Delta State Imposes Curfew on Warri North

The Delta State Government Wednesday announced measures to check the escalation of crisis in Warri North Local Government Area of the state, following two days of violent attacks by suspected militants that have left at least four persons killed and scores of houses torched.

With the curfew, the government has banned movements on waterways between dusk and dawn as part of the measures to halt the spate of violence.

Also banned from operating on the waterways in the area are all speedboats with two horsepower and above.

Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr Ovuozorie Macaulay, announced the curfew yesterday, at the end of the State Security Council meeting, held in Asaba, and presided over by the state Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan.

Macaulay said: “(The) Council approved the immediate ban on all movements on the waterways in Warri North Local Government Area from 6p.m. to 7a.m. to check further skirmishes in the area.”

The SSG, who stressed that "the existing law banning the activities of youth organisations in the state is still in force”, added that security agencies have been authorised to arrest anybody parading themselves as members of any youth group in the state or under similar guise.

Macaulay, who was flanked by the state Police Commissioner, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, as well as top officials of different security agencies in the state, commiserated with the families of the people in the different communities affected by the resurgent militant attacks.

In a related development, the Itsekiri National Youth Council (INYC) Wednesday condemned the sporadic attacks targeted at mainly Itsekiri communities, which the group blamed on Ijaw youths.

A statement by the group's spokesman, Gbubemi Abigor, alleged that the attacks were made possible because many illegal weapons were in the hands of Ijaw youths who had on Tuesday turned them against innocent and unarmed people in Itsekiri villages in Warri North Local Government Area.

According to him, the attacks “call to question the rationale behind the continued existence of Nigeria as a sovereign entity."