WARRI CRISIS - The Truth
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THE WARRI CRISIS
INTRODUCTION
Itsekiris are from the Niger Delta, they are of the Delta, and remain people
of the Niger Delta. We are a distinct indigenous ethnic group. We are
committed to working for justice, peace and prosperity of the Niger Delta
The Niger Delta needs everyone of its people to realise that there has to be
respect for each other and a willingness to improve the lot of all the people
in the area. It is very unfortunate that the Ijaws make it seem as if they
are the only ones affected by the exploitation of the Niger Delta. They think
they are justified to use their larger numbers, links in the military, access
to weapons and influence in the higher reaches of government, having produced
the highest number of oil ministers, they can resort to mindless violence in
Warri against the Itsekiris. There could be a more obvious reason why Ijaws
attacked Itsekiris in Edo State, and cleansed Burutu and Forcados of
Itsekiris - the control of areas in the Niger Delta where there is oil in
vast quantities.
So much has been published about the Itsekiri and the Warri Kingdom since the
Portuguese came to the region in 1522 that present day politically motivated
antics of land-hungry neighbours cannot change the universal perception of
the Itsekiri and their history. These neighbours, the Ijaws and Urhobos, have
sought fruitlessly to re-write the history not only of the time and mode of
the first appearance of the Itsekiri themsleves in the Niger delta, but also
that of Warri, the chief city of the Itsekiri homeland.
"Iwere" is what the Itsekiri call their land. "Omiwere (people of Iwere ) is
what they called themselves. "Warri" has become the most common spelling of
Iwere.
"the Jekri (Itsekiri) themselves were called Iwerri by the Benin and from
this, the town was given its present name, Warri".
The Warri kingdom was founded by Ginuwa I, a Benin Prince who left Benin,
before 1480, with approximately 70 chiefs to settled amongst the Jekri (
Itsekiri ) and rule the Warri area. Ginuwa I was the first Olu of Warri.
Please note that the Jekri ( Itsekiri ) the first inhabitants of the land
Ginuwa settled in and ruled over were Yoruba speaking people of Yoruba ethnic
group. Hence the Itsekiri language ( past and present ) is a Yoruba dialect
and the culture is that of Benin. We are proud of our heritage. The Itsekiri
homeland bounded by latitudes 5° 20' and 60° N and longitudes 5° 5' and 5°
46' E covers some 4,000 square kilometers of the Niger Delta.
ETHNIC HOMELANDS/LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN DELTA STATE
It is important to explain that before the 1920's the whole area known as
Warri (later Delta ) Province comprising the territories of the Ijaw, Ndokwa,
Urhobo/Isoko and Itsekiri was administered from Warri as one political,
judicial and administrative unit, which naturally attracted migration of the
other ethnic groups to Warri. But the other ethnic groups opposed being
grouped with the Itsekiri. The Itsekiri, for their part did not object to the
other ethnic groups being granted political, judicial and administrative
autonomy.
At a later stage, there came fragmentation as a matter of deliberate policy,
the old structure was dismantled and separate Native Administrations were
established for each ethnic group in their respective homelands. A Warri
Division (later Warri Local Government Area and subsequently Warri South,
Warri North and Warri south-west Local Government Areas) was established in
the Itsekiri homeland. At the same time, a Western Ijaw Division (later
Western Ijaw Local Government Area, now Burutu, Bomadi and Patani Local
Government Areas) was established for the Ijaws. Similarly an Urhobo Division
(later Western and Eastern Urhobo Local Government Areas but now Ughelli
North, Ughelli South, Ethiope West, Ethiope East, Okpe, Sapele, Isoko North,
Isoko South, Udu and Uvwie Local Government Areas) was established for the
Urhobo/Isoko in their respective homelands. The Ndokwa also had their own
Division which now comprises three Local Government Areas, Ndokwa East,
Ndokwa West and Ukuani.
However, the Itsekiri homeland (Warri South, Warri North and Warri South-West
Local Government Areas), for historical reasons, contained some enclaves
inhabited mainly by Urhobo and Ijaw migrant settlers who, as they grew in
numbers, began to engage the Itsekiri in a series of land cases in court. All
the Court decisions favoured the Itsekiri, and after protracted litigation
dating from 1923, the Privy Council in London, then our highest Appellate
Court, pronounced the Itsekiri owners of Warri land. Thus the false claims by
some Urhobos and Ijaws to the ownership of Warri land have long ago been
resolved in favour of the Itsekiri by the Courts.
There are Ijaw settlements of Egbeoma, Gbaramatu, Ogbe-Ijoh and Isaba in the
riverine Area of Warri Division, but these Ijaws are customary tenants of the
Itsekiri people. It is to be again emphasised that all land in Warri Division
(Warri North, Warri South and Warri South West Local Government Areas) are
vested in the Itsekiri people under the Overlordship of the Olu of Warri. The
only contentious bit is the 281.1 acres in the possessory ownership of the
Urhobo family of Olodi, Oki and Ighogbadu of Okere. The Urhobo family won
possession of that parcel of land in the case of Idundun & Ors -v- Daniel
Okumagba for himself and on behalf of Olodi, Oki and Ighogbadu families in
Idimi Sobo, Okere, Warri reported in (1976) 10 N.S.C.C. Pg. 445-446. The
radical title to the land is yet to be determined.
As much as one may, to some extent, sympathize with the Ijaw National
Congress (a pan Ijaw Organization ) acclaimed desire of all Ijaws throughout
the length and breadth of the Niger delta to be united", we nevertheless
declare emphatically that the geo-political unit for that unification cannot
be the "Southern Zone" stretching from Arogbo/Apoi in Ondo State through Edo,
Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers to Akwa-Ibom States as defined by them in the INC
press releases.
The Ijaws are not the only "true southerners" of Nigeria; they do not own
over 80% of the 70,000 squares kilometers of the Niger Delta as they claim.
The Ijaws do not account for 80% of the nation's GDP, 95% of the national
budget and 90% of its foreign exchange earnings, as they claim. The Itsekiri
homeland (Warri Division) accounts for about 33.5% of our total national oil
and gas output (which is about 80% of the total output of Delta State). The
Ijaws are not traditional or customary owners of all the lands they occupy
along the Niger Delta; in the case of Warri Division, the Ijaws in Isaba,
Ogbe-Ijoh, Olague (which the Ijaws have named Gbaramatu) and Egbeoma (four
Ijaw enclaves in Warri Division) are customary tenants of the ltsekiri, a
fact which has been established in law. Hence the resort to violence by
Ijaws committed to the annexation of all coastal lands in Nigeria from Ondo
State in the west to Akwa-Ibom State in the east
According to the 1993 national census figures, the population of Ijaws in the
Itsekiri homeland is about 14%, Urhobos 1.7%, other Nigerians (non-ltsekiri)
20% with the Itsekiri being 64%. From the last national census, the
population of Warri Division is about 474,000 out of which the Ijaws may
therefore be about 67,000, a negligible 0.55% of the population of 12 million
that Ijaw National Congress ( INC ) claims for the Ijaws, or 0.44% of the 15
million claimed by the Ijaw Ethnic Nationality (IEN). The Ijaw enclaves in
Warri are not contiguous with one another or with Bayelsa and therefore
cannot be constituted into a geo-political and administrative entity outside
the Itsekiri homeland of Warri Division.
The Ijaws in Warri Division are the customary tenants of the Olu of Warri and
the Itsekiri people. We emphasize and draw attention to "ljaws in Warri
Division," that is to say not Ijaws generally but the Ijaws who have
settlements in Egbeoma, Gbaramatu, Ogbe-Ijoh and Isaba. They, are settlers in
Warri Division. Their settlements or enclaves are not contiguous. Their
settlements or enclaves are dotted villages and fishing camps with Itsekiri
towns and villages in between them.
IMMEDIATE CAUSE OF CURRENT CRISIS IN DELTA STATE
Before the recent exercise on local government creation, following the Arthur
Mbanefo Committee report, the position of local governments in Delta
(formerly Warri) Province of Delta State was as follows: The Urhobos/Isoko
had eight (8) local governments, the Ndokwas had two (2), the Itsekiri had
two(2) - Warri South and Warri North - and the Ijaws had two (2) - Burutu
and Bomadi.
The Federal Government decided that the Urhobos/Isokos should have two (2)
additional local governments to make theirs ten (10) in all, and that the
Ndokwas, the Ijaws and the Itsekiri should all have one each, to make three
each.
In November 1996, Col. John Dungs, the Delta State Military Administrator,
visited Ogbe-Ijoh and promised the Ijaws, he would create for them a Local
Government, well knowing he had no power to create one.
On the 13th of December, 1996, he announced the creation of six (6) Local
Governments in Delta State and as it affects Warri, he said to "correct the
injustice in Warri" he was moving the headquarters of Warri South Local
Government (which was in Warri metropolis) to Ogbe-Ijoh. "Warri South Local
Government", he said, "consists of Ogbe-Ijoh, Isaba and Olague ( Gbaramatu)
and so what is left of the former Warri South is now Warri Central". Please
note that Ogbe-Ijoh, Isaba and Olague ( Gbaramatu) are non-contiguous Ijaw
enclaves which exist inside legally determined Itsekiri land, south of the
Benin river! The position therefore as far as Col. Dungs was concerned was as
set out below:
Warri North Headquarters Koko
Warri South Headquarters Ogbe-Ijoh
Warri Central Headquarters GRA Warri
But Col. Dungs, we repeat, had no power to create these Local Governments He
was merely being meddlesome. He was attempting to usurp the powers of the
Federal Government, even after the Federal Government had created three Local
Governments for Warri as stated below:
Warri North Headquarters Koko
Warri South Headquarters Warri
Warri South West Headquarters Ogidigben
These were published by the Federal Government as Decree No. 36 of 1996 and
Decree No. 7 of 1997, vide Federal Gazette dated 30th December, 1996 and 3rd
March, 1997 respectively.
Notwithstanding these Federal Government publications of the authentic Local
Government Councils for Warri, Col. Dungs as Delta State Chief Executive on
15th March 1997 allowed NECON to conduct elections in his created Warri South
Local Government Council with headquarters in Ogbe-Ijoh. Even if we concede
that elections are the business of NECON, the fact remains that Col. Dungs on
or about the 24th day of March, 1997, swore in a Chief Oromoni as the
"elected Chairman" of Ogbe-Ijoh Local Government, a non-existent Local
Government and an entire figment of Col. Dungs' imagination. That is an act
of gross illegality, irresponsibility and defiance by a Junior Officer
(Colonel) of his Commander-In-Chief, and a slap on the face.of the Federal
Government. When however it dawned on Col. Dungs that he could not pull off
his acts of meddlesomeness, illegality, irresponsibility and defiance of the
Federal Government, he asked Chief Oromoni to proceed to Ogidigben and there
function as Chairman of Warri South West Local Government, with headquarters
at Ogidigben. However since no election was ever conducted at Warri
South-west Local Government with headquarters at Ogidigben, Col. Dungs was
perpetrating a fraud on the electorate of Warri South West Local Government
by dispatching Chief Oromoni to Ogidigben as Chairman-designate of Warri
South West Local Government.
When the Ijaws realised that Col. Dungs could not deliver on his promise to
create an Ijaw local government with Ogbe-Ijoh as headquarters, their
frustration erupted into mayhem and violence. In the nights of 22nd/23rd
March, 1997, the Ijaws attacked and razed to the ground the Itsekiri town of
Uba-Erure ( Bennett Island ). They blockaded the river-way from the riverine
areas to Warri metropolis.
At the start of the Warri Crisis many people thought that the Ijaws in Warri
had a genuine grievance which needed to be addressed and resolved by peaceful
and legal means. This line of thinking soon changed as events unfolded. The
reason the Ijaws gave for their attack on the Itsekiri was that the ltsekiri
influenced the relocation of the headquarters, of the local government
allegedly created for the Ijaws, from. Ogbe-Ijoh, an Ijaw settlement in Warri
Division, to Ogidigben, an Itsekiri town in the newly created Warri
south-west Local Government Area. This allegation was soon proved to be
untrue. However, the Ijaws persisted in their false claim and extended their
attack to all the three Warri Local Government Areas (LGA's) so that by the
end of March 1997, not less than nine ltsekiri towns and villages in the
three LGA's including Warri metropolis itself had been torched by the Ijaws
with heavy loss of Itsekiri lives and property. The Ijaws freely carried out
their campaign of what soon turned out to be ethnic cleansing against the
Itsekiri. By the end of May 1997, the pogrom accompanied by acts of
lawlessness, arson, rape and looting had engulfed not less than 32 Itsekiri
communities with loss of several hundreds of Itsekiri lives men, women and
children.
To date, Ijaws have continued a policy of systematic slaughtering of the
Itsekiris. Their declared aim is to wipe out the Itsekiris who they
jealously feel inhabit an oil rich part of Delta State. Even though the Ijaws
(estimated population of 12 million) inhabit Bayelsa and Rivers States, which
are also oil rich. Itsekiri individuals, villages, houses are targeted,
burnt, bombed and occupants massacred by heavily armed Ijaws who with growing
evidence are thought to be from the military. The killing continues and there
is no action from the Nigerian government. Ijaws are now so confident of
silence and assistance from within the military against the defenceless
Itsekiris that they openly boast of their military capabilities and have
given the government an ultimatum that if Itsekiri land is not given to them
they will kill all Itsekiris. A threat which they are giving practical
reality to.
Various reports on the current Warri Crisis have conveniently misrepresented
the issues, preferring to see it all as "part of the traditional Niger Delta
communal rivalry". The alleged re-location of a non-existent local government
is not, the true reason why the Ijaws precipitated the Warri Crisis. The Ijaw
have a long standing but hidden agenda:
1. The Ijaws want to have physical, economic and administrative control over
the whole of the Niger Delta, its resources and territorial waters.
2. The Ijaws are determined to use any means, barbaric, legal or extra-legal,
including blackmail, intimidation and military tactics to achieve the
objectives of their agenda, if administrative and political manipulation
fail.
3. The Ijaws have said it, have demonstrated it, and are indeed poised to
eliminate any ethnic group that stands in their way, particularly the
ltsekiri.
THREAT TO PEACE AND STABILITY
What immediately threatens the future peace and stability of the Warri area
is the resort by some Ijaws and Urhobos in Warri to political and extra-legal
action as a means of gaining ascendancy over the Itsekiri, to the extent of
over-turning long established legal decisions and vested legal rights. This
they have tried to achieve with the open collaboration of their kinsmen
across the.ethnic border from outside Warri Division.
This is, without question, an attempt at subjecting the Itsekiri to the
lawlessness and tyranny of the ethnic majority of the Ijaws and the Urhobos,
and if Nigeria cannot save the Itsekiri from such illegal and degrading
experience, it cannot save itself from ultimate disintegration.
The need for a delicate balance between the Itsekiri and their numerically
stronger neighbours in the present Delta State has always been recognized by
the founding fathers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The "Special Area"
provisions in the laws of Nigeria, made long before independence in 1960',
were incorporated first into the laws of the former Western Region of Nigeria
and subsequently into the Constitution of the former Mid-West Region by the
Mid-West Nigeria Act 1964 (No. 3) of 1964). The Act made specific provisions
for the preservation of the minority interest peculiar to the ltsekiri and
other ethnic groups listed in the enactment. Unfortunately, the `Special
Areas" provisions were not re-enacted by the Military in 1976 because it was
naively assumed that the provisions were no longer necessary for the
preservation of ethnic cordiality.
On the contrary, the failure of the Military to re-enact these special
provisions in 1976 have exposed the Itsekiri to the harsh realities first, of
narrow minded and vengeful governance by an Urhobo majority With an imagined
grievance, and now to the horrors and carnage of Ijaw ethnic cleansing and
pogrom in pursuit of a hidden agenda for the Western Niger Delta region.
Furthermore, the increased centralization of authority and government, as a
result of a succession of Military Administrations has further aggravated the
problems, in which the Itsekiri have been at the receiving end of arbitrary
decisions and actions.
The case of the Itsekiri is simple and straightforward. They want to live in
peace in their homeland, Warri Division. They want to be protected from their
neighbours, who harass and seek to intimidate them from time to time, in
order to deprive them of their land and destroy their social and cultural
cohesion. They want to live in a secure environment and to be relieved of the
anxiety and fear, associated with the periodical violence unleashed upon them
by their vociferous and war-like neighbours. This is the natural desire of
all minority groups the world over and the ltsekiri are not asking for more
or less.
IJAW SETTLEMENTS IN WARRI DIVISION OF DELTA STATE
1. OLAGUE (GBARAMATU)
The Ijaw enclaves in Warri South West Local Government Area which they named
collectively "Gbaramatu", meaning "New Gbaran", (the Ijaws concerned having
migrated to Warri Division at about 1870 from Gbaran near Brass in the
present Bayelsa State), comprise dotted fishing villages and camps, the most
important of which are: Opuraja, Omidudun, Bakokodia and Okerenghigho. Lately
the Ijaws for ethno-political reasons, unilaterally began changing the
Itsekiri names and substituting them with Ijaw names, calling them Opuraza,
Beniki-ukru, Kokodiagbene and Okerenkoko respectively
BAKOKODIA was subject of litigation between the Ijaws and Itsekiri in Suit
W/29/49 Chief Sam Sillo & Ederemoda Golly for themselves and the Itsekiri
people of Omadino against Adumokurumor on behalf of the Ijaw people of
Bakokodia. The Itsekiri won the declaration of title both at the High Court
and at the West African Court of Appeal. The Case is reported, in 14 WACA
page 123.
OKEREGHIGHO was subject of litigation between the Itsekiri and the Ijaw in
Suit W/30/62 Chief Sillo & others for themselves and the Itsekiri people of
Omadino against James Uluba & Co. for themselves and the Ijaw people of
Okenrenghigho. The Itsekiri won the declaration of title to all of
Okerenghigho and the surrounding land and creeks both at the High Court and
at the Supreme Court. The Case is reported in 1973 6 N. S. C. C. page 47.
And in Suit W/I09/70 Chief E.E. Sillo & Ors for themselves and on behalf of
Omadino people against Adumokurumor for himself and the Ijaw people of
Bakokodia and Shell Petroleum Development Co. Nig. Ltd the Ijaws opted for
settlement out of Court. They signed the Terms of Settlement with the
Itsekiri in which they averred that they, the Ijaws, are "the customary
tenants of the Itsekiri."
OMIDUDUN ( BENIKRUKRU ). In Suit No. W 124 76 between Babine Ereku and
Others for themselves and the people of Ugborodo (Itsekiri) -v- JA.
Ogio-Okrika and others for themselves and the people of Benikikrukru (Ijaw),
the Itsekiri won a declaration of title to all of Benikrukru land and the
surrounding rivers and creeks at the High Court, Warri.
OPURAJA . The people of Opuraja village that is virtually surrounded by
Itsekiri towns and villages, namely Gborodo, Ogidigben, Aja-Udaibo, Ajapepe,
Madangho and Ubefan have never attempted to challenge Itsekiri ownership of
Opuraja.
It is seen from the above that the whole of Gbaramatu is the land of the
Itsekiri people of Omadino and Gborodo under the Overlordship of the Olu of
Warri, and apart from the four principal villages - Opuraja, Benikrukru,
Bakokodia and Okerenghigho, the rest are really fishing camps dotted around
the surrounding creeks, some of which are occupied only temporarily during
fish yielding periods of the year.
2. EGBEOMA
The Ijaws of Egbeoma have never disputed the fact that they are the customary
tenants of the Itsekiri, and so with them, life has been relatively peaceful.
3. OGBE-IJOH/ISABA
In respect of Ogbe-Ijoh in Suit W/I I/I956, Eyin Pessu, Akowa Apoh and
Erejuwa II, the Olu of Warri on behalf of themselves and the Itsekiri people
of Irigbo, Big Warri the Itsekiri claimed against the Nurna family of
Ogbe-Ijoh all of the parcel of land just outside Big Warri through Ogbe-Ijoh
through Isaba to the boundary between Warri Division and Burutu Local
Government in Western Ijaw Division which boundary is somewhere between
Gbekebor in Western Ijaw Division and the Forcados Flats. Consequently the
entire Ijaws of Gbekebor by their representative applied to Court to be
joined as defendants. They were duly joined. They and the Numa family of
Ogbe-Ijoh lost to the Itsekiri both at the High Court and the Supreme Court.
The case is reported in (1974-75) 9 N.S.C.C. at page 368-378.
In the celebrated case of Ometan against Dore, the Itsekiri were declared
owners of Warri metropolis as against the Urhobos of Agbassa. The case lasted
from 1926 to 1933 and was fought from the Divisional Court of the Supreme
Court to the Privy Council in London. At every stage the Itsekiri were
declared owners of Warri metropolis or township.
It is on these judgments of Courts of competent jurisdiction established to
maintain and sustain law and order in our country that we, the Itsekiri,
stand. Most of these cases were initiated by the Ijaws and Urhobos. With the
exception of 281.1 acres, the Urhobos and Ijaws lost claims to every inch of
land in Warri Division to the Itsekiri.
We wish finally to refer to Suit W/148/1956 in which Chief Izuokomo Oloiki
and others for themselves and on behalf of Ijaw people of Ogbe-Ijoh claimed
against the Itsekiri Communal Land Trustees and 1 other, a Declaration of
Title to virtually all of the land in Warri Division, including Warri
metropolis or township itself. After pleadings had been settled and the case
set down for hearing, the Ijaws faced with the insurmountable plea of Res
Judicata etc. raised by the itsekiri sought leave of court to discontinue
their action. The Court, presided over by Rhodes Vivour J. granted leave,
struck out the action and made an order precluding the Ijaws from ever
bringing any further action against the Itsekiri in respect of any claim to
lands in Warri Division.
The Ijaws felt aggrieved by the Order of Court and appealed against it to the
Supreme Court, On the 27th of April, 1967 the Supreme Court presided over by
Sir Lionel Brett, Ag. Chief Justice of Nigeria, dismissed the Appeal
summarily.
THE RESULT
(1) The Ijaws cannot bring any further action against the Itsekiri in respect
of any parcel of Land in the whole of Warri Division.
(2) The Ijaws have not one inch of land in all of Warri Division.
They came to Warri Division from their homeland of Western Ijaw and were
given permission by the Olu of Warri and the Itsekiri to settle on some
parcel of land to fish in the creeks and waters in Warri Division on payment
of tribute.
It is relevant to recall at this stage that in the early 1940s the ltsekiri
and the Okpe (Urhobos) joined issues in the High Court and then the West
African Court of Appeal over the ownership of Sapele. The West African Court
of Appeal on that occasion was presided over by the Honourable Sir Donald
Kingdon, CJ, who as President of the Full Court (now Supreme Court) which on
13th March, 1931 in the celebrated Ometan versus Chief Dore Numa case,
confirmed the Itsekiri as owners of Warri land. The Itsekiri lost the legal
battle over the ownership of Sapele, and since then as civilised and
responsible citizens they have accepted and respect the Court's decision even
when they far outnumber the Urhobos in Sapele and have substantial capital
investments and landed property there.
The Itsekiri in Sapele are law-abiding; they recognise the identity and
peculiarities of the Urhobos and respect their institutions and aspirations.
That is the basis of the good relations which exist between both communities
at Sapele. All the Itsekiri ask for is a reciprocal attitude from the Ijaw
and Urhobo in Warri.
Tosan Ojime
Appeals Secretary
Email: ITSU...@aol.com
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