Delta Monarchs Urge Okowa, Residents To Prepare For Jihadists’ Threat

Traditional rulers have advised Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and residents of Delta State to be vigilant and security conscious because of the threat by Fulani jihadists last week to attack the state.

The threat message was pasted around Asaba metropolis and Agbor, the hometown of the governor, over the ban on open grazing by 17 Southern Governors, comprising the South-East, South-West and South-South geo-political zones.

They accused Okowa of aiding the governors by hosting their meeting.

But the monarchs, in a four-point communiqué issued at the end of their meeting in Asaba yesterday, condemned the threat.

The Chairman of the state Traditional Rulers’ Council, the Obi of Owa Kingdom, Dr. Emmanuel Efeizomor II, supported by the 2nd Vice-Chairman, Pere S. P. Luke, Kalama VIII, among others, who reiterated the unalloyed support of monarchs in the state for the ban, urged all communities in the state to be prepared.

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Efeizomor asked the communities to immediately activate their local security apparatus and be ready to ward off any external attack.

He said: “The security agencies in the state should not treat the threat with levity but extend their dragnets to every nook and cranny of the state with a view to nipping unwholesome activities of criminal elements in the bud.”

The chairman decried the high rate of insecurity across the country and called on the Federal Government to take the issue of security seriously, to prevent the country from drifting to anarchy.

Efeizomor said the Delta State government had done a lot to ensure the protection of lives and property but the Federal Government should be more decisive in handling security challenges.

The monarchs hailed the pace of development across the state and urged Okowa to finish perfectly on his ‘Stronger Delta’ mantra.