{"id":4472,"date":"2025-07-21T15:15:47","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T15:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coastaltimes.com.ng\/index.php\/2025\/07\/21\/the-stolen-drum-returns-the-delineation-has-come-to-stay\/"},"modified":"2025-07-21T15:20:48","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T15:20:48","slug":"the-stolen-drum-returns-the-delineation-has-come-to-stay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coastaltimes.com.ng\/index.php\/2025\/07\/21\/the-stolen-drum-returns-the-delineation-has-come-to-stay\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWe Will Not Surrender Truth For Peace, Trade Justice For Comfort\u201d Says Ijaw Group, Calls For Implementation Of Warri Federal Constituency Delineation Report"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Esther David<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will not surrender truth for peace. We will not trade justice for comfort. If this push continues, we will rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Open Letter
To:
PRESIDENT FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

INEC<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE STOLEN DRUM RETURNS: THE DELINEATION HAS COME TO STAY<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The noise is loud but truth is louder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For decades, a crafty few danced to the beat of a drum they did not own. They raised a kingdom on sand, scribbled fiction into history and manipulated maps to suit their shrinking interests. But the tide has turned. The masquerade has unmasked itself. The stolen drum is returning and the original drummers are alive, alert and fully awake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have endured quietly. We have submitted to justice. We have walked the long road not because we were weak but because we were wise. And now, after years of waiting, the world must hear us clearly: the delineation has come to stay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

INEC did not act in secret. It did not listen to whispers. It moved across riverbanks, creeks, uplands, it listened, verified and documented the realities of each people. We, the Ijaw and Urhobo nations, took INEC to our towns, our flow stations, our ancestral kingdoms. Not a piece of land was borrowed, not a name was forged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as soon as it became obvious that the truth would no longer favor them, the Itsekiris panicked. Their fear turned to lawsuits. Their desperation turned to propaganda. Their campaign moved from courtroom to cocaine, from oil sabotage to ethnic blackmail, from media manipulation to tribal lobbying. They ran from Abuja to Benin, Warri to Asaba and ended up in courtrooms where their lies were struck down, one after the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, they scream oppression. But the oppressor now wears the face of the oppressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not about bitterness. This is about balance. For too long, ward structures in Warri Federal Constituency have favored the minority while the majority watched from the margins. That era is over. This delineation is not a gift, it is justice delayed but now delivered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let no one be deceived, we have the numbers. We have the landmass. We have the kingdoms, not paper crowns and phantom history but real ancestral territories. We host the oil flowlines. We house the installations. We own the earth on which others claim to rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if anyone doubts our strength, let them revisit our silence. For even when one of our own, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, held the presidency, we refused to use influence to twist the process. We stayed quiet. We stayed lawful. We stayed focused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, we are here, not to beg but to remind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will not surrender truth for peace. We will not trade justice for comfort. If this push continues, we will rise. And when we rise, no drop of oil will flow, not a rig will pump, not a facility will operate because you cannot suppress the people and expect peace in their land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government must act now. INEC must announce the final delineation results without further delay. Ward names must reflect the people who live there. The map must match the heartbeat of the land. The fake supremacy must end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To our Itsekiri neighbors, let it be known, enjoying a stolen drum is easy but when the truth unveils lies cry. We are no longer the watchers, we are the reclaimers. We have come for what is ours. Not with violence but with truth. Not with arms but with law. And yet, we warn: do not push us to the edge of silence because our silence is heavier than your noise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The delineation must be concluded. The truth must be told. The old lies must be buried, once and for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are the land. We are the numbers. We are the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And this time, we will not be denied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sign,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chief, Tiemopere Joshua
(President)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chief Ebikeke T. Goodstime
(Secretary)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ijaw Stakeholders of Warri Federal Constituency<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cc:
INEC National Headquarters
INEC Delta State
National Security Adviser
Presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
International Oil Companies
Niger Delta Ministry
Civil Society Groups
Media \u2022 Diplomatic Corps \u2022 ECOWAS \u2022 United Nations<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Esther David We will not surrender truth for peace. We will not trade justice…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4230,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13],"tags":[1268,1270,1269],"class_list":["post-4472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-we-will-not-surrender-truth-for-peace","tag-calls-for-implementation-of-warri-federal-constituency-delineation-report","tag-trade-justice-for-comfort-says-ijaw-group"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coastaltimes.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/img_0448-1.jpg?fit=686%2C386&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4794,"url":"https:\/\/coastaltimes.com.ng\/index.php\/2025\/09\/10\/just-in-niger-delta-advocacy-group-writes-open-letter-to-president-tinubu-inec-nsa-over-delayed-implementation-of-warri-federal-constituency-delineation-report-calls-for-immediate-implementation\/","url_meta":{"origin":4472,"position":0},"title":"JUST IN: Niger Delta Advocacy Group Writes Open Letter To President Tinubu, INEC, NSA Over Delayed Implementation Of Warri Federal Constituency Delineation Report, Calls For Immediate Implementation","author":"Freeborn Abraye","date":"September 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Esther David OPEN LETTER TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND INEC BY: Defenders of Warri Federal Constituency Truth and JusticeDate: [10\/9\/2025] Warri Is Not a Kingdom, It Is a City of Kingdoms. 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