Ijaws, Itsekiris end conflict in Warri

Ijaws and Itsekiris, who have been at war with each other since 1997 over the relocation of a local government headquarters in Warri, southeast Nigeria, have agreed to end their conflict, state-owned Nigerian Television Authority reported on Tuesday.

A group of leaders of the Ijaw, Itsekiri and neighbouring Isoko communities met Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abuja and informed him of their decision. The delegation, led by Gabriel Mabeaku, an Itsekiri chief, told reporters they had agreed to work together in the larger interest of their people.

Mabeaku said the communal violence, which characterised life in the southeast throughout much of 1999, had forced investors out of the oil town of Warri, creating hardships for all communities in the area. The ethnic leaders have now pledged to support investors willing to return to the area, saying that their youths, to whom the violence was attributed, were now with them.