Renewed Hostility Between Aladja, Ogbe – Ijoh Claims Lives, Many Injured In Delta
By Ambrose Ologide
WARRI/Nigeria: Renewed hostilities between the two waring neighbours of Aladja Community in Udu Local Government Area and Ogbe – Ijoh Community in Warri South West Local Government Area, both in Delta State, have claimed scores of lives with many reported injured.
It was gathered that the hostilities started in the midafternoon on the fateful day and that soldiers had restored normalcy to the area.
A female trader at the Market Road in Warri, Madam Stella Odeiyibo, who is a native of Ogbe – Ijoh Community told journalists that she heard sounds of sporadic gun shots from the Aladja Community direction and had seen people running to Ogbe – Ijoh Water Side.
“I decided to run for my dear life too because that fight between us (Ogbe Ijoh Community) has started again. I joined others in boarding a boat to Warri for safety,” she narrated.
On his part, a man from the Aladja Community, who declined to disclose his identity, alleged that the community was attacked unprovoked by the Ogbe Ijoh Community.
“God was on His throne as worshippers have closed from church when they attacked us. Nobody expected the attack,” he lamented.
The brother of a popular Nigerian film star in the area stated that there were casualties from both sides during the attack, adding that it was men of the Nigerian Army that calmed the situation.
However, when the Police Public Relations Officer, Delta State Police Command in Asaba, DSP Bright Edafe, was contacted for confirmation of the story, he said that only one person from the Aladja Community was killed in the bloody crisis, adding that normalcy had been restored to the area as at the time of filing this report.
It would be recalled that some time last year, both communities organised a peace and reconciliation party where their leaders vowed to put an end to the age long feuding between the two communities in the state.
