion laden voice.

"The day," he said, "started like a normal day, the cock crowed, the sun rose, the tide was alive, the mangrove oblivious of the evil that fellow humans hatched against their own specie. Twelve may seem just a figure to those distant from the scene of this heinous crime.

"Many of us have had the privilege of being around our wives for those uneasy nine months of pregnancy.  Some of those babies never made it. Even at that we still grieve every one of such babies. That is the humanity in us! That is what makes us members of the human community. Saint Augustine expressed it in the following words; “the death of my neighbour reminds me of mine”.

When he was done, there were just few dry eyes in the hall. Grown men and a few women who watched able-bodied young men splayed on rickety walkways bloodied by their blood, the charred remains of five-year old Aduke and her gory sight of her father, George, who was hacked to death in the barely held back tears.

 Most of the reporters in the hall, having covered the fratricidal Warri Crisis thought they were immune to such horrendous scenes. But hardly had any one of them, including this writer, come face to face with such depth of inhumanity: One of the photos showed the rigor mortis frozen image of a man with his hand over his head, ostensibly to wade off the razor-sharp axe, which yet cut through his arm and sliced off a chunk of his face.

"The tales of wanton destruction of lives and property have never been so real to me as this was," one journalist commented.

Beyond the pathos elicited by the show, the INYC members were visibly traumatised and angered by the events after the killings.

The statement signed by Tonwe, Isaac Dorsu, Secretary of INYC; Gbubemi Abigor, PRO and Mike Odeli, David Iwere, Lucky Pessu, Grifson Omatsuli, David Mene and Mike Odeli raised questions about the response of the security agencies, the Federal and Delta state governments as well as relief agencies.

It particularly faulted the response of the 'disturbing silence' of the Federal Government and President Goodluck Jonathan, failure of the State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan perceived ambiguity during his visit to the area, as well as inaction of the state house of assembly.

It also took the Federal Government to the cleaners over persistent failure to guarantee the safety of lives and property in the country.

David Tonwe, Odeli and Iwere

"It is elementary that the sole reason for the existence of government is the agreement by the people to surrender their rights to a sovereign in return for the protection of their lives and property. By our last count, we still have amongst others; government at the state and federal levels; including the National and the State Houses of Assembly, Federal and State Executive Councils and of course, the State and Federal judiciaries. These are the pillars of democracy and the rule of law.   

Slamming the state legislators, particularly their representative in Delta State House of Assembly, it noted: "We imagine that our parliamentarians some of whom are mothers and fathers appreciate the loss of lives. Will it take a prompting for you to discuss this brutality on the floor of the house and at least show empathy for them? It is well rightly said that the view of the road changes when you move from the passenger’s seat to the driver’s seat.

"We attend church every Sunday to praise God the maker of the very lives we contempt on a daily basis. We are even allowed to mount the pulpit and preach sermons that sometimes touch on loving our neighbours as ourselves."

INYC, which is the umbrella body of Itsekiri youth groups, also decried abandonment of the traumatised parents, children and relatives who watched their loved ones either shot, burnt or hacked to death.

They identified anger and threat of reprisal, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) arising from the shock and exposure to such attack and the loss of relations as some of the psychological fallout they needed attention through counselling.

Ariyo raised questions about the source of arms used to unleash the mayhem despite the attackers accepting amnesty and surrendering their arms and ammunition years ago.

Unlike the attackers, he said they were fobbed into giving up all their arms and ammunition in line with the amnesty programme, regretting that the decision had cost them dearly.

"Ordinarily, violence is not the monopoly of any group of people but humanity has tested lawlessness and elects to take side with lawfulness. We surrendered our rights to the sovereign whom we believe will in return, protect our lives and property.

"If the dead had rejected this social contract and taken their security in their own hands, broken the law by owning guns and dangerous weapons, they would certainly have stood a better chance of defense in the face of this unprovoked attack.

"Unfortunately, these victims like many of us decided to give effect to a simple but supposedly enduring idea – that we must do no harm to our fellow humans. In return the government is supposed to do everything under the relevant laws and conventions to protect civilians and tackle crimes," he stressed.

As fallout of the incident, the INYC urged the Federal Government to ensure that justice is done by bringing the perpetrators of the mindless killing to book.

In his reaction, Tonwe said called for the rebuilding of the communities destroyed in the latest carnage. "Those who have been displaced must be assisted to rebuild their homes and return to their communities."

Ariyo told sholaoneilblog that over 25,000 Itsekiri children, women and men have been killed in nearly two decades of attacks on his kinsmen. He said governments responses have been "dead, compromising silence."

On the spot at Eghoro