By Wealth Oghenemaro
Warri was thrown into tension on Saturday, September 27, 2025, following the killing of a peace committee member, Mr. Jerry Aduara, during a violent clash between Urhobo and Itsekiri youths in Iyara community.
Aduara, from the Warri Urhobo extraction and a serving member of the Warri South Local Government Peace Committee, was reportedly shot dead while attempting to mediate between both sides in the wake of a communal dispute.
High Chief Hon. Onoriode Okoh, the Oletu of Okere Urhobo Kingdom and third-ranking chief of the kingdom, who witnessed the incident, said the crisis began when the Urhobo people of Odion community carried out traditional rites in honour of their deities.
According to him, the Odion community — ancestral home of HRM Dr. Morris Ogheneochuko Eyekpimi-Egboboyen, the Orosuen of Okere Urhobo Kingdom — had sought and obtained both police approval and the endorsement of the Warri South Peace Committee before proceeding with the rites.
“Fifteen representatives each from the Urhobo and Itsekiri sides, alongside police personnel, inspected the shrine activities and confirmed that it posed no threat to public peace,” Chief Okoh stated.
He alleged, however, that on the eve of the tragedy, some Itsekiri youths stormed the Urhobo shrine, seized ritual items and carted them away to Edukuwho Street. Despite that provocation, the Odion people went ahead with their worship under police protection.
Trouble escalated the following day when Itsekiri youths again attempted to disrupt the rites. In the confrontation that followed, Aduara — a two-time chairman of the Odion Urhobo Youth Council and peace committee member — stepped in to appeal for calm but was fatally shot in the process.
Chief Okoh condemned the killing, describing it as proof that the peace committee had “outlived its usefulness.” He urged Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to order a thorough investigation and bring those responsible to justice.
Until his death, Aduara lived in the Otovwodo (Agbassa) community.
As of press time, efforts to reach the Warri South Council Chairman, Hon. Isaac Weyinmi Agbateyiniro, and the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe, were unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, security operatives have been deployed across Warri, with police and civil defence personnel mounting checkpoints and conducting vehicle searches to forestall further unrest.
