JUST IN: Warri Elders Group Makes Final Rejection Of Olu Of Itsekiri’s Deception, False Supremacy And Attempt To Rewrite History, Ownership And Identity Of Warri Through Traditional Proclamations -

By Esther David

A SOLEMN DECLARATION BY THE CONCERNED ELDERS OF WARRI FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY

ADDRESSED TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA, THE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER, THE DELTA STATE GOVERNMENT, AND THE NIGERIAN AND INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC
DATE: 16/12/2025

RE: A FINAL REJECTION OF DECEPTION, FALSE SUPREMACY AND ANY ATTEMPT TO REWRITE THE HISTORY, OWNERSHIP AND IDENTITY OF WARRI THROUGH TRADITIONAL PROCLAMATIONS

We, the Concerned Elders of Warri Federal Constituency, speak today with the weight of memory, ancestry, law and truth. We speak not as agitators, not as youths driven by anger but as elders who have seen seasons change, regimes fall and lies recycled. What compels this declaration is not ambition but insult, an insult wrapped in fine language, seals and ceremony, presented to the world as peace but reeking of domination. The so-called “Royal Proclamation of Ambassage Chiefs in Itshekiri Kingdom” is hereby rejected completely and without reservation. We reject it historically, legally, psychologically, morally and constitutionally. It is not a peace document; it is a political instrument. It is not about coexistence; it is about control. It is not tradition; it is deception.

Warri did not begin in a palace. Warri did not begin with a crown. Warri did not begin with a proclamation. Long before the emergence of modern Warri township, long before colonial administrative convenience, long before indirect rule distorted reality, Ijaw and Urhobo peoples lived, governed, traded, fished, farmed, worshipped and buried their dead across the land today called Warri. This is not emotion or folklore; it is record. British colonial intelligence reports, provincial files and administrative correspondence consistently described Warri as multi-ethnic in origin, settlement and ownership. The 1928 Warri Township Assessment Report (CO 554/120/5) never declared Warri a mono-ethnic territory. The CSO 26/Vol.6/08549 Warri Province Intelligence Reports documented Ijaw riverine communities and Urhobo upland settlements as indigenous and integral parts of Warri. Earlier still, Portuguese chronicler Duarte Pacheco Pereira in 1505 and later John Barbot in 1732 recorded Ijaw control of the waterways, estuaries and trade routes of the Warri–Escravos axis long before the creation of Itshekiri. History, as E. H. Carr taught the world, is a dialogue between the past and the present; it is not a decree issued in 2025 to cure present political anxiety or demographic fear.

We must now speak plainly because deception survives where elders whisper. For decades, a carefully manufactured narrative has been sold to the outside world by the Itshekiris that Warri is ruled, owned and governed by one ethnic monarchy and that other peoples exist only by tolerance. This narrative is false, misleading and historically dishonest. No ethnic group rules Warri. No throne governs Warri. No kingdom owns Warri. What exists in Warri are seven distinct and historical kingdoms, each indigenous, autonomous and equal in status, none superior and none subordinate, none possessing authority over another. The attempt to project one kingdom as a “host” over others is a calculated deception designed to mislead outsiders, intimidate institutions and rewrite history by repetition. Warri consists of multiple indigenous kingdoms, including Ogbe-Ijoh, Gbaramatu, Isaba, Egbema, Okere-Urhobo, Agbarha and Itshekiri Kingdom itself. Each predates modern Nigeria, each possesses ancestral land, each maintains its own traditional ruler and each answers to no external throne. Any claim, whether direct or implied, that one kingdom hosts, represents or supervises others is not tradition; it is political misrepresentation.

The language used in the proclamation, words like “host,” “homeland,” “representation,” and “accountability to the conferring authority” is not innocent. It is psychological warfare by symbolism. Political psychology is clear that symbolic subordination always precedes structural domination. When a people are told their leaders serve at another’s pleasure, their presence is conditional and their identity is supervised, the intention is hierarchy, not harmony. Peace built on humiliation is not peace. Peace built on silence is not peace. Peace built on erased history is delayed conflict.

The courts have already spoken, repeatedly and clearly. No court in Nigeria or Britain has ever awarded exclusive ownership of Warri to any ethnic group. Ogegede v. Dore Numa (1925) concerned chieftaincy authority, not land ownership. Ometan v. Dore Numa (1926) addressed internal political issues, not territorial sovereignty. The Privy Council appeal of 1933 did not declare exclusive ownership of Warri. Shell Petroleum v. Tiebo VII (1996) affirmed Ijaw land rights in Warri South-West. A.G. Federation v. A.G. Abia & Ors (2002) reinforced the historical coastal ownership of Niger Delta peoples. Most recently, Timinimi v. INEC (SC/CV/1033/2022) ordered proper ward delineation based on landmass and population, exposing decades of demographic manipulation in Warri Federal Constituency. Courts deal in evidence, not deceptive and false mythology.

Nigeria is governed by a written Constitution, not by deceptive proclamations or seals. Section 1(1) of the 1999 Constitution declares that the Constitution is supreme and binding on all authorities and persons throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria. No traditional institution has the authority to redefine indigeneity, rank ethnic nationalities, create supra-ethnic political offices or supervise the representation of other peoples. Any attempt to do so is ultra vires, unconstitutional and void.

We address the Federal Government, the National Security Adviser and the Delta State Government directly. Warri is calm today not because injustice is absent but because elders have restrained the truth. Do not mistake restraint for weakness. Documents that erase history, deceive the outside world, undermine court judgments and precede unresolved INEC delineation disputes are a direct threat to peace and national security. As Justice Kayode Eso warned, the law is not an instrument of oppression in the hands of the powerful.

We therefore declare, clearly and finally, that Warri is a multi-ethnic ancestral territory, not a private estate; that Ijaw and Urhobo peoples are indigenous owners, not guests; that Warri has seven kingdoms, none superior to another; that no proclamation can alter history or judicial record; that any attempt to deceive the world about ownership or authority in Warri will be resisted lawfully, historically and intellectually; that the Federal Government must enforce constitutional supremacy; and that INEC must release the final ward delineation report as ordered by the Supreme Court.

We have survived colonialism. We have survived military rule. We have survived political manipulation. We will not be conquered by paper arrogance or ceremonial deception. We are not guests. We are not tenants. We are not subjects. Warri bows to no deceptive throne.

SIGNED:

Chief, Tiemopere Joshua
(President)

Chief, Ebikeke T. Goodstime
(Secretary)

Concerned Elders of Warri Federal Constituency (CEWFC)
For and on behalf of peace, truth and justice in the Niger Delta.

Cc:

The National Assembly of Nigeria

The Attorney General of the Federation

The Inspector General of Police

The Delta State House of Assembly