PRESS RESPONSE BY HON. DANIEL REYENIEJU
Former Member, House of Representatives, Warri Federal Constituency
On Senator Dafinone’s Inciting and Misplaced Comments on the Warri Crisis
My attention has been drawn to a statement credited to Senator Ede Dafinone, in which he chose to lament damage to the UPU House in Warri, while failing to acknowledge, with the same weight, the actual violence and injuries inflicted by rampaging Urhobo youths in Agbassa.
To be clear, I condemn all forms of violence and destruction. However, it is troubling — and indeed infuriating — that Senator Dafinone elevates damage to a building above the lives and safety of people who suffered attacks. Are we now to conclude that structures matter more than human lives?
More dangerously, the Senator’s comment that “an attack on the UPU House is, by extension, an attack on the entire Urhobo Nation” is reckless, divisive, and unbecoming of a legislator. Such a statement amounts to ethnic incitement. The UPU is an important socio-cultural organization, yes – but it does not embody or equate to the collective destiny of Warri Federal Constituency or Delta State. To frame an incident in such catastrophic ethnic terms is to deliberately inflame tensions rather than calm them.
This is typical of Senator Dafinone — hiding under the cover of his high office to ventilate long-standing bias and ethnic sentiment. As a senator of the Federal Republic, his duty is to de-escalate, not to throw petrol on already burning embers of conflict.
Where was his voice when innocent people were attacked by Urhobo youths of Agbassa? Why was there no equal outrage when human lives — the most sacred trust — were placed in harm’s way? Or are some lives less valuable than the symbolic UPU building?
Warri is home to very many and infact to all alike. No ethnic group has the right to elevate its interests above the collective peace and security of all. A senator should speak like a statesman — not like an ethnic crusader.
I therefore call on Senator Dafinone to retrace his steps, temper his language, and focus on building bridges of unity. His role demands fairness and neutrality, not incitement disguised as empathy. The people of Warri deserve peace and progress, not deliberate fueling of division.
Hon. Daniel Reyenieju
