Panel seeks end to ethnic Ijaw, Ilaje clashes

The government of the southwest Nigerian state of Ondo has set up a panel to seek an end to ethnic fighting between Ijaws and Ilajes after 50 people died in renewed clashes last week, state officials said. The Governor of Ondo State, Adebayo Adefarati, who on Wednesday met representatives of both groups in the capital, Akure, urged them to give the panel, comprising both Ijaws and Ilajes, the chance to resolve their differences. "We are expecting the response of the federal government very soon and before then we must give peace a chance," he said during the meeting. Fighting broke out in 1998 between the two groups over disputed land thought to be rich in oil and located near the Atlantic coast. Ownership of land in the southern oil region often yields substantial monetary compensations to local communities if the land is rich in oil, a factor which sometimes aggravates communal disputes in the area. Residents of the area, which is only accessible by boat or helicopter, said the latest fighting broke out after some Ilajes tried to retake villages from which they were displaced during last year's fighting. Hundreds of people have died in an upsurge of ethnic clashes in the populous West African country since President Olusegun Obasanjo took power on May 29, ending over 15 years of military rule. Lower house motions Senate president to step aside Nigeria's lower house of parliament adopted a motion on Wednesday for Senate President Evan Enwerem, 74, to step aside pending the outcome of investigations against him for alleged fraud, Radio Nigeria reported on Wednesday. In a resolution issued in the capital, Abuja, the House of Representatives said allegations of falsification and fraud against Enwerem questioned the integrity of the National Assembly and endangered the nation's political terrain, AFP reported. The weekly news magazine, `TELL', which made the allegation, also accused Enwerem of having a criminal record. Enwerem is the country's third ranking official, under the constitution. In a similar case on Tuesday, a magistrate court in Abuja convicted the speaker of the lower house, Salisu Buhari, of perjury and forgery. He was fined the local equivalent of US $20 or one year in prison.