The protracted boundary dispute between Ogbe-Ijoh and Aladja communities of Warri South West and Udu local government areas of Delta State would be amicably resolved if elected as governor in 2023, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state has assured.
Omo-Agege, who is the Deputy President of the Senate, stated this when the Delta APC ward-to-ward campaign train visited Ogbe-Ijoh, headquarters of Warri South West LGA, on Monday.
Ogbe-Ijoh and Aladja communities have been loggerheads over the disputed land boundary which has claimed several lives with properties running into millions of naira destroyed.
But the APC governorship candidate while addressing a mammoth crowd of supporters said the people of Ogbe-Ijoh and Aladja are brothers and sisters thus he would personally ensure that the crisis was permanently resolved in the favour of both warring communities.
Omo-Agege, while lamenting the lingering crisis, observed that the dispute affected the socio-economic activities of both communities.
According to him, “Before I came here today, I know there are challenges between the people of Ogbe-Ijoh and Aladja. Are we not the same people? If you place an Aladja man and Ogbe-Ijoh man side-by-side and you don’t ask them to speak, will you know the difference? Are we not one and the same? Do we allow this issue to tear us apart?
“It has been a long time since this problem has been on ground. We expect that Okowa as governor will resolve the issue but he has allowed the issue to linger. But not too worry, when you elect me as governor next year, I will resolve the dispute. We are going to amicably resolve the crisis.
“When I become the governor of this State, we are going to sit down and we are going to resolve the crisis so that we can go back permanently and live like brothers and sisters like we have always done. It will be a win-win for our communities.This is my commitment to you.”
Omo-Agege further lamented the underdevelopment of communities in Warri South West by the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa-led government despite their contribution to the wealth of the country and that of Delta, promising that his administration will address the infrastructural needs of the people.
“Beyond that, we’ll look into the issue of connecting Ogbe-Ijoh directly to Warri. As a governor, we’ll look into it. In addition to that, this is part of Ijaw Nation. Ijaw Nation contributes so much to the wealth of this nation and to the wealth of Delta State”, Omo-Agege added.
He urged the people of the council to vote for him, the presidential candidate of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Hon. Joel-Onowakpo Thomas for Delta South and other APC candidates for the 2023 general elections.
The Deputy President of the Senate told the crowd that he was hungry to work as governor as well as to bring development to all senatorial districts of the state when elected in 2023.
Omo-Agege assured that he would run an all-inclusive government and be just to all parts of the state while serving as governor of the oil-rich state.
Earlier, APC Delta South senatorial candidate, Hon. Joel-Onowakpo Thomas, who spoke in Ijaw language, told the people of the area to vote for all APC candidates in the elections.
Thomas assured the Ijaw Nation that he would work with Tinubu and Senator Omo-Agege to attract development to the Delta South senatorial district.
On his part, a chieftain of Delta APC and former Special Leader/Member of the APC State Executive Committee, Hon. Denbo Denbofa Oweikpodor, assured Omo-Agege that the people of Ogbe-Ijoh and Warri South West LGA will support and overwhelmingly vote him as next governor of the state.
Denbofa, however, charged Omo-Agege to resolve the lingering crisis between the people of Ogbe-Ijoh and Aladja in Warri South-West and Udu LGAs .
He also demanded on behalf of Ogbe-Ijoh people to construct a bridge and link the people of the area to Warri City when he emerged as the governor.
Omo-Agege later visited and met with the Pere of Ogbe-Ijoh Warri Kingdom, Pere Amakosu, Monbene III, where he reiterated his commitment to resolve the Ogbe-Ijoh and Aladja land dispute.
The APC governorship candidate was accompanied on the campaign by his Deputy, Rt. Hon. Friday Osanebi, Delta APC chairman, Elder Omeni Sobotie, Dr. Otive Igbuzo, Engr. Tuoyo Omatsuli, Chief Michael Johnny, Olorogun Ima Niboro, Hon. Joel-Onowakpo Thomas, APC candidates and other chieftains of the party.
