The Dilution Of Truth Must End: Itsekiri Falsehoods Cannot Stand Against Historical Reality___Says Concerned Indigenous Stakeholders Of Warri Federal Constituency -

By Uche Alvin

PRESS RELEASE

THE DILUTION OF TRUTH MUST END: ITSEKIRI FALSEHOODS CANNOT STAND AGAINST HISTORICAL REALITY

Concerned Indigenous Ijaw Stakeholders of Warri Federal Constituency

As patriotic Nigerians and direct stakeholders in the enduring quest for justice and equity in Warri Federal Constituency, we issue this urgent public statement to condemn in the strongest terms, the calculated attempts by some Itsekiri elements to derail the Supreme Court-sanctioned ward delineation process in Warri South and Warri South-West Local Government Areas.

Let it be made abundantly clear. The history of Warri is not a matter of myth or manufactured hegemony, it is a matter of record of ancestral settlement of blood and soil.

HISTORICAL FACTS CANNOT BE OVERRIDDEN BY PROPAGANDA

The Ijaw people of Warri, especially the Ogbe-Ijoh and Gbaramatu blocs, have been indigenous occupants of their lands long before the advent of colonial manipulation. The records of the Warri Province Administration, the Southern Nigeria Civil Service Handbook (1904), the 1927 Warri Assessment Report and the testimony of Chief Dore Numa himself, a notable Itsekiri leader, affirm that the Ijaws are the rightful owners of lands presently under political contention, including GRA, Alder’s Town, NPA areas and the environs.

How then can a group that arrived later, through maritime migration and diplomatic alliances with Benin royalty, now claim ownership of lands they were graciously allowed to settle on?

LEGAL JUDGMENTS: A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD

Yes, there are judgments claimed by the Itsekiri. But should legal victories obtained through colonial favoritism, ex parte processes and technical dismissals override indigenous rights to self-identification, representation and homeland?

Why do the Itsekiri celebrate judgments that barred the Ijaw from even being heard, rather than those based on full evidence and fair hearing?

And if the courts truly resolved these issues, why are the Itsekiris lobbying INEC, the NSA, and the Presidency to suppress the final delineation report? What are they so afraid of?

INEC MUST STAND FIRM — THE MANDATE IS CLEAR

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was directed by the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2022 to conduct fair, constitutional delineation in Warri based on population, geography and community ownership, not on outdated colonial constructs or feudal overlordship.

INEC has done its work. The process was inclusive. All parties were engaged. Why then the delay in publishing the final result?

Let us ask again:

Is INEC now under pressure from private interests to bury the truth?

Has the institution surrendered its independence to political interference from Itsekiri-connected elites in Abuja?

Why is a lawful order of the apex court being stalled without explanation?

This is not just an Ijaw issue. This is a test of Nigeria’s democracy.

WE ARE NOT TENANTS. WE ARE INDIGENOUS OWNERS.

We reject, categorically, the Itsekiri propaganda labeling the Ijaw people as “customary tenants.” If we are tenants, why were Ijaw communities never historically evicted? Why do our lands appear in colonial maps, gazettes and government leases, some of which pre-date Itsekiri claims entirely?

The truth is simple. Ijaws were here. We welcomed others. But that hospitality has now been weaponized against us.

CALL TO ACTION

We therefore:

Demand the immediate publication of the final INEC delineation report in compliance with the Supreme Court order;

Urge the NSA and Presidency to resist Itsekiri manipulation, blackmail or interference;

Call on the international community to take note of this creeping ethnic subjugation being cloaked as legal interpretation.

Warri does not belong to one group. It belongs to all who have ancestral, demographic and moral stakes in its survival.

The Ijaw people are not afraid. We will continue to defend our truth, our land and our dignity, with patience, with facts and if pushed, with the full weight of the Nigerian legal system once more.

Signed:

Comr. Kareowei Liberty
President,
Niger Delta Development Front