BENIN- Communal clash is brewing between the Bini and Ijaw in Edo State following claims by the Bini that the Ijaw were claiming ownership of the land the Binis gave them as migrant fishermen.
In a petition to the state government, the Enogie of Obazuwa, and brother to the Oba of Benin, who is in charge of most of the territories being annexed and 80 others, said their subjects had been attacked unprovoked by the “settlers.” They added that they had maintained calm because there are court decisions that went as far as the Supreme Court which confirmed that the Binis were the original inhabitants and owners of the land.
According to Akenzua, on June 3, 2011, while the Binis in the area were measuring a land donated to the state government to build a school, “Ijaw militants from Iko” attacked them with machetes, abducted three of his subjects and vandalised property and vehicles in the area.
“The question of who owns Gelegele had gone through litigation and had long been settled. For 50 years, these Ijaw settlers have provoked the Bini. We are finding it increasingly difficult to restrain ourselves from retaliating against these unwarranted attacks by the Ijaw.
“If they refuse to co-exist in harmony with us, they are at liberty to join their kiths and kins in Bayelsa or Rivers states. They must respect the bond of love that binds host and guests.”
In a petition to the state government, the Enogie of Obazuwa, and brother to the Oba of Benin, who is in charge of most of the territories being annexed and 80 others, said their subjects had been attacked unprovoked by the “settlers.” They added that they had maintained calm because there are court decisions that went as far as the Supreme Court which confirmed that the Binis were the original inhabitants and owners of the land.
According to Akenzua, on June 3, 2011, while the Binis in the area were measuring a land donated to the state government to build a school, “Ijaw militants from Iko” attacked them with machetes, abducted three of his subjects and vandalised property and vehicles in the area.
“The question of who owns Gelegele had gone through litigation and had long been settled. For 50 years, these Ijaw settlers have provoked the Bini. We are finding it increasingly difficult to restrain ourselves from retaliating against these unwarranted attacks by the Ijaw.
“If they refuse to co-exist in harmony with us, they are at liberty to join their kiths and kins in Bayelsa or Rivers states. They must respect the bond of love that binds host and guests.”
1 Ijaws against Ilajes in Ondo State
2 Ijaws against Binis in Edo State
3 Ijaws against Itsekiris in Delta State
4 Ijaws against Urhobos (Ogbe Ijo, Gbarigolo, Olota, Okweagbe etc.),all in Delta State
5 Ijaws against Ikwerres in Rivers State
6 Ijaws against Ogonis in Rivers State
7 Ijaws against Ibibios in Akwa Ibom State
8 Ijaws against Yorubas in Ajegunle; Lagos State
2 Ijaws against Binis in Edo State
3 Ijaws against Itsekiris in Delta State
4 Ijaws against Urhobos (Ogbe Ijo, Gbarigolo, Olota, Okweagbe etc.),all in Delta State
5 Ijaws against Ikwerres in Rivers State
6 Ijaws against Ogonis in Rivers State
7 Ijaws against Ibibios in Akwa Ibom State
8 Ijaws against Yorubas in Ajegunle; Lagos State
These Ijaws seems to be fighting with everybody. They really needs to be carefull. If katakata (mitifag, back off) should break, THE RETARDEEN wont be able to save them
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Ijaw Itsekiri Crisis Again
July 24, 2011 Ibime yeee, tebraa? Iyonfaa? Owei tobor, Efideye, Egberiye, Egberifadeya. Ibimeyee, you are confusing Bomadi with Warri, you may be right in the past when all Ijaws in delta were claiming to be Itsekiri but you are presently very wrong to say Ijaws migrated from the present Warri kingdon to river state. In the past ,the whole of Bomadi, Burutu and Patani were under Warri province.(not warri kingdom). May be that is why your grand father told you they are from Warri. Moreover if he had told you Patani or Burutu, you may be thinking that the town is in Bayelsa state that is why he use Warri which is more popular and Itsekiri made it so. The accommodating nature of Itsekiri is what is causing all this rubbish and hence fort Ijaw fisher men will no longer be allowed into Itsekiri and Urhobo community to fish. Their settlement is very easy to construct, they don't need cement. They just peg four sticks, raft the floor with wood, get raffia palm to cover the top. they start producing minimalistic children without any form of education. The next thing you hear na my community yeee. They know you will win them in court, they don't believe in court all they use is violence. The benefit of the violence to them is already on the line of regression, because other ethnic groups are already acquiring weapons of mass destruction to curtail them effectively. 10 years ago Itsekiris produce land mines locally and use it to massacre Ijaws. The 2010 and 2011 model of the land mine is out, we are progressing, very soon we will have a mini nuclear reactor, Itsekiris are the Israelis of Niger Delta. When the war started newly, Itsekiris were not prepared, they were just running into Itsekiri villages at will and it became a tea party for them. They use to come from the creek into Warri city to mark Itsekiri house for destruction, they will over power the army and enter warri and start misbehaving. The irony is that they don't have houses in Warri, all the beautiful houses in Warri are owned by Itsekiris and other tribes. They live in tactch house in the creek. Along the line Itsekiri develop resistance and when we started bringing our weapons they became newer and more sophisticated than their own. The last time their warriors attempted to enter Warri, they were dessimated by our land mines and rockets. The remnant of them living in rented apartment in Warri city threatened to avenge the death of their warrors in 48 hrs, withing the 48hrs we ran into them under the rain, we chase all of them from the city of Warri, our young girls were on top of vehichcle shooting sporadically with AK47 and Bazuka. It was a war film, the sound of our guns were different from the sound of their guns, while their AK47 were sounding kaka, our Bazuka were sounding Gudum, our Ogbunigbi were sounding gbudum! Our bullets had unconventional sizes as confirmed by the army. "We have not seen this size of bulet" army spokes man. They were specially made for the Isrealis of Niger Delta, Egbesu could no longer stop our bulet and Ijaws surrenderd for peace after the battle and channelled their energy towards hostage taking and attack on oil installation which is cheaper and more economical to them. The Itsekiri war does not produce money but death.They fought with Itsekiri and they became poorer but when they attack oil companies they became richer. [b] GELEGELE Has any body heard this Bini song.Gelegele nor ewanta gelenor oo ,gelegele. Ijaws came to gelegele to do trade by bata with Binis, they bring fish from Ofunama area close to an Itsekiri settlement known as Ita- Eko(Lagos Junction) in Bini river. They usually give fish to Benis in exchange for garri, plantain,stach, etc and the point of exchange are two Beni villages called Gelegele and Ekewan(Eki-owan), The road leading to the two villages is the road where the University of Benin Ekewan campus is situated. In the process of the business, they establish Ijaw quarter there, the Itsekiris bringing fishes from Ita-Eko and Oghoye also extablish Itsekiri quarters there and the both groups were under the rep of Oba of Benin called Okakuro. In less than 50 years Ijaws said they dont want to be under the Okakuro that they want to make their own Pere as ruler that Gelegele is now their property.
They attack Itsekiri quarter and the Oba became angry and ordered the demolition of Ijaw quarter in Ekewan. They ran away like fugitive and later came back to plead for mercy. Under GEJ now they have started again that they want to include Gelegele in their proposed Toru Ebe state. I think Ijaws have a genetic problem.That was [/b]why when we taught of developing a locally made biological weapon to further alter their gene, we consildered so many things including their closeness to us. Very soon people will start denying their Ijawism, they are even constituting embarrazment to the president.The president got the highest resistance from his people before he became president.They never wanted him to be president, the total vote of Bayelsa state is less than the vote of delta central.
WHERE IS IJAW HOME LAND? The language has no relationship with any other language except Calaba.Ibimeyee, I need answer to this question because a tribe must not have home land in every state, if so Nigeria will be Igbo home land
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On Ijaws Attack Binis Over Ownership Of Gelegele Land In Edo State by PhysicsQED
Sep 15, 2011.
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By kpogede77
Historically, there has been an Okao of Gelegele, and before that there were edionwere. Okao is the word the Edo (Bini) use for that particular position, not Okakuro. I don't mean to nitpick, because I get what you were saying and know who you were referring to (you were 100% accurate except that you used a similar Urhobo word, not the exact title) and anyone who had looked into that issue would know that there are Okaos of Gelegele and not Ijaw "kingdoms" in Gelegele. But thanks for sharing. Very interesting account. I had always wondered how things got so sour between the Benin palace and the Ijaws in that area before it went to court. I think the word Okakuro is a separate title, rank or a name used by some Urhobos which is extremely similar to the word Okakuo (war captain) which is a title/rank in Edo. I think Okakuro and Okakuo (okao = "leader", okuo = "war') are basically the same word, except used slightly differently by different groups.
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VANGUARD NEWSPAPER
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 Ijo is a manipulated ethnic group. It is derived from Jos, a Portuguese term for people of the river. Reasonable percentages of the people who claim Ijo are not Ijo since original boat people were porters who came from Gold Coast with Europeans to the bight of Biafra.Every unadulterated historical record points to the fact that so-called Ijo were either migrant fishermen or porters or boat people who had no pedigree to claim lands offshore. |
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Ijaws and the rest of Niger Delta
Monday, January 5, 2015
By Sunny Ikhioya
Monday, January 5, 2015
By Sunny Ikhioya
WATCHING the transformation of the Ijaw group from a passive, friendly and harmless people in the sixties and seventies, to the ferocious, war mongering and hubris displaying people of today, is a handful assignment for researchers of societal inter relationships.
Even with the trade mark Warri jibes, the Ijaw will laugh with you; “My name is Zon, my father’s name is Zonson, altogether Zon Zonson”. The Warri joke did not start today, it has always been there and the Ijaws were part of it, together with their Urhobo, Itsekiri, Isoko,Kwale, Edo, Ibo and many other ethnic tribes resident in Warri and other parts of the Niger Delta.
What could have caused an Ijaw group, a naturally friendly people to become so hot headed and angling for battle at any slightest provocation?
Land ownership has always been a source of conflicts all over the world and the case is the same in the Niger Delta.
Going down memory lane, there has always been land disputes between the Urhobos and Itsekiris, Urhobos-Ijaws, Ijaws-Itsekiris and so forth. There were usually light skirmishes but majorly, the disputes are settled in the law courts. So, despite this land dispute tension, the average Warri boy has always lived as brother to his fellow Warri boy, no matter the ethnic origin.
With the influx of oil and allied firms, the battle to be strategically positioned to enjoy benefits from these companies became prominent, in the same manner that the battle of the coastal people against people of the hinterland, for business deals with the early white traders.
Claims and counter claims became rampant amongst the Niger Delta tribes and this reached its peak in the eighties and nineties when the Ijaws pitched battle with their Itsekiri neighbours. The Ijaws claimed ancestral lands that belong to them have been taken over by the Itsekiris through the instrumentality of the courts, while the Itsekiris claimed the lands belong to them through their ancestry and by virtue of competent court judgements.
Both sides were threatening and it was only a matter of time before things boiled over, this came in the manner of location of local government headquarter in Warri south; the Itsekiris wanted it at Ogidigben, while the Ijaws insisted on Ogbe-Ijoh. That was the genesis of the Warri crisis as we know it today. A battle of extreme brutality and massive destructions took place between the two neighbours,the number of lives lost and properties destroyed can never be quantified.
Suffice to mention here that, after mutually assured destructions, both parties made peace but Warriand other Niger-Delta communities will never be the same again.
The fighters transformed to militants and started the resource control battle, which brought the Niger-Delta plight to the consciousness of the whole nation and the world. One thing led to another and before the whole world Jonathan became president of the Federal republic of Nigeria.
Jonathan’s presidency was welcomed by all the ethnic groups of the Niger Delta. When it comes to the Niger Delta struggle, the nations of the Delta are one; the same exploitation, despoilation of the land and lack of development plan for the people, Jonathan’s ascension was seen as an opportunity to redress all of these.
The Ijaws have always seen themselves as the most marginalised tribe in the Niger Delta region, in the mould of the Ogonis in Rivers state and have used every opportunity to express this sentiment since the days of Isaac Boro. With their man at the top and amnesty programme in place as brokered by late President Umaru Yar adua, it was hoped that the challenges of the ‘Niger Delta ethnic groups will be tackled effectively.
We are six years into the government headed by Goodluck Jonathan, it appears the other ethnic groups of the Niger Delta have been forgotten.
It is not only the Ijaws that have oil produced in their land; the Itsekiris, Urhobos, Isokos, Ibos, Ogonis, Ikwerre, in fact almost all Niger Delta tribes have oil in their lands but it appears, now in Jonathan’s government, that the Ijaws are the only ethnic group in the Niger Delta. They are the ones getting all the top appointments and projects. As far as they are concerned, all other ethnic groups do not matter and this is where they are getting it all wrong.
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Oben oil and gas rich community of Edo State as a Delta State community in its Wednesday's article- Benin National Congress calls for correction,
22nd June 2011.
The attention of the Benin National Congress (Edo Socio-Cultural Organization) has been drawn to an oil and Gas article centered on the Oben gas-to-power project, and published at the front page of Guardian Newspaper of Wednesday 22nd June 2011.
We sincerely believed that the aim of the publication was to draw federal government; and other stakeholders to the 'abandoned' gas-to-power project, with a view to revitalizing same and bringing the dream to limelight. However, at the first paragraph, the Benin National Congress and concerned stakeholders observed that 'OBEN' was referred or portrayed as a community in Delta State; whereas, the said community is part and parcel of Orhiomwon Local Government Area of Edo State.
We would had not bothered to raise any issue about the commission or omission, but, considering the wisdom in Karl Marx's indelible assertion "to leave an error uncorrected, is to encourage intellectual immorality" we considered it appropriate to raise a formal observation to the Board of editors or the essayist or editorof Guardian Newspapers because, in the light of clandestine activities by our hitherto neighbors to appropriate Benin lands, Oil and Gas resources and plantations to themselves, this 'mistake' could be a golden opportunity for anti Benin elements to demand for our natural resources and lands.
In fact, to undermine our people, flow-stations are deliberately built outside or far from the source of oil wells in Benin lands, so that offshore benefits can accrue to our neighboring states; as we speak, there are plans by some powerful political elites of Delta State origin to appropriate the oil and gas potentials of Evbohighae-Ugbeka clan, in Oriomwon Local Government Area.
Pre-colonially, there are documented evidence attributing to very large size of the ancient Benin territories; even after the colonial conquest, but, oppressive and anti-Benin opportunists who found themselves at the corridors of power, especially at the Presidency, and acting in connivance with some fifth columnists within Benin kingdom have done everything possible to appropriate the oil-rich Bight of Benin to their native communities; including other forms of political vindictiveness.
As a non-political organization, we wish to make clear that these anti-ethnic tendencies will definitely prop-up militant uprisings by the Binis because, we have been pushed to walls for too long, and our hospitality has for long been taken for granted. Igt is sad the the Lucky Igbinedion Administration and the State House of Assembly have continued to gloss over the appropriation of Edo Oil Wells and territorial lands, apparently because they are not direct descendants from the affected communities. The time to fight is very near, unless stakeholders and Lawmakers urgently reviews the trends.
We watch closely.
Dr. David Ekomwenrenren.
Cc; The Comrade Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole
The Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly
All Elected National and State Assemblies members from Edo State
The Oba of Benin, Oba Erediauwa CFR
Nigerian Union of Journalists, Edo State.
source: http://ihuanedo.ning.com/profiles/blogs/correctionguardian-newspapers
The attention of the Benin National Congress (Edo Socio-Cultural Organization) has been drawn to an oil and Gas article centered on the Oben gas-to-power project, and published at the front page of Guardian Newspaper of Wednesday 22nd June 2011.
We sincerely believed that the aim of the publication was to draw federal government; and other stakeholders to the 'abandoned' gas-to-power project, with a view to revitalizing same and bringing the dream to limelight. However, at the first paragraph, the Benin National Congress and concerned stakeholders observed that 'OBEN' was referred or portrayed as a community in Delta State; whereas, the said community is part and parcel of Orhiomwon Local Government Area of Edo State.
We would had not bothered to raise any issue about the commission or omission, but, considering the wisdom in Karl Marx's indelible assertion "to leave an error uncorrected, is to encourage intellectual immorality" we considered it appropriate to raise a formal observation to the Board of editors or the essayist or editorof Guardian Newspapers because, in the light of clandestine activities by our hitherto neighbors to appropriate Benin lands, Oil and Gas resources and plantations to themselves, this 'mistake' could be a golden opportunity for anti Benin elements to demand for our natural resources and lands.
In fact, to undermine our people, flow-stations are deliberately built outside or far from the source of oil wells in Benin lands, so that offshore benefits can accrue to our neighboring states; as we speak, there are plans by some powerful political elites of Delta State origin to appropriate the oil and gas potentials of Evbohighae-Ugbeka clan, in Oriomwon Local Government Area.
Pre-colonially, there are documented evidence attributing to very large size of the ancient Benin territories; even after the colonial conquest, but, oppressive and anti-Benin opportunists who found themselves at the corridors of power, especially at the Presidency, and acting in connivance with some fifth columnists within Benin kingdom have done everything possible to appropriate the oil-rich Bight of Benin to their native communities; including other forms of political vindictiveness.
As a non-political organization, we wish to make clear that these anti-ethnic tendencies will definitely prop-up militant uprisings by the Binis because, we have been pushed to walls for too long, and our hospitality has for long been taken for granted. Igt is sad the the Lucky Igbinedion Administration and the State House of Assembly have continued to gloss over the appropriation of Edo Oil Wells and territorial lands, apparently because they are not direct descendants from the affected communities. The time to fight is very near, unless stakeholders and Lawmakers urgently reviews the trends.
We watch closely.
Dr. David Ekomwenrenren.
Cc; The Comrade Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole
The Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly
All Elected National and State Assemblies members from Edo State
The Oba of Benin, Oba Erediauwa CFR
Nigerian Union of Journalists, Edo State.
source: http://ihuanedo.ning.com/profiles/blogs/correctionguardian-newspapers
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We Want To Bring To Public And Government Attention A Prolong Issue In Gelegele Community And Environs
We Want To Bring To Public And Government Attention A Prolong Issue In Gelegele Community And Environs
On behalf of Otu Notedoghewii meaning Group for the Protection of Benin land, we are pleased to be in the premises of the notable Nigerian Observer, a newspaper that has projected the interest and growth of Edo within and outside the State. In recent· times, the Nigerian Observer has undergone surgery that has now positioned the newspaper to serve the overall growth of the people. Congratulations!
Our visit centres on the communal crisis that has persisted between the Binis and the Ijaws. which has left a sore taste in the mouth.
We want to bring to public and government attention a prolong issue in Gelegele community and environ in. Ovia Northeast Local Government Area of Edo State that have-spanned many decades of administrative and litigation processes between the Binis and the Ijaws.
It is worthy of note that Gelegele and environs, is entirely a rural community, which dwelt in peace and harmony until the late 1960’s. The Binis have occupied the entire area known as Gelegele, Ughoton, Abiala and other relative villages peaceably without any rancour or antagonism from any ethnic group for countless centuries as historical facts reveal.
That Gelegele is a Bini community is a long settled issue. There are established, verifiable administrative inquiries by the then Midwest State Government and judgments from the High Court up to the Supreme Court in Lagos giving authority and power to the Binis over the land occupied by our forbears for centuries.
Our claim to Gelegele and environs is neither fictional nor adventurous. The area was incontrovertibly founded by a Bini Prince Ekaladerhan who escaped a royal death decree over 10 centuries ago particularly Ughoton Princess Kobe from Ughoton founded Gelegele after previous attempts to inhabit the swampy terrain failed the name Gelegele derived from the exclamation:
“Gelegele emwan khian evbo” Our investigation showed that the first Ijaw man from undoubted history to setle in Gelegele was one Feti who suffered a misadventure in the near sea where torrential waves swept away his makeshift .home about 100 years ago. He obtained permission from one Okunseri, the then priest of ·Ughoton, to settle there under traditional oath of allegiance. As time went on the Ijaw population in Gelegele grew but continually paid homage to the Binis nay the Oba of Benin, through Ughoton until late Oba Akenzua II, CMG, stopped them.
However, in 1969 the Ijaw who had prior knowledge of oil discovery in the land, rose against the authority which erupted in a crisis at a time a Bini man, one Ogbeifun Egharevba was Odionwere of Gelegele. An administrative inquiry was setup by the then Midwest State Government of Brigadier-General Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia, headed by one Mr. S. Jamgbadi, a Senior District Officer and sat at Ekehuan. A report was issued in 1970, and we quote inter-alia: “It is however established that the Ijaws have been resident in Gelegele for many years and that during these years they have acquired landed property and cultivated farms; but from the facts in evidence they qualify as TENANTS on the land - their-long period of occupation notwithstanding.
The matter went through the High Court of Justice and Federal Court of Appeal in Benin and the Supreme Court -in Lagos. The Binis secured victory all the way. The following suit numbers are material evidences to buttress our claim to the land at Gelegele and environs
1. High Court of Justice, Benin Judgment delivered on the 22nd December 1978 by .Justice. Ekeruche J in Suit No. B/I44/1970.
2. Federal Court of Appeal judgment delivered on the 16th December1981 by Abdul Ganiy Olatunji· Agbaja and 2 others in Suit No. FCA/B/82/80.
3. Supreme Court unanimous Judgment delivered on the 19th ‘August 1983 by Muhamedu Lawai Uwais, former Chief Justice of the Federation and 4 others in Suit No. SC.131/1982.
With all these’ unassailable evidences, the Binis has been magnanimous in victory. We absorbed them and refused to insist on enforcing the Supreme Court ruling to the letter because Binis are receptacles to strangers of all shades. Yet the Ijaws have not only abused undeserved privileges but consistently for 40 years assaulted our integrity, abused our simplicity, challenged our international acclaimed military prowess, brazenly cajoled and’ intimidated our sense of belonging and trampled on our collective will. It is enough!
Otu Notedoghewii have the following remarks to make to all and sundry:
1. Ijaws have severally attacked, invaded and occupied Bini villages without provocation and retaliation for too long.
2. Gelegele is a recurring decimal in Edo politics that it is a sing-song in the mouth of politicians seeking relevance and electoral patronage. Gelegele is to the Binis what Lagos is to the Yorubas; or what Port Harcourt is to the Ikwerres or what Calabar is to the Efiks.
3. It must be made abundantly clear that the Ijaws have always been erratic, provoking showdown but the Binis’ have cleverly evaded direct confrontation not because we are afraid of war but believe much in peace sine qua non for national stability, growth. and progress·
4. Because of the Gelegele escapade the Ijaws have further audacity to extend their ambitious voyage of annexation to many Benin communities because no one has challenged them since modern development has refused to come to their peculiar terrain they have embarked on a voyage to seek land to rediscover themselves.
5. The Ijaws who settled along river banks in Benin land in spite of our openness and acceptance has become a thorn in the flesh of ‘Binis constituting themselves as malfeasance, aggressors, instigators and violators of civilized behaviour.
6. Ijaw militancy has made Gelegele a disarmament centre because the place is being used as militia centre and gateway to the creeks in Delta and Bayelsa States. This has brought discomfort and tension to the Binis living in the area.
7. Binis has been excluded from the scheme of things as the Ijaws has dominated the affairs of not only Gelegele but environ like Abiala and Ughoton. where the crude oil being exploited by Dubri Oil Company Limited is located. They insisted and got only Ijaws employed by Dubri and derived benefits from royalties through .threat of fire and brimstone.
8. We are reawakening the Bini consciousness of responsibility, brotherhood, communal sensitivity and vibrancy through non-violent means. Gelegele is a starting point to other areas Benin land has been encroached on without challenge.
9. We will no longer tolerate for any moment the calculated and surreptitious stripping of Binis of their age-long territory from every side.
10. Otu Notedoghewii is sounding a strong warning to any Bini man that would want to betray the Benin nationalism to desist from it as he would be consumed with it in the new renaissance. Ladies and Gentlemen, the unprovoked attack of the Gelegele militants led by one Don Ben who has been terrorizing the locality on Abiaia when the people were building their community hall shows the Ijaws’ ulterior desire to invade, occupy and gradually eliminate the Binis from their land, Abiala forms the nexus Gelegele and Ughoton community which last month also suffered attack without being reported,
Therefore, we are calling on the respective authorities in Edo State and beyond to call a spade a spade and address the recurring issue of ownership of Gelegele once and for all. Those that are buying lands from strangers and settlers are doing so at their own risk. Henceforth, the Binis will resort to SELF-HELP if the government does not come to our rescue.
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OKOMU IS NOT IJAW BUT BENINLAND, BENIN RIVER, GULF OF BENIN, BIGHT OF BENIN. BENIN KINGDOM LAND AND TERRITORY
Okomu is not owned by the Ijaws but Edos. Benin was the capital so all dialects you see today in various states in most part of nigeria and Cameroon, Togo, Dahomey, and others migrated to Benin. When the British colonial government started after the Benin kingdom invasion, for 17 years Benin was without a King. British then started empowering the dialects (tribes) to become autonomous by instituting hate into them (divide and conquer). When the Oba's son and heir was crowned then the amalgamation, it was so difficult for the Oba to maintain his power and government over the entire kingdom because many of them already became colonial territories. We are all one, the Ijaws are part of Edo nation, trying to claim some part of Benin land as theirs is totally senseless, the federal Supreme Court already passed the verdict on the matter. The land belongs to Benin. The Ijaws are just being forgetful or rather allowing their current waywardness overshadow their common sense.
Again, it was when the forest exploitation became lucrative during colonial period that Ijaws moved into Okomu in large numbers to ferry timber through the creeks to sapele and lagos. What business have fishermen with forests except to cut wood occasionally for canoe. The ijaws were tenants of the Oba of Benin and there are extant documents written by Ijaws to prove it as they paid rents till recent times
Benin is the only kingdom built in the heart of rainforest. Check Asante, Dahomey and Kongo, they were built either on the fringes of the forest or in the Savanna. Benin rainforest was the richest forest in Nigeria during the colonial period and accounted for two third of Nigeria's timber export. The town of Sapele +AT & P (African Timber and Plywood) were built on the exploitation and proceeds of Benin forest to the coast (Bight of Benin). The forest was teaming with elephants and leopards in the past and special quarters still exist in Benin that were responsible for hunting, trapping and taming these animals- namely Oreẹgbeni (quarters of Elephant hunters) and Ehaẹkpẹn (quaters of Leopard tamers). The Oba never stepped out of the palace without his pet leopards preceding him. One tusk of any elephant hunted in the empire belonged to the Oba abd he had the prerogative to buy the other tusk at his price. Any leopard killed in the kingdom must be surrendered to the Oba. There is a proverb among the Yoruba of Ondo, Ekiti, Akoko, Owo and Ikale area that "a person who killed a leopard have sent himself on an errand to the Oba of Benin".
The elephant tusk were used for documenting the every Oba's achievements as they were carved on the numerous tusk placed on his ancestral altar. Chiefs also used ivories for ornaments in Benin and other places. Ivory was never imported. There are still a very few forest elephants surviving and protected in Okomu forest reserves and were sighted by researchers in the 1990s.
Constant bush burning lead to development of derived savanna and destroys the habitat for wildlife. This is in addition to unregulated logging of the forest . What saved the cross river cameroun forest was the mountainous terrain that made logging difficult during most of the colonial period and the European companies lack of interest in developing infrastructure for their exploitation until very late into the colonial period. But the chinese are busy logging the cross river basin now and the super highway is going to destroy it. Benin being on lowland with adjoining rivers to float the logs did not require heavy investment in infrastructure development and so they concentrated on destroying the Benin rainforest during the colonial period. the destruction is still ongoing
The British looted textile materials (apliqued clothing, bark materials), leather (ekpokin leather boxes & ezuzu-fans, ema-drums), gourd and shell works.
I have a relative who only specialized in hunting elephant and he does not have to travel to Kenya or Zimbabwe to hunt elephant. Like I said we have elephants in Edo land, if you have no idea of that, then your Business is ask an Edo elder where in Edoland they have elephant he will tell you. Nri live in derived savanna as their forest had been cleared long time imo river. Vegetations change and that is what has affected some areas of Igboland. But some parts of Igboland have always been guinea savanna particularly Northern Igboland near benue and kogi borders
Ijaws are making claims of Edoland and okomu because of Oil in these areas which they are trying to claim ownership of. They are tenants of the Oba of Benin.
The forest was never Ijaw ancestral homeland. The documents are not online, but you can read them from intelligence reports on Ekenwan and Siluko District at the National archives Ibadan. Today the urhobos claim Jesse as their land, but it was Benin land that transferred in the late 1930s by the British and they paid rents to the Oba till the creation of Midwest
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We Want To Bring To Public And Government Attention A Prolong Issue In Gelegele Community And Environs
We Want To Bring To Public And Government Attention A Prolong Issue In Gelegele Community And Environs
On behalf of Otu Notedoghewii meaning Group for the Protection of Benin land, we are pleased to be in the premises of the notable Nigerian Observer, a newspaper that has projected the interest and growth of Edo within and outside the State. In recent· times, the Nigerian Observer has undergone surgery that has now positioned the newspaper to serve the overall growth of the people. Congratulations!
We Want To Bring To Public And Government Attention A Prolong Issue In Gelegele Community And Environs
On behalf of Otu Notedoghewii meaning Group for the Protection of Benin land, we are pleased to be in the premises of the notable Nigerian Observer, a newspaper that has projected the interest and growth of Edo within and outside the State. In recent· times, the Nigerian Observer has undergone surgery that has now positioned the newspaper to serve the overall growth of the people. Congratulations!
Our visit centres on the communal crisis that has persisted between the Binis and the Ijaws. which has left a sore taste in the mouth.
We want to bring to public and government attention a prolong issue in Gelegele community and environ in. Ovia Northeast Local Government Area of Edo State that have-spanned many decades of administrative and litigation processes between the Binis and the Ijaws.
It is worthy of note that Gelegele and environs, is entirely a rural community, which dwelt in peace and harmony until the late 1960’s. The Binis have occupied the entire area known as Gelegele, Ughoton, Abiala and other relative villages peaceably without any rancour or antagonism from any ethnic group for countless centuries as historical facts reveal.
That Gelegele is a Bini community is a long settled issue. There are established, verifiable administrative inquiries by the then Midwest State Government and judgments from the High Court up to the Supreme Court in Lagos giving authority and power to the Binis over the land occupied by our forbears for centuries.
Our claim to Gelegele and environs is neither fictional nor adventurous. The area was incontrovertibly founded by a Bini Prince Ekaladerhan who escaped a royal death decree over 10 centuries ago particularly Ughoton Princess Kobe from Ughoton founded Gelegele after previous attempts to inhabit the swampy terrain failed the name Gelegele derived from the exclamation:
“Gelegele emwan khian evbo” Our investigation showed that the first Ijaw man from undoubted history to setle in Gelegele was one Feti who suffered a misadventure in the near sea where torrential waves swept away his makeshift .home about 100 years ago. He obtained permission from one Okunseri, the then priest of ·Ughoton, to settle there under traditional oath of allegiance. As time went on the Ijaw population in Gelegele grew but continually paid homage to the Binis nay the Oba of Benin, through Ughoton until late Oba Akenzua II, CMG, stopped them.
However, in 1969 the Ijaw who had prior knowledge of oil discovery in the land, rose against the authority which erupted in a crisis at a time a Bini man, one Ogbeifun Egharevba was Odionwere of Gelegele. An administrative inquiry was setup by the then Midwest State Government of Brigadier-General Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia, headed by one Mr. S. Jamgbadi, a Senior District Officer and sat at Ekehuan. A report was issued in 1970, and we quote inter-alia: “It is however established that the Ijaws have been resident in Gelegele for many years and that during these years they have acquired landed property and cultivated farms; but from the facts in evidence they qualify as TENANTS on the land - their-long period of occupation notwithstanding.
The matter went through the High Court of Justice and Federal Court of Appeal in Benin and the Supreme Court -in Lagos. The Binis secured victory all the way. The following suit numbers are material evidences to buttress our claim to the land at Gelegele and environs
1. High Court of Justice, Benin Judgment delivered on the 22nd December 1978 by .Justice. Ekeruche J in Suit No. B/I44/1970.
2. Federal Court of Appeal judgment delivered on the 16th December1981 by Abdul Ganiy Olatunji· Agbaja and 2 others in Suit No. FCA/B/82/80.
3. Supreme Court unanimous Judgment delivered on the 19th ‘August 1983 by Muhamedu Lawai Uwais, former Chief Justice of the Federation and 4 others in Suit No. SC.131/1982.
With all these’ unassailable evidences, the Binis has been magnanimous in victory. We absorbed them and refused to insist on enforcing the Supreme Court ruling to the letter because Binis are receptacles to strangers of all shades. Yet the Ijaws have not only abused undeserved privileges but consistently for 40 years assaulted our integrity, abused our simplicity, challenged our international acclaimed military prowess, brazenly cajoled and’ intimidated our sense of belonging and trampled on our collective will. It is enough!
Otu Notedoghewii have the following remarks to make to all and sundry:
1. Ijaws have severally attacked, invaded and occupied Bini villages without provocation and retaliation for too long.
2. Gelegele is a recurring decimal in Edo politics that it is a sing-song in the mouth of politicians seeking relevance and electoral patronage. Gelegele is to the Binis what Lagos is to the Yorubas; or what Port Harcourt is to the Ikwerres or what Calabar is to the Efiks.
3. It must be made abundantly clear that the Ijaws have always been erratic, provoking showdown but the Binis’ have cleverly evaded direct confrontation not because we are afraid of war but believe much in peace sine qua non for national stability, growth. and progress·
4. Because of the Gelegele escapade the Ijaws have further audacity to extend their ambitious voyage of annexation to many Benin communities because no one has challenged them since modern development has refused to come to their peculiar terrain they have embarked on a voyage to seek land to rediscover themselves.
5. The Ijaws who settled along river banks in Benin land in spite of our openness and acceptance has become a thorn in the flesh of ‘Binis constituting themselves as malfeasance, aggressors, instigators and violators of civilized behaviour.
6. Ijaw militancy has made Gelegele a disarmament centre because the place is being used as militia centre and gateway to the creeks in Delta and Bayelsa States. This has brought discomfort and tension to the Binis living in the area.
7. Binis has been excluded from the scheme of things as the Ijaws has dominated the affairs of not only Gelegele but environ like Abiala and Ughoton. where the crude oil being exploited by Dubri Oil Company Limited is located. They insisted and got only Ijaws employed by Dubri and derived benefits from royalties through .threat of fire and brimstone.
8. We are reawakening the Bini consciousness of responsibility, brotherhood, communal sensitivity and vibrancy through non-violent means. Gelegele is a starting point to other areas Benin land has been encroached on without challenge.
9. We will no longer tolerate for any moment the calculated and surreptitious stripping of Binis of their age-long territory from every side.
10. Otu Notedoghewii is sounding a strong warning to any Bini man that would want to betray the Benin nationalism to desist from it as he would be consumed with it in the new renaissance. Ladies and Gentlemen, the unprovoked attack of the Gelegele militants led by one Don Ben who has been terrorizing the locality on Abiaia when the people were building their community hall shows the Ijaws’ ulterior desire to invade, occupy and gradually eliminate the Binis from their land, Abiala forms the nexus Gelegele and Ughoton community which last month also suffered attack without being reported,
Therefore, we are calling on the respective authorities in Edo State and beyond to call a spade a spade and address the recurring issue of ownership of Gelegele once and for all. Those that are buying lands from strangers and settlers are doing so at their own risk. Henceforth, the Binis will resort to SELF-HELP if the government does not come to our rescue.
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DELTA State Governor, Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, spoke plainly in an interview with this reporter, some months ago, that former Minister of Information, Prof Sam Oyovbaire, is his political godfather. Getting the academic and political strategist, who the governor respects his mental power to share his perspective on Okowa took some time because of his schedule, but when Saturday Vanguard met Oyovabaire, the reasons were palpable.
The professor once tried to rule the state and battled for the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in 1999 or thereabout with former governor, Chief James Ibori, who incidentally tutored Okowa politically. However, what he lost in Ibori, he gained in Okowa. Excerpts:
Delta overcoming biggest challenge
Delta state originally ought to have taken the form of the old Delta province, which would have excluded the Ika, Aniocha, Oshimili because these areas used to be part of old Benin province, not Delta province, but the politics of the time and the compromise gave us the Delta state that we have today.
Delta state originally ought to have taken the form of the old Delta province, which would have excluded the Ika, Aniocha, Oshimili because these areas used to be part of old Benin province, not Delta province, but the politics of the time and the compromise gave us the Delta state that we have today.
Air Commodore Luke Ochulor kick started the interim administration of the state from 1991 to 1992 and the late Olorogun Felix Ibru was the first semi-elected civilian ruler, because at that time, the military was still at the centre. That carried us for 18 months or so, and then, the whole process of June 12 after which the military came on board and dismantled the Felix Ibru administration
In addition, from then until 1999, we were again under military rule and of course, in 1999, James Ibori took over as the governor of the place. I think the greatest challenge we have always had, which started with Ibori is how to blend Delta state with part of it that was in the Benin province. It was an undercurrent, really, one of the early challenges. Ibori did what he could and thank God, that kind of challenge is not too prominent today because sometimes if you blow up the issue of Anioma too much, the tendency is to remind people about such challenges.
But in recent time when the irredentist Biafra are shouting all over the place, they somehow still think that the Anioma part of the state is automatically part of the Biafra agitation, which if we are not careful could disturb the arrangement we are having now. Therefore, Ibori tried what he could do.
You know that even the day Ibori took over; there was bombing and destruction in Warri area, which is among Ijaw, Urhobo and Itsekiri ethnic groups. Therefore, we have come a long way and Uduaghan came on board and tried to manage the situation as best as he could and today, we have my good young friend, Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, in charge.
Nevertheless, so far so good, we have come a long way. And that is what I want people to know that for somebody like me, I am not bothered about the ethnic group you come from in the state, what I am bothered about is the quality of the person, no matter the part of the state. That is one way of blending the state.
Avengers reacting to Jonathan’s misrule
It is unfortunate in many ways that after six years of the administration of former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, forces reacting to the post-Jonathan experience are giving us the challenge that we have today, governance is not easy and I am not trying to undermine the forces, but I believe very strongly that Dr. Jonathan had no grasp of the history that we went through, if he had, then he did not care as to how to use the knowledge to develop the region.
I cannot see anything in Niger Delta that I can associate concretely with Jonathan for those years. However, any other person, whether it is Olusegun Obasanjo, Yar’Adua or Muhammadu Buhari would have been here in these years of Jonathan. I would have loved a situation where he did a few things, now Buhari is even claiming that he wants to clean up Ogoni land. Of course, that of Ogoni had been there of a long time, but here in Delta state and Oloibiri in Bayelsa state, where oil exploration actually started, we have a lot of spillage and wastage of our environment.
One would have expected that Jonathan should have started the cleaning up in Oloibiri and these other places, but I did not see the articulation. Jonathan did not do much and we are face to face with the Avengers, which may be avenging something. What is it that they are avenging; they are avenging the inability of Jonathan to do what he ought to have done and there is very strong fear, genuine fear that with President Muahammadu Buhari on the saddle, the area would continue to have the short stick.
Creating more problem for tomorrow
This is the anger, yes, but we need to be careful, you could go on and say okay, let the country go to pieces, if you have missiles, let us blow up Abuja, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Aso Villa and all that, those are very shortsighted ideas because you believe that nothing has happened in your area. You also need to know that you are creating more damage to our environment.
If it is only now that Ogoni through the UNEP is about to be cleaned, what about the damage done all these years. Those who are bombing and destroying today, their grandchildren would have no place to stay, so while you can have good reason for the anger for avenging, you should also ask yourself the problem you are creating.
And for the immediate time, you would have less money, Delta state is highly impoverished with what the avengers are doing today because our share from the Federation Account has collapsed from N19 billion to N3billion and yet we are one of the highest paying bureaucracies in this country. What the Avengers are doing today, no matter how you want to sympathize with them, we would face difficult time very soon.
Short-range leaders
Well, you might call it a risk, but I did and will continue to do what I am convinced about, I did not do what I did to please Dr. Okowa or this part (Northern senatorial district) of the state. I believe very strongly in him, as you know I had my own intention when I struggled in the distant past when I wanted to rule the state. Some of my plans are being realized today through Okowa and Okowa does not even know that.
We sat down and I was very much involved in the document, which became his manifesto and a lot of my ideas were there. So unfortunately, my people, let us use that word, my Urhobo compatriots with due respect to all of them, from the youngest to the oldest to the wealthy and the wealthiest, with due respect to all of them, they were shortsighted, really, shortsighted. I mean that because if you cannot rule, you should be able to have control of who rules.
If you argue that if it is not me, there is no state, then you are wrong. In every community today, here in Asaba where we are, in Agbor, Ughelli, Orerokpe, everywhere, you have the good ones and the bad ones. How would say that there are no good people in the North senatorial district.
I am trying not to use the name Anioma. If they were, why would you shut the door against a segment of the state because there is an assumed utilization of population? We have had Ibru rule us for 18 months, Ibori ruled us for eight years, then we had a deputy governor for eight years, there are challenges and I cannot regret the challenges.
I will not say nothing happened in the Central Senatorial district, many things happened. Perhaps not enough, but if you are to fight to continue to have a Central Senatorial district person as governor, are you saying that your administration will focus on only Central Senatorial district to the detriment of the North and South Senatorial districts. Therefore, I was convinced in what I was doing and I think that Okowa later realized that I did not just believe in him but was sincere about it because he is very organized.
I will not say nothing happened in the Central Senatorial district, many things happened. Perhaps not enough, but if you are to fight to continue to have a Central Senatorial district person as governor, are you saying that your administration will focus on only Central Senatorial district to the detriment of the North and South Senatorial districts. Therefore, I was convinced in what I was doing and I think that Okowa later realized that I did not just believe in him but was sincere about it because he is very organized.
My first love for Okowa
In fact, if he were an intellectual, a university lecturer, he would have been quite exceptional. I enjoy organized people with ideas.
I tell you a little story. The year he moved from being Secretary to the State Government, SSG, to begin the struggle to go the Senate, I sent him a text saying something like that with the little I have heard about his performance as SSG, I wished him well and hoped he would continue to have a grasp of whatever he did. I also said in the text that I could see the strength in his character and all that and frankly, I had forgotten that I sent such a text to him.
I really did not know him much as I said, but some of them, who are younger than me, would know me. I think two and half years later when he made up his mind, he called me one day from Abuja and was seeking information as to where he could meet me. I did not know why he wanted to come, I said okay, since he wanted to come to Benin, I will be in my little bungalow in Benin, so he came straight from the Airport to my house, my library in particular, knelt down and said sir, I want to try to be governor.
He told me the story of how he tried to succeed Ibori, how Uduaghan took over and so on. I said very well, I think you have every reason to be, the little I know about you, you are highly organized. Do you know what he did, he brought out his phone and showed me the text I sent him the year he left as SSG, I do not know whether he had it in mind that many years later he was going to show me that text, and believe you me, I was highly impressed,
For me I delete a lot, but even if he had planned it, keeping it for almost three years was something thorough to me I enjoy people like that. That was the first love I had from him.
Urhobo people didn’t know where I was going
And of course we started, and as I said earlier with due respect to my fellow Urhobo compatriots, they failed to know where I was going.
But like I said, it was not a favour to Okowa, it was not a favour to Anioma because I believe that he fits into it and you would see that during his campaign, he was careful not to over blow Anioma. I know those who were with him, the Asagba of Asaba was very close to him, but he did not carry Anioma on his forehead, which was very good. Moreover, he tells them wherever he goes that he is the son of every senatorial district in the state.
My kind of politics
Well, I am a teacher of politics and beyond that, anything I do in life, I try to practice it. Sometime, my wife will say that I have turned the family into a classroom. It is part of my problem with Christian leaders, and pastors you say one thing in the morning, you tell your parishioners something, but what you do in the afternoon is different.. I try as much as possible to see that what I believe in, I take it seriously.
So far, I want to thank God that I have not handled a situation that we failed. I handled Babaginda, the moment I saw that things were going somehow, I made my point clear, I am not sure that you know how my now late friend, Senator Chukuwmerije took over from me as Minister of Information. You see, at a point in the Babaginda regime, we lost steam; we took off and were in the air, governed very well and in trying to land, we lost steam.
Therefore, we had difficulty of landing, that is not finishing well and I was not going to be part of not admitting that we had a difficulty in landing, which was how Chukwumerije took over from me.
Our little secret
What I am saying is that people did not know how seriously we took the Okowa project; they did not know that we meet three times in a week and were working. Some of the aspirants, who did not care about delegates, thought that Jonathan will influence certain things and PDP at the centre will do this and that. So even when noise was being made against Okowa from the top, we were in control of the delegates. People did not know because every night we meet to know who is still with us and who is not with us. Now, those with us, we consolidate them, those we know were veering away, we try to get them back. So the game was one and like every ruler and of course my good friend, somersaulted here and there,
We did a fundraising activity and believe you me, I, Sam Oyovbaire, do not know how much we got. I learnt from my service in the military administration that I have a boundary and I keep to it. I believe very strongly that how Dr. Okowa funded the campaign is not my business, I did not get involved because I had money to contribute, but once or twice that he had some difficulties, he did not tell me, but he kept on struggling because he is a very highly strong-willed person and very strong faith based individual.
He has very strong faith in himself and in the powers of God and so. Once, in our little meeting, I wanted to have an account because I was the chairman of this and chairman of that, but on a second thought, I felt it was wrong, particularly because of the group we were in. so I dropped the idea of having an account. So really, I do not know the key players in terms of those bringing money into it.
I also know that in the case of my younger good fellow, Barrister Kingsley Otuaro emerging as deputy governor that Kingsley Otuaro was a friend of Tompolo and so on. However, I will tell you that I also shared this with Okowa that we needed somebody from the Ijaw stock as his deputy. You may ask, why is it that it is Otuaro knowing that Otuaro is close to Tompolo, and that if Otuaro becomes our deputy, people would say Tompolo is his patron.
I tell you honestly such a thing did not bother me, but put it on record that I do not know whether Tompolo donated one naira or one dollar to Okowa’s campaign. He probably did, I do not know.
From Edo APC Guber primaries: Gov Okowa’s political father, Oyovbaire opens up by Vanguard (Politics)
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Press release- Guardian Newspapers reported Oben oil and gas rich community of Edo State as a Delta State community in its Wednesday's article- Benin National Congress calls for correction, 22nd June 2011.
The attention of the Benin National Congress (Edo Socio-Cultural Organization) has been drawn to an oil and Gas article centered on the Oben gas-to-power project, and published at the front page of Guardian Newspaper of Wednesday 22nd June 2011. We sincerely believed that the aim of the publication was to draw federal government; and other stakeholders to the 'abandoned' gas-to-power project, with a view to revitalizing same and bringing the dream to limelight. However, at the first paragraph, the Benin National Congress and concerned stakeholders observed that 'OBEN' was referred or portrayed as a community in Delta State; whereas, the said community is part and parcel of Orhiomwon Local Government Area of Edo State.
We would had not bothered to raise any issue about the commission or omission, but, considering the wisdom in Karl Marx's indelible assertion "to leave an error uncorrected, is to encourage intellectual immorality" we considered it appropriate to raise a formal observation to the Board of editors or the essayist or editorof Guardian Newspapers because, in the light of clandestine activities by our hitherto neighbors to appropriate Benin lands, Oil and Gas resources and plantations to themselves, this 'mistake' could be a golden opportunity for anti Benin elements to demand for our natural resources and lands. In fact, to undermine our people, flow-stations are deliberately built outside or far from the source of oil wells in Benin lands, so that offshore benefits can accrue to our neighboring states; as we speak, there are plans by some powerful political elites of Delta State origin to appropriate the oil and gas potentials of Evbohighae-Ugbeka clan, in Oriomwon Local Government Area.
Pre-colonially, there are documented evidence attributing to very large size of the ancient Benin territories; even after the colonial conquest, but, oppressive and anti-Benin opportunists who found themselves at the corridors of power, especially at the Presidency, and acting in connivance with some fifth columnists within Benin kingdom have done everything possible to appropriate the oil-rich Bight of Benin to their native communities; including other forms of political vindictiveness. As a non-political organization, we wish to make clear that these anti-ethnic tendencies will definitely prop-up militant uprisings by the Binis because, we have been pushed to walls for too long, and our hospitality has for long been taken for granted. Igt is sad the the Lucky Igbinedion Administration and the State House of Assembly have continued to gloss over the appropriation of Edo Oil Wells and territorial lands, apparently because they are not direct descendants from the affected communities. The time to fight is very near, unless stakeholders and Lawmakers urgently reviews the trends.We watch closely.
Dr. David Ekomwenrenren.
Cc; The Comrade Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole
The Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly
All Elected National and State Assemblies members from Edo State
The Oba of Benin, Oba Erediauwa CFR
Nigerian Union of Journalists, Edo State.
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