Benin City — BENIN monarch, Omo n'Oba Erediauwa has called on the federal government to quickly resolve the Warri crisis to stop further loss of lives and property. He said in his palace while playing host to the Minister of Police Affairs, Chief Broderick Bozimo that sending soldiers to the troubled city would compound the problem.

The monarch advised government to beam its searchlight on the remote causes of the crisis among the warring ethnic groups and institute a judicial commission of inquiry, saying that there was no reason why the people who have lived together for centuries would not bury the hatchet.

He also frowned at the recent withdrawal of police orderlies from private citizens and urged the minister to revisit the order as well as ensure adequate funding of the Nigeria Police Force.

The royal father who commended Chief Bozimo for his appointment observed that policemen were not adequately equipped to confront armed robbers and also not well renumerated.

The minister in his response said the federal government was already addressing the matter, explaining that the crisis in the Niger Delta was not the struggle for ethnic emancipation but that of oil exploration. He stated that some people have formed oil cartels and deliberately foment trouble to enable them engage in their nefarious activities.

Chief Bozimo said the game plan of the cartels was to divert the attention of the government whilst they bleed the country.

He, however, asserted that the bottomline of the struggle is poverty and marginalisation, "government through the NDDC and other agencies is addressing the issues", he said.