Selective Outrage and the Peril of Ethnic Partisanship: A Response to the UPU Youth Wing’s Divisive Narrative on Warri Says Itsekiri Young Elites IYE

Our attention has been drawn to the recent statement issued by the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) Youth Wing under the leadership of Blessed Ughere. While every group has the right to express its views on matters affecting the peace and stability of Warri, it is difficult to ignore the deeply selective nature of this intervention. Rather than offering a balanced assessment of the issues that have generated tension in recent weeks, the publication presents a one sided narrative that unfairly casts the Itsekiri people as aggressors while carefully overlooking the actions and statements that precipitated the current atmosphere of distrust and resentment.

What makes this position particularly troubling is not merely what was said, but what was left unsaid. There were moments when individuals and groups publicly made incendiary remarks capable of inflaming passions across the Niger Delta. Some of these statements, broadcast on national platforms, included attacks on the person of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and rhetorics that many reasonable observers considered reckless and provocative. Yet, during those moments, the UPU Youth Wing maintained a conspicuous silence. It neither cautioned nor condemned. That silence now stands in stark contrast to its eagerness to criticize the Itsekiri response.

The principle of fairness demands consistency. No organisation that claims to speak in the interest of peace can afford to apply different standards to different actors based on ethnic convenience. Moral authority is not acquired through selective condemnation; it is earned through an unwavering commitment to truth, irrespective of whose interests are affected. When a group chooses to ignore provocations from one side while amplifying reactions from another, it inevitably raises questions about its impartiality and motives.

Warri has always been a complex and diverse city, shaped by generations of coexistence among different ethnic nationalities. Its history teaches a simple lesson; peace cannot be built on selective memory, nor can justice flourish where facts are filtered through the lens of ethnic loyalty. Every community has legitimate concerns, but those concerns lose credibility when they are advanced through narratives that exclude inconvenient truths. The responsibility of leaders, especially youth leaders, is not to deepen divisions but to create space for honest engagement and mutual understanding.

It is imperative to state here that the publication by the UPU Youth Wing regrettably falls short of that responsibility. Instead of helping to calm tensions, it risks reinforcing old suspicions and widening existing fault lines. At a time when the area requires restraint, dialogue, and statesmanship, inflammatory and partisan interventions only serve to harden positions and undermine the collective efforts of those working to preserve harmony in Warri and the wider Niger Delta.

Hence, it is therefore entirely reasonable to question the credibility and objectivity of a leadership that appears unwilling to hold all parties accountable by the same measure. Genuine advocacy demands intellectual honesty. It requires the courage to challenge wrongdoing wherever it originates, whether from allies or opponents. Anything less is not advocacy for peace but participation in the very divisions that threaten it.

In conclusion, the path forward for Warri and the Niger Delta lies not in ethnic grandstanding or selective outrage, but in a shared commitment to justice, fairness, and mutual respect. We therefore call on Security agencies to arrest, detain and prosecute Victor Okumagna, Godspower Gbenekama with immediate effect for inciting violence and for acts likely to cause breach of peace and breakdown of law and order in Warri Federal Constituency. We urge the leadership of the UPU Youth Wing to reconsider its approach, abandon narratives rooted in ethnic partisanship, and embrace a more balanced and responsible engagement with the issues at hand. Peace is sustained not by amplifying differences, but by the willingness of all stakeholders to speak truth consistently, act fairly, and place the collective interest above sectional loyalties.

Signed:

Comr. Lily-white O. Esigbone
President IYE

Comr. Eboma Tuoyo
Secretary IYE