Posted by By Emma Amaize on
OVER 400 Itsekiri war lords and youths who annexed the property of Ijaw indigines at Iyara and continued to occupy the property since the ethnic feud between the Ijaw and Itsekiri ended in 2004 have finally surrendered the houses to their Ijaw owners in a show of love.
WARRI - OVER 400 Itsekiri war lords and youths who annexed the property of Ijaw indigines at Iyara and continued to occupy the property since the ethnic feud between the Ijaw and Itsekiri ended in 2004 have finally surrendered the houses to their Ijaw owners in a show of love.
DELTA State Commissioner for Inter Ethnic Relations and Conflict Resolution, Mr. Ovouzorie Macaulay, who confirmed the handover of the property to Vanguard, yesterday, in Warri said the gesture was a sign that the war had truly ended.
He said that Ijaw people occupying Itsekiri property had in a similar gesture, last year, surrendered the property to the Itsekiri owners.
Mr. Macaulay told Vanguard that the handover process was part of the state government's rehabilitation and reconciliation efforts to ensure that an enduring peace exists among the various communities in Warri and environs.
He said that it was a thing of joy as the Ijaw landlords came to meet with the Itsekiri occupants of the houses with whom they had been no love lost in the past few years, and all of them sat together to discuss the tenancy agreement.
'Some of them used the occasion to formalize their tenancy agreement for the houses that they illegally occupied and the Ijaw landlords were happy that at last, their houses have been returned to them", he added.
Commissioner Macaulay said that the state government was convinced that the Ijaw, Itsekiri and Urhobo were brothers and sisters.