{"id":4611,"date":"2025-08-10T19:52:02","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T19:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coastaltimes.com.ng\/index.php\/2025\/08\/10\/warri-is-ijaw-land-historical-truth-legal-victories-and-colonial-records-exposed-itsekiri-falsehoods\/"},"modified":"2025-08-10T19:52:02","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T19:52:02","slug":"warri-is-ijaw-land-historical-truth-legal-victories-and-colonial-records-exposed-itsekiri-falsehoods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coastaltimes.com.ng\/index.php\/2025\/08\/10\/warri-is-ijaw-land-historical-truth-legal-victories-and-colonial-records-exposed-itsekiri-falsehoods\/","title":{"rendered":"WARRI IS IJAW LAND – HISTORICAL TRUTH, LEGAL VICTORIES AND COLONIAL RECORDS EXPOSED ITSEKIRI FALSEHOODS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

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

WARRI IS IJAW LAND – HISTORICAL TRUTH, LEGAL VICTORIES AND COLONIAL RECORDS AGAINST ITSEKIRI FALSEHOODS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I. INTRODUCTION – WHEN HISTORY SPEAKS, FALSEHOOD TREMBLES<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201cOlu of Warri.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We say: enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

II. COLONIAL-ERA EVIDENCE OF IJAW DOMINANCE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Landolphe & Jacques Salbigoton Quesne (1823 Memoirs)
    These French maritime explorers noted that the Olu of Warri\u2019s influence extended \u201cover both banks of the Benin River,\u201d 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.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Mamdani \/ Leton \u2014 Berkeley Geography Papers
    They recorded unequivocally:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    “To the south of Warri, in the swampy riverine areas, the dominant community is the Ijaw.\u201d
    This was long before colonial administrators elevated Itsekiri merchant-intermediaries for political convenience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. 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.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      III. ACADEMIC & ETHNOGRAPHIC AUTHORITIES<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Source & Author Type Key Insight<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      IV. LEGAL & POLITICAL VINDICATIONS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Timinimi v. INEC (SC\/CV\/1033\/2023)
      The Supreme Court ordered INEC to correct Warri\u2019s ward injustice, where a minority Itsekiri group holds 6 wards and the Ijaw majority 4 while the Urhobos none.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Ometa v. Dore Numa (1926)
      Proved that Dore Numa\u2019s leases were personal commercial contracts, not ethnic title deeds over Warri lands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      British Colonial Intelligence Reports (1920s\u201350s)
      Consistently identify Ijaw settlements as permanent political and trading entities in Escravos\u2013Forcados\u2013Benin waterways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      V. HISTORICAL DECLARATIONS FROM THE COLONIAL ERA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Pacheco Pereira (c. 1485) \u2014 Described the inhabitants of the Escravos and Benin River mouths as \u201cseafaring Ijo\u201d long before any Itsekiri political structure existed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

      British Resident\u2019s Dispatch (1932) Recognised Ogbe-Ijoh and Gbaramatu as independent polities, outside Itsekiri \u201cWarri Province\u201d jurisdiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      VI. OUR DEMANDS TO INEC & THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      1. Recognition of Ancestral Ownership. The Ijaw are the original owners of these lands and waterways. The Itsekiri came as refugees under Ginuwa\u2019s flight from Benin and we sheltered them.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      2. Truth About the Olu. Their monarchy was once rightly titled Olu of Itsekiri, a tribal title, never territorial.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      3. Immediate Announcement of Ward Delineation. The final delineation must be released now; justice delayed is peace denied.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      4. Rejection of Tenant Propaganda. We are not tenants. Tenants do not own rivers, creeks and towns they have inhabited for over 2,000 years.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        VII. CONCLUSION – HISTORY IS OUR WITNESS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        The rivers have memory. The soil remembers our footprints. The archives of Lisbon, The Hague, Paris and London testify. The courts have spoken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        We are Ijaw. We are Warri.
        No propaganda will erase that truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        INEC announce the final ward delineation now.
        The peace of Warri depends on justice and justice depends on truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Signed:<\/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:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        The President, Federal Republic of Nigeria<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        The National Security Adviser (NSA)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        President of the Senate<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Speaker, House of Representatives<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Delta State Governor<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        International Community: United Nations, African Union, ECOWAS, European Union<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        National & International Media Houses<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        By Esther David OPEN LETTER TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, INEC, THE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER AND…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4506,"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":[1337,1336],"class_list":["post-4611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-legal-victories-and-colonial-records-exposed-itsekiri-falsehoods","tag-warri-is-ijaw-land-historical-truth"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coastaltimes.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/img_1178-1.jpg?fit=604%2C907&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3734,"url":"https:\/\/coastaltimes.com.ng\/index.php\/2025\/06\/26\/the-dilution-of-truth-must-end-itsekiri-falsehoods-cannot-stand-against-historical-reality___says-concerned-indigenous-stakeholders-of-warri-federal-constituency\/","url_meta":{"origin":4611,"position":0},"title":"The Dilution Of Truth Must End: Itsekiri Falsehoods Cannot Stand Against Historical Reality___Says Concerned Indigenous Stakeholders Of Warri Federal Constituency","author":"Freeborn Abraye","date":"June 26, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Uche Alvin PRESS RELEASE THE DILUTION OF TRUTH MUST END: ITSEKIRI FALSEHOODS CANNOT STAND AGAINST HISTORICAL REALITY Concerned Indigenous Ijaw Stakeholders of Warri Federal Constituency As patriotic Nigerians and direct stakeholders in the enduring quest for justice and equity in Warri Federal Constituency, we issue this urgent public statement\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/coastaltimes.com.ng\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coastaltimes.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_0306-1-1.jpg?fit=679%2C452&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coastaltimes.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_0306-1-1.jpg?fit=679%2C452&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coastaltimes.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_0306-1-1.jpg?fit=679%2C452&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4411,"url":"https:\/\/coastaltimes.com.ng\/index.php\/2025\/07\/14\/group-makes-rebuttal-to-publication-made-by-itsekiri-historical-front-says-the-great-lies-of-warri-will-be-exposed\/","url_meta":{"origin":4611,"position":1},"title":"Group Makes Rebuttal To Publication Made By Itsekiri Historical Front, Says The Great Lies Of Warri Will Be Exposed","author":"Freeborn Abraye","date":"July 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Uche Alvin THE GREAT LIES OF WARRI EXPOSED: A REBUTTAL TO THE DECEITFUL ITSEKIRI HISTORICAL FRONT Issued by: Ijaw Stakeholders of Warri Federal ConstituencyDate: July 13, 2025 Let it be made abundantly clear: the Itsekiri Historical Front\u2019s rejoinder dated July 13, 2025, is a glaring act of historical distortion,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/coastaltimes.com.ng\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coastaltimes.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/img_0886-1.jpg?fit=244%2C206&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4415,"url":"https:\/\/coastaltimes.com.ng\/index.php\/2025\/07\/15\/the-myth-of-itsekiri-ownership-of-warri-a-colonial-invention-unraveled___ijaw-stakeholders-group\/","url_meta":{"origin":4611,"position":2},"title":"The Myth Of Itsekiri Ownership Of Warri: A Colonial Invention Unraveled___Ijaw Stakeholders Group","author":"Freeborn Abraye","date":"July 15, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Esther David IJAW STAKEHOLDERS OF WARRI FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY TRUTH-TELLING MEMORANDUM TO NIGERIANS, INEC AND THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY Date: July 15, 2025RE: HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL TRUTH-TELLING IN WARRI THE MYTH OF ITSEKIRI OWNERSHIP OF WARRI: A COLONIAL INVENTION UNRAVELED It is time to break the wickedness of centuries. 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