WARRI IS IJAW LAND - HISTORICAL TRUTH, LEGAL VICTORIES AND COLONIAL RECORDS EXPOSED ITSEKIRI FALSEHOODS -

By Esther David

OPEN LETTER TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, INEC, THE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS
Dated: [10/8/2025]

WARRI IS IJAW LAND – HISTORICAL TRUTH, LEGAL VICTORIES AND COLONIAL RECORDS AGAINST ITSEKIRI FALSEHOODS

I. INTRODUCTION – WHEN HISTORY SPEAKS, FALSEHOOD TREMBLES

For decades, the Itsekiri political elite have fed Nigeria with propaganda designed to erase our history, diminish our population and convert our ancestral lands into a conquered estate under a fraudulent, colonial-era invention called the “Olu of Warri.”

We say: enough.

We are the Ijaw of Warri Federal Constituency, Ogbe-Ijoh, Gbaramatu, Egbema, Isaba, Diebiri and our kin along the Escravos, Benin and Forcados rivers. We have lived, fished, traded and governed these territories centuries before any Itsekiri foot was sheltered among us.

Today we bring facts, colonial records, legal victories and eyewitness accounts from Europeans, explorers and academics all confirming that these lands and waterways have always been Ijaw territory.

II. COLONIAL-ERA EVIDENCE OF IJAW DOMINANCE

Jean-François Landolphe & Jacques Salbigoton Quesne (1823 Memoirs)
These French maritime explorers noted that the Olu of Warri’s influence extended “over both banks of the Benin River,” but those banks were inhabited by riverine peoples – overwhelmingly Ijaw. This was not ethnic Itsekiri land ownership, but a political relationship within an Ijaw-dominated river system.
Mamdani / Leton — Berkeley Geography Papers
They recorded unequivocally:

“To the south of Warri, in the swampy riverine areas, the dominant community is the Ijaw.”
This was long before colonial administrators elevated Itsekiri merchant-intermediaries for political convenience.

United Ijaw Historical Accounts
Missionary archives and nationalist compilations consistently confirm that the Ijaw were the ancient inhabitants of the Benin and Warri waterways with settlements predating the 15th-century arrival of Ginuwa from Benin.

III. ACADEMIC & ETHNOGRAPHIC AUTHORITIES

Source & Author Type Key Insight

Landolphe & Quesne (1823) Colonial travel narrative River systems dominated by Ijaw peoples.
Mamdani / Leton Academic geography Ijaw dominance in southern Warri river zones.
J.O.S. Ayomike. The Ijaw of Warri (1990) Ethnography Cultural & historical study of Ijaw communities in Warri.
J.O.S. Ayomike. A History of Warri (1988) Regional history Chronicles Ijaw presence before colonial restructuring.
Alagoa & Clark. The Izon of the Niger Delta (2009) Global history Roots Ijaw settlement in Niger Delta to ~800 BCE.
O. Okohoja. Who Controls Warri? (2016) Historical analysis Exposes colonial manipulation of Ijaw-Itsekiri relations.

IV. LEGAL & POLITICAL VINDICATIONS

Timinimi v. INEC (SC/CV/1033/2023)
The Supreme Court ordered INEC to correct Warri’s ward injustice, where a minority Itsekiri group holds 6 wards and the Ijaw majority 4 while the Urhobos none.

Ometa v. Dore Numa (1926)
Proved that Dore Numa’s leases were personal commercial contracts, not ethnic title deeds over Warri lands.

British Colonial Intelligence Reports (1920s–50s)
Consistently identify Ijaw settlements as permanent political and trading entities in Escravos–Forcados–Benin waterways.

V. HISTORICAL DECLARATIONS FROM THE COLONIAL ERA

Pacheco Pereira (c. 1485) — Described the inhabitants of the Escravos and Benin River mouths as “seafaring Ijo” long before any Itsekiri political structure existed.

Dutch Records (1716) Documented Ijaw naval strength, noting eight Ijaw war canoes heavily armed and engaging Portuguese/Dutch craft near Ughoton.

British Resident’s Dispatch (1932) Recognised Ogbe-Ijoh and Gbaramatu as independent polities, outside Itsekiri “Warri Province” jurisdiction.

VI. OUR DEMANDS TO INEC & THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Recognition of Ancestral Ownership. The Ijaw are the original owners of these lands and waterways. The Itsekiri came as refugees under Ginuwa’s flight from Benin and we sheltered them.
Truth About the Olu. Their monarchy was once rightly titled Olu of Itsekiri, a tribal title, never territorial.
Immediate Announcement of Ward Delineation. The final delineation must be released now; justice delayed is peace denied.
Rejection of Tenant Propaganda. We are not tenants. Tenants do not own rivers, creeks and towns they have inhabited for over 2,000 years.

VII. CONCLUSION – HISTORY IS OUR WITNESS

The rivers have memory. The soil remembers our footprints. The archives of Lisbon, The Hague, Paris and London testify. The courts have spoken.

We are Ijaw. We are Warri.
No propaganda will erase that truth.

INEC announce the final ward delineation now.
The peace of Warri depends on justice and justice depends on truth.

Signed:

Chief Tiemopere Joshua
(President)

Chief Ebikeke T. Goodstime
(Secretary)

IJAW STAKEHOLDERS OF WARRI FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY

Cc:

The President, Federal Republic of Nigeria

The National Security Adviser (NSA)

Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)