Nigeria: Itsekiri Women Protest Olu of Warri's Leadership Style

22 January 2003

Warri — OVER 700 Itsekiri women last weekend stormed the oil city of Warri in protest against the leadership style of their monarch, Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse II. The protesting women led by their leader, Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor, came from various Itsekiri towns and villages in the three Warri council areas of Warri South, South-West and North. The protesting women including the young and aged carried placards of various sizes and with various inscriptions denouncing the administrative style of the Warri Monarch. Vanguard learnt that the women earlier converged on the late Chief Alfred Rewane's villa, at Ukurede-Urhobo, Warri where they were accredited by Rita-Lori-Ogbebor and other women leaders including Chief Florence Rewane.

They perfected their strategies at Rewane's villa before storming the streets of the oil city chanting anti-Ogiame slogans. Sources said the anger of the women stemmed from the recent appointment of a leader for Itsekiri women in Nigeria and the diaspora by the Olu of Warri. The women considered the appointment as a direct affront on their leader, Ogbebor, who is widely acknowledged as the leader of women in Itsekiri nation.

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