A 21-day ultimatum has been given to Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to address demands presented to it by a coalition of Itsekiri social groups, the Itsekiri Coalition Movement (ICM) or face the wrath of the Itsekiri nation.
The demands the group, led by Tuoyo Ofuyaekpone, Samuel Khalil and Eddy Olueh, said bordered on gross marginalisation of the ethnic nationality.
The group, which led a crowd of angry protesters to the Warri Area office of the NDDC in Ejeba, Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State, called for the sack of the Commissioner representing Delta State on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr Ogaga Ifowodo, whom it accused of ethnic bias and incompetence.
Although the protesters were effectively checkmated from accessing the premises of the NDDC area office by a combined team of soldiers and policemen, they succeeded in creating a traffic gridlock along the already narrow Ejeba road.
They alleged that the NDDC had, over the years, failed to complete key projects in their area, just as the agency excluded the Itsekiri stock in a recent contract bid process.
The group presented a communiqué containing their grievances against the commission to an Assistant Director of the NDDC, Haruna Mazadu, who led other management personnel to attend to the protesters.
Olueh said failure of the NDDC to speedily attend to the demands within 21 days would not augur well for the agency.
Meanwhile, representatives of NDDC promised to forward the communique containing the grievances of the group to the agency’s authorities.