Ijaw Group Makes Rebuttal To Publication Made By Omadino Community Against Tantita, Describes The Publication As A Mischievous Distortion Of Facts Designed To Undermine National Security And Provoke Ethnic Warfare -

By Uche Alvin

OPEN LETTER

In Response to Omadino’s Anti-Tantita Petition Dated July 21, 2025

Titled: “Encroachment and Grabbing of Our Ancestral Land”

July 22, 2025

From:
Ijaw Stakeholders of Warri Federal Constituency

To:
The Group CEO,
Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL)
NNPC Towers, Abuja

RE: THE OMADINO LETTER – A MISCHIEVOUS DISTORTION OF FACTS DESIGNED TO UNDERMINE NATIONAL SECURITY AND PROVOKE ETHNIC WARFARE

INTRODUCTION

The recent letter dated July 21, 2025, by the Omadino community under the Itsekiri banner, alleging “land grabbing” and “expansionism” by the people of Gbaramatu Kingdom and Tantita Security Services, is not just a cry of desperation, it is a loud echo of a century-old propaganda machinery designed to suppress truth and sustain a false manipulative narratives and monarchy.

This document sets the historical, legal, geographical and moral records straight. It unmasks the colonial fraud that birthed the Itsekiri monarchy, exposes the agenda behind their media campaigns and clarifies the constitutional and ancestral rights of the Ijaw people of Gbaramatu and others

ON THE ANCESTRAL RIGHTS OF GBARAMATU

The Ijaw of Gbaramatu did not migrate into Warri territories, they are the original inhabitants. Historical records predate the arrival of the Itsekiris and their so-called founder, Ginuwa.

Pacheco Pereira’s testimony in 1506, published in Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis, confirms the presence of Ijaw people in Escravos River long before the Itsekiris:

“They are pagans who live on the banks of the river, fishing, farming and trading with the white man. These people call themselves Ijo (Ijaw) they know no king but govern themselves in their various communities.”
(Pereira, Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis, 1506)

The 1926 Intelligence Report on the Western Ijaws noted:

“The people of Gbaramatu and Ogbe-Ijoh had long settled the creeks before the arrival of the Benin prince Ginuwa and have remained the dominant tribe along the Forcados, Escravos, and Benin Rivers.”
(Intelligence Report, Warri Province, 1926)

DEBUNKING THE “LAND GRABBING” LIE

The accusation by Omadino community is not just false, it is inverted reality. It is the Itsekiris who have, for decades, attempted to grab, rename and occupy Ijaw lands using colonial structures, fake royal maps and media blackmail.

In the case of Ekeremor Zion v. Chief Ayomike (1964), the court ruled that “historical accounts produced by Itsekiris cannot override the physical evidence of long-standing Ijaw occupation and usage of the said land.”

Colonial maps from the 1910s-1930s, including those by the Royal Niger Company, consistently label Gbaramatu, Ikantu, Kurutie, Oporoza, Azama, and Okerenkoko as Ijaw territories, with no trace of Itsekiri settlement.

Justice Idowu’s ruling in Okere v. Western Region Govt (1961) stated clearly:

“The Itsekiri cannot claim ownership of all lands in Warri Division. Indigenous communities such as the Ijaw and Urhobo have longstanding customary rights that must be respected.”

WHO ARE THE TRUE EXPANSIONISTS?

Let history answer:

The Olu title was originally Olu of Itsekiri, not Warri. It was only after the British made Warri a colonial district headquarters in 1928 that Itsekiris started attaching “Warri” to the Olu’s title in 1952 to claim authority over the entire region, a move strongly rejected by Ijaw and Urhobo communities.

In 1951, Chief M. A. Rewane, an Itsekiri nationalist, openly confessed:

“We adopted the title Olu of Warri to give us leverage in British politics. But it does not mean we own Warri land.”
(Nigerian Tribune, August 3, 1951)

The Ginuwa myth is built on contradiction. Ginuwa was a Benin fugitive, not a founder. Even the Bini Kingdom has consistently denied granting land to Ginuwa in Warri.
(See: Edo State Gazette, 1975)

Allegations of Displacement and Intimidation: Blatant Lies

The Itsekiris allege displacement in places like Makaraba and Utonana. Yet these very places are part of the recognized Gbaramatu territorial region, whose occupation predates even the Olu’s invention in 1952.

There is no single court judgment that awards exclusive ownership of these places to Omadino or the Itsekiris. The Ijaw people have consistently won land-related court cases, including:

Suit No. W/89/71 – Eyin Pessu v. Chief Numa & Ors (1971) where the court held that Ode-Itsekiri does not equate to the entire Warri.

Ezekiel Okpughele v. Shell-BP (1973) where Gbaramatu was affirmed as host of several oil-bearing communities.

These are facts, not fiction. Enough of the crocodile tears.
Enough of the rehearsed cries of victimhood.
Enough of the centuries-old manipulation masked as monarchy.

The Itsekiris are masters of deceit, architects of land-grabbing and grand illusionists of “indigeneity” have made a career out of historical fraud

POPULATION & LAND MASS FACTS

Gbaramatu Kingdom alone has 42 recognized communities with over 230,000 people, far more than the entire Itsekiri population in the three Warri LGAs combined.

According to the 1952 Census and 2006 National Enumeration Reports, the Ijaw (Gbaramatu, Ogbe-Ijoh, Egbema, Arogbo, Isaba) outnumber the Itsekiri 8 to 1 in the Warri division.

The Delta State Government’s 2005 Spatial Planning Report confirms:

“Ijaw communities hold more oil-bearing lands and have more physical settlement size in the Warri South-West and South LGAs than the Itsekiris.”

Tantita Security Services: National Asset, Not Ethnic Tool

Tantita Security Services Nigeria Ltd (TSSNL), led by High Chief Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo), was contracted in 2022 by the Nigerian Government to safeguard vital oil infrastructure. Since then, Nigeria has witnessed a rebound in oil production:

Increase from 900,000 barrels/day (2022) to 1.5 million barrels/day (2023)

Revenue jump: $43.2 million per day recovered from oil theft

Source: Prezugha Ezon Report, 2024; NOSDRA Data; Vanguard News July 2025

Tantita’s model is based on community-inclusion and local surveillance, involving Ijaw, Urhobo, Itsekiri and Isoko youths where applicable.

The Omadino complaint is rooted in the loss of monopoly by a privileged few within Itsekiri leadership, not from any legitimate land dispute.

Let it be know to the world that the sudden alarm over Tantita’s operations is not about land, it’s about oil. Itsekiri elites have long benefited from illegal oil bunkering. The arrival of Tantita, led by Tompolo, has disrupted the illegal oil economy that was previously protected by silence from this elites.

The Nigerian Navy and DSS recently arrested several oil theft syndicates operating near Itsekiri enclaves notably Ebuzo, Olero and Utonlila.

Tantita operates under a federal contract and within defined jurisdiction approved by NNPC, NSA and the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Tantita employees are protecting the environment, not grabbing land.

CONCLUSION: THE ERA OF FRAUD IS OVER

Let this be known: The map must speak. The people must be heard. Justice must not be silenced.

The attempt by the Omadino community to drag Tantita and Gbaramatu Kingdom into a fabricated land tussle is a failed strategy. It is not land they fear, it is truth, population and justice.

We urge:

The NNPC, Presidency, and NSA not to be deceived by false alarms from a minority that has lived on borrowed titles and borrowed thrones.