No fewer than two persons were shot on Saturday at Okere Community in Warri Metropolis of Delta State.
It was gathered the victims were shot by security operatives believed to be soldiers of the 63 Brigade of the Nigerian Army.
The victims were identified as Macaulay Uku and another simply identified as Eguono.
Uku, according to various sources, was shot early in the afternoon while Eguono was shot later following a disagreement between the soldiers and youths.
The cause of the crisis in the Urhobo/Itsekiri enclave of Warri was not immediately ascertained, but sources said it could be connected to the visit to the enclave by the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III to perform some rites at the popular Okere Shrine.
A source said: “I don’t really know what happened but what we heard was that the Olu went to the shrine as part of his visit to Itsekiri communities.”
“One side said that at the shrine, he tried to dab olive oil but was resisted by youths of the community [apparently from the Urhobo community]”, the source added.
However, in the morning hours, there was a heavy security presence at Okere Market and traffic was diverted to either Eboh or Ajaminogha road.
Efforts to contact the Nigerian Army over the incident have not been successful.
….Details shortly