The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Itsekiri

  • ‘We’re not against rotation’

    The Ijaw in Warri North, Warri South and Warri South West local governments of Delta State have expressed support for rotation of political offices among the ethnic groups in Warri.

    This was contained in a communiqué by the Warri Ijaw Justice Forum (WIJF), in response to the Itsekiri Consolidated Movement’s (ICM) claim that it is the turn of the Itsekiri to produce the chairman of Warri South West council.

    The communiqué by Friday Deinghan, Coordinator and Richard Koremen, Secretary, said all what the Ijaw demand is justice and equity in power sharing among the ethnic groups.

    The communiqué reads: “If Itsekiri insist it is their turn to produce the chairman of Warri South West Local Government because an Ijaw man is Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairman in the area; it should be the turn of the Ijaw in Warri North and Ijaw/Urhobo in Warri South to produce the chairmen.

    “The Itsekiri have been occupying the Assembly seats in Warri South West, Warri North and Warri South 1 constituencies and the Warri Federal Constituencies since 1999. It is the turn of Ijaw to occupy these seats too.”

  • Itsekiri community protests

    Itsekiri community protests

    Hundreds of Gbokoda Community indigenes, including elders in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State, are protesting over the state of affairs in the Itsekiri Regional Development Council (IRDC) under the leadership Chief Emami Ayiri.

    They want Ayiri to stop any further dealings with Besidone Megbuluba as executive of the community.

    The angry protesters accused the former community executives of embezzling funds meant for the development of the community.

    They stormed the IRDC office in Warri.

    The protesters lamented that after seven years of misrule and abysmal performance by the ousted executives, they still continue to parade themselves as the authentic leaders of the community even when their tenure has since expired.

    The protesters carried placards bearing different inscriptions, such as: “IRDC give us our entitlements”, “IRDC stop Megbuluba from stealing our money”, “IRDC, we are peace loving community”, “IRDC Megbuluba has ruled for 7 years without calling for a meeting” among others.

    The protesters led by Olaraja (spiritual leader), Pa Monday Estede and Pa. Francis Jemegbe, secretary, Gbokoda Elder Council, said the community is aggrieved over the recognition of the former chairman and want such recognition to be stopped.

    Pa. Estede (the Olaraja of Gbokoda) argued that since a new executive committee has been selected, no further dealings should be done on behalf the community by the old executive.

    In the same vein, Pa Jemegbe, who is also the Secretary of Gbokoda Elders Council while lambasting the old executive for impersonation, urged IRDC to recognise only the new executive.

    He added that “All the projects in the community are uncompleted and they have embezzled money belonging to the community. Whatever that is due to the community was not seen by the people. After seven years, the former executive has nothing to show as what the community has benefited from their 7 years tenure. Because of this, the community decided to inaugurate a new executive.”

    They said what is due to the community should be communicated to the new executive led by Henry Olley.

    They said the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse ll, mediated in the leadership tussle and ordered that the old executive should give way.

    Olley said despite the inauguration of his executive, the old executive still claims to represent the community, a situation, he said, could ignite crisis in the community.

    “According to our constitution, they were supposed to rule for three years but this year made it 7 years they have been there. For the 7 years, no community meeting, and no report and not to talk of development, they are running the community as their personal business.

    “This issue has gone to the palace of Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse ii, and he has ordered Itsekiri Regional Council to give all that is due to Gbokoda community to the new executive. In spite of this order, they (IRDC leaders) still don’t recognise us. We shall continue to be here protesting peacefully. We will not fold our hands and allow these people to take what belong to the community as personal property.”

     

  • Warri monarch must abdicate, Itsekiri leaders insist

    •5,000 women to storm Warri today

    •Lawmaker pleads for calm

    The plot to force the Olu of Warri, Atuwatse II, to abdicate thickened yesterday.

    Two groups- the Itsekiri Leaders of Thought (ILT) and Itsekiri Legacy Rebirth (ILR) – warned the monarch to recant the controversial edict or face the people’s wrath.

    Some 5,000 women dressed in the symbolic red attire are expected to storm the palace today to “hand a stern directive to the monarch”.

    The ILR, led by Alex Ideh, urged the monarch “to rescind and recant immediately his declaration or abdicate the throne.

    “Any action otherwise will make him (monarch) face the wrath of the Itsekiri people,” Dr. Ideh, who read the text of a statement by the group warned.

    He said the monarch did not consult the Itsekiri Traditional Council of Chiefs, ruling houses or the stakeholders in the land before making the declaration, which denounced the title of Ogiame.

    The monarch’s edict, signed into law last Wednesday, proscribed the over 533-year-old title because of perceived fetish connotation and the Itsekiri anthem, much to the chagrin of his opponents.

    ILR said the issues of religion canvassed in the monarch’s declaration are his personal views, adding that he could not railroad the nation to accept those views or obliterate the history of the people.

    In a similar view, the ILT, led by renowned historian, J.O.S Ayomike, faulted the monarch’s claim that the Itsekiri religion is fetish.

    A statement by Ayomike, I.O Jemide (Secretary) and eight others, stated: “The part of the Olu’s statement, which alleges that the Itsekiri religion is fetish and that the Itsekiri are not Christians is misrepresentation of the well-known documented historical fact that Christianity began in Warri/Benin region in the early 16th century and about eight of the 19 Olus got baptised as Christians.

    “Itsekiri as a nation cannot be said to have covenant with Umalokun. There may be pockets of Itsekiri people who do.

    “Everyone has freedom of worship as it is done everywhere. Religion is personal matter,” the state added.

    Besides, they noted that worshipping or singing the anthem does not mean they worship the monarch.

    “Itsekiri people do not necessarily worship their Olu and his ancestors. They deeply respect and honour the Oluship as an institution.”

    They concluded by expressing satisfaction that with due consultation with major stakeholders in “our (Iwere) land, the Itsekiri want this new order renounced.

    “We therefore advise the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse II, to act accordingly.”

    The Warri Council of Chiefs has accused some powerful members of the kingdom of hoodwinking the monarch into changing the 533-year-old title.

    They said those who deceived the monarch did so for selfish reasons and with the intention of grabbing power.

    They lamented that those who deceived the monarch have now abandoned him to face the wrath and protest of his subjects.

    Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor, who read a statement signed by 22 palace chiefs of Warri Kingdom, said: “In Warri Kingdom, there are Christians, Muslims and pagan to the extent that the Olu appointed an Itsekiri as a chaplain for the Kingdom”.

    She said the authors of the edict have now abandoned the monarch and his faith and went into hiding to avoid harassment from the angry Itsekiri, especially the youths.

    The member representing the Warri Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Daniel Reyenieju, has cut short his official trip to the United States to join in the search for peace in the kingdom.

    Reyenieju, who spoke with our reporter, appealed to his kinsmen and women to espouse peace and engage in serious intra-Itsekiri dialogue as the only way to resolve the current crises plaguing the ancient Warri throne.

  • Ijaw, Itsekiri denounce killings

    Hope for peace rose yesterday in the troubled Benin River of Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State, following a peace meeting between the Egbema Ijaw and Itsekiri held in Warri.

    Tempers rose between the age-long neighbours in the wake of last week’s brutal killing of over 13 Itsekiri by armed Ijaw criminal gang. At least three infants were killed by the hoodlums.

    Yesterday’s meeting was convened by Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan and it was attended by prominent Itsekiri and Ijaw leaders. Uduaghan said President Goodluck Jonathan was on top of the security challenges in the area and has asked security chiefs to curtail the situation.

    Reacting to allegation of government’s perceived nonchalant attitude to the plight of the people, the governor said his decision was to avoid sending wrong signals, ostensibly because of his tribal background.

    He said: “Let nobody use this incident to blackmail anybody. Let me assure everybody here that what has happened, as we have agreed, is purely criminal. Some arrests have been more and more will be made.”

    Emmanuel Ebimami, who led the Ijaw team comprising Sunny Jero, Ezekiel Akpasibouwei and others, denounced the attacks, maintaining that it was neither an Ijaw agenda nor part of agitation for political posts in the council.

    He said: “We have been trying to ensure peace that is why the incident came to us as a surprise. Our position is that no reasonable Ijaw man will say what they (attackers) have done is good. If an Itsekiri kill my fellow Ijaw I will not be happy.”

    Speaking in the same vein, Michael Diden, a former chairman of the council, who led Itsekiri leaders, including Thomas Ereyitomi, Ayirimi Emami and Omolubi Newuwumi, called for a lasting solution to the problem.

    “They (perpetrators) want to cause commotion in the rivers so that they can continue to steal oil unhindered. This is not political; it is purely a criminal act that must be treated as such. The boys must be fished out and made to face the music.”

     

  • Itsekiri leaders slam Chevron, Seatruck

    •Lawmaker wades into families, company dispute

    A group, the Itsekiri Leaders of Thought, in Warri, Delta State, yesterday slammed the management of Chevron Nigeria Limited and Sea Truck Groups over the handling of the Jascon 4 tugboat accident, which claimed 11 lives on May 26.

    The group regretted that nearly one month after the incident, the companies were yet to officially inform members of the grieving families.

    Jascon 4 sank off the coast of Escravos, Delta State, while on a routine tension tow of a crude oil tanker at the SBM #3 owned by CNL.

    The ILOT, in a statement, called on the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to conduct an independent inquest into the incident.

    The statement was signed by Pa. JOS Ayomike, Chairman/leader; Isaac Jimide; Elemi Rewane and the Secretary, Edward Ekpoko, a lawyer.

    They called for a post-mortem on the 11 victims – 10 Nigerians and a Ukrainian – to ascertain the cause of death.

    Mrs. Joy Egbe, wife of one of the victims, said nearly one month after the incident, the management of West Africa Ventures, a subsidiary of STG, has not visited the family to console them.

    The member representing Warri Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Daniel Reyenieju, has waded into the tension between the families and STG.

    It was gathered that Reyenieju invited the parties to a meeting in his Warri office today.

     

  • Itsekiri floor Ijaw in historic land tussle

    The Ijaw people of Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom in Warri, Delta State, have suffered a setback in a legal battle with their Itsekiri counterparts over the ownership of a parcel of land in the oil city.

    A Warri High Court threw out their joinder application in the suit between the Itsekiri people of Okere Itsekiri community and the Delta State Government.

    The involvement of the Ogbe-Ijoh people added a new dimension to the ownership of the 3.197 hectres of land on which the government is building a model school.

    Ogbe-Ijoh leaders, led by Dr. Clarkson Aribogha, applied to be joined in the suit as defendants claiming ownership of the same parcel of land.

    In the application backed by a 20-paragraph affidavit, they claimed that the land was owned by Ewein, a powerful Ijaw patriarch and founder of Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom, “at a time now beyond human memory.”

    In their response, the Okere-Itsekiri people insisted that the Ijaw were only seeking “to reap where they have not sown”, adding that in the history of the foundation of Warri kingdom there was nowhere the name of any Ijaw man named Ewein was mentioned.

    Consequently, they (Itsekiri) prayed the court to strike out Ogbe-Ijoh’s application as was done by a Warri High Court dated July 9, 1964 and affirmed by the Supreme Court in SC/450/65.

    Dismissing the application, Justice M. Mukoro said: “From the discussion so far based on legal principles, judicial authorities, fact before me is that this application for joinder is a back-door attempt to revive an action laid to rest since July 1964.

    “Any attempt to go against the ruling of the Warri High Court and its affirmation by the Supreme Court is tantamount to judicial rascality, recklessness and unconstitutional voyage. Public policy demands that there shall be an end to litigation.

    “I find merit in the opposition to the application for joinder. The application for joinder filed on November 27, last year, lacks merit and that being so it shall be dismissed. So be it.”

  • Chevron signs GMoU with Itsekiri communities

    An oil firm, Chevron Nigeria Limited and 23 Itsekiri host communities in Warri, Delta State, have signed a multibillion naira Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) for the development of the Itsekiri oil bearing communities.

    Chevron General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs Deji Haastrup signed on behalf of the oil giant.

    He said Chevron had committed over N5billon to the Itsekiri Regional Development Committee (IRDC), which has been executing development programmes in the Itsekiri communities for the past seven years.

    Haastrup said the signing was sequel to a similar agreement first signed collectively in 2006.

    “I am very happy to be here today for the renewal of our commitment to the GMoU, which we first signed collectively in 2006.

    “Today’s event underscores the advancement we are making to reinforce our commitment to the ideals and objectives of the GMoU despite the challenges we may face.

    “You will recall that at the time the GMoU was introduced in 2005, there were some doubts about its workability.

    “We however, believe that with your partnership, the GMoU would work.

    “That it would help build partnership for sustainable development and improve the quality of life in communities around our areas of operations.

    “I am proud to say that the vision is being realised.”

  • Itsekiri leader raises alarm over violence in Niger Delta

    Itsekiri leader raises alarm over violence in Niger Delta

    An Itsekiri leader, Chief Rita Lori Ogbeboh, has warned that the violence being perpetrated by kidnappers in the Niger Delta could lead to anarchy. She said that judges were being held to ramsom by the kidnappers, thereby preventing them from performing their duties.

    The woman activist recalled that she had petitioned the relevant authorities to take prompt actions to arrest the dangerous trend warning that “delay and complacency could be dangerous.”

    Ogbeboh told reporters in Lagos that, if the kidnap of judges persisted, plaintiffs and lawyers may also become victims of kidnapping and assassination.

    She said the trend is worrisome, recalling that Justice Flora Azinge of Otor-Udu High Court, Delta State, could not sit for two months “because kidnappers had asked her to pay a ransom of N20m or she would be abducted.”

    She said: “A judge, Justice Okon, who was to deliver an interlocutory injunction over a parcel of land belonging to the Okereke people was kidnapped on his way to court and the case has been a subject of incessant adjournment till date. Another judge, Justice Mukoro, who took over the case from Azinge was also waylaid by unknown gunmen who attempted to kidnap or assassinate him. They riddled his car with bullets on his way to the court from Ugheli, thereby instilling fears in him to prevent him from adjudicating on the matter.

    “Justice Mukoro Ogbeboh was also in charge of another case between the Oil Producing Communities and the Delta State Oil Producing Commission (DESPADEC), in which the communities were asking the commission to account for a sum of N1bn allegedly diverted to private businesses”.

    She added: “I have petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), urging them to quikly do something drastic to curb the anarchy that is gathering momentum on daily basis. If the judiciary that is the last hope of everybody is dragged in the mud, the consequences would be so grievious that all the security agencies combined together would become helpless when people resort to self help.”

    Ogbeboh objected to the drafting of soldiers to “harass, intimidate and persecute innocent citizens as Delta State government continues to erect structures on the land under litigation”. She urged the Chief of Army Staff to withdraw his men to the barracks.

    She said: “We should not forget the fact that there is money in Delta State and there are also guns. If we allow the people to resort to self help to demand for their rights, the Bokoo Haram problem would just be a child’s play. And that is why we are calling on the whole world to focus on Delta State to make it safe for human habitation. Bad precedence Delta State is laying, if the whole country catches the bug, things will totally fall apart,” the concerned woman warned.

    She added:“If a High Court Judge was prevented from doing his duties to the country, then, aren’t we heading for anarchy. Even when I threatened to go to court, if nothing was done on the matter, mum, sadly is the word, even with no indication that the matter is being investigated. Justice is being arrested and I am therefore, vindicated. There is no guarantee of justice again in Delta State and the state is descending into anarchy.”