BREAKING: Ijaw Group Fires Back At OPC Over Publication On Warri Federal Constituency Ward Delineation Report, Says Ijaw Lands Cannot Be Erased By Propaganda -

By Uche Alvin

REBUTTAL TO OPC’S BASELESS INTERVENTION IN WARRI FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY DELINEATION: IJAW LAND CANNOT BE ERASED BY PROPAGANDA

Issued by: Ijaw Stakeholders of Warri Federal Constituency
Date: 11/72022

“Falsehood flies, and the truth comes limping after it.” Jonathan Swift

We, the Ijaw Stakeholders of Warri Federal Constituency, write this comprehensive rebuttal in response to the grossly misinformed and dangerously provocative publication credited to the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), dated 10/7/2022, and signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Yinka Oguntimehin.

This statement, while cloaked in alarmist language, reeks of ethnic partisanship, distortion of facts, historical amnesia and a reckless attempt to meddle in local affairs beyond OPC’s jurisdiction. The Ijaw people will not sit silently while external agents spread dangerous propaganda to disrupt a lawful and long-overdue constitutional process in Warri.

OPC HAS NO LOCUS STANDI IN WARRI AFFAIRS

First and foremost, the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) is a Yoruba cultural and regional group, historically focused on southwest Nigeria. It is utterly inappropriate and constitutionally irrelevant for OPC to insert itself into the sensitive political and administrative matters of Warri, Delta State, a region far outside its cultural and geographic concern.

We ask: Who authorized OPC to speak on behalf of the Itsekiri people? Who invited them into Ijaw, Urhobo, Itsekiri land discourse? By what right does OPC challenge INEC’s constitutional function under Section 153(f) and Paragraph 15 of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended)?

THE INEC DELINEATION WAS CONSTITUTIONAL, FIELD-BASED AND INCLUSIVE

INEC’s delineation process in Warri was not a haphazard or biased exercise. It was conducted pursuant to Sections 71 and 72 of the 1999 Constitution and Section 10 of the Electoral Act 2022, which empower INEC to review and create electoral wards and polling units based on population growth, accessibility and fairness.

Contrary to OPC’s propaganda, INEC’s delineation team engaged all stakeholders, conducted physical visits to communities and adhered to established guidelines. The same process applied across Ijaw, Itsekiri and even Urhobo areas.

No community had delineation imposed on it. All delineation was evidence-based, involving INEC, security agencies, community representatives and independent observers.

NO IJAWS ENCROACHED ON ITSEKIRI LAND — HISTORY BEARS US WITNESS

OPC falsely alleges that Ijaw communities are “encroaching” on Itsekiri lands. This claim is historically flawed and laughably dishonest.

Let the truth be told: the Ijaws were the original inhabitants of most of what is now Warri South-West and Warri South Local Government Areas. This is verifiable in:

The 1908 Colonial Intelligence Report on the Western Delta Province

The 1921 and 1952 Population Census that confirmed Ijaw majority in key areas like Gbaramatu, Egbema and Ogbe-Ijoh

The 1951 Western Region House of Assembly Debates, where Chief T. O. Omoniyi (Itsekiri) admitted on record that the Ijaws occupied over 70% of Warri Division’s riverine areas

Furthermore, in the celebrated Supreme Court case:

Shell Petroleum Development Co. v. Chief Otoko & Ors (1990) NWLR (Pt.159) 693,
the court upheld the Ijaw community’s title to land in the Gbaramatu area, dismissing Itsekiri claims.

ABITEYE, IJAHALA, KANTU ARE IJAWS — FACTS NOT FANTASIES

The attempt to lay claim to Abiteye, Ijahala and Kantu as “Itsekiri lands” is nothing but historical theft.

Let the records speak:

Abiteye is a traditional Ijaw fishing and settlement community, long before Shell Petroleum established its facilities.

The Ijahala (Ijaw Hala) settlement derives from Ijaw linguistic roots and is populated by the Ijaws.

Kantu is a Gbaramatu-Ijaw territory referenced in multiple oil MOUs between Gbaramatu communities and oil multinationals, including Chevron and SPDC.

We challenge OPC or any Itsekiri body to produce any pre-colonial or colonial document showing Itsekiri habitation or ownership of these communities.

ON SHRINES, WATER, AND FORESTS: ANOTHER DISTORTION

OPC absurdly claims that INEC created units “on shrines, water, and forests.” This is both deliberately misleading and insulting to the intelligence of the Nigerian public.

INEC delineated polling units within inhabited and traditional community spaces, including riverine settlements that are only accessible by boat. These are not “forests” or “shrines” but living communities with permanent populations.

Many Ijaw communities are water-based, just like the people of Ilaje, Nembe, and Andoni. That does not invalidate their democratic rights.

INEC’s guidelines, especially Paragraph 8 of the Manual for Election Officials, recognize riverine peculiarities and allow adaptation for polling units in non-road communities.

OPC’S DANGEROUS ACCUSATION OF BRIBERY IS BASELESS AND LIBELOUS

The assertion that Ijaw communities bribed INEC officials to favor them is a reckless, defamatory lie intended to malign the integrity of a constitutional body and the honor of an entire ethnic nationality.

We dare OPC to produce evidence of such bribery.

If anything, it was the Ijaw people who endured decades of marginalization under the fraudulent 1996 ward creation, where the Ijaw majority was given just 4 of 10 wards in Warri South-West, despite comprising over 70% of the population.

INEC’s recent exercise was a constitutional correction of a historical injustice, not a favor.

WARNING AGAINST INCITEMENT AND OUTSIDER PROPAGANDA

The OPC’s intervention is not only factually flawed — it is a reckless attempt to ignite ethnic tensions in Warri.

We remind the public of the 1997–2003 Warri Crisis, where political manipulation of ward delineation by Itsekiri elites triggered bloody conflicts, resulting in hundreds of deaths, displacement and the destruction of communities — including Ijaw towns like Okerenkoko, Oporoza and Gbaramatu.

By invoking phrases like “renewed crisis” and “loss of oil facilities,” the OPC has betrayed its true intent to serve as a proxy voice for Itsekiri land expansionism and intimidate INEC.

We say NO MORE.

WE WILL NOT BE ERASED — WE ARE HERE TO STAY

The Ijaw people have lived in these territories for centuries. We are not tenants. We are owners, custodians and stewards of our ancestral land.

We will not apologize for demanding equity.

We will not back down from historical truth.

And we will not allow outsider groups like OPC to rewrite our past or dictate our future.

OUR DEMANDS

We therefore demand the following:

Immediate public retraction and apology from OPC for its inciting and false publication.
That INEC remains steadfast in its duty and not be cowed by ethnic blackmail.
That the Federal Government warns all regional organizations, including OPC, to desist from interfering in sensitive boundary and electoral matters outside their regions.
That the security agencies investigate the source of OPC’s intervention and its sponsors within Warri.

“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.” Thomas Jefferson

Let it be known: we, the Ijaw people of Warri Federal Constituency, will resist erasure, distortion and intimidation in all its forms. We shall stand on the truth, rooted in history, law and our ancestors.

Signed,
Chief, Tiemopere Joshua
(President)
Chief, Ebike T. Goodtime
(Secretary)

Ijaw Stakeholders of Warri Federal Constituency