By Emma Amaize

WARRI—THE  Warri Ijaw Monitoring Group, WIMPG, yesterday, said the claim by Itsekiri ethnic group, through the Olu of Warri, His Majesty, Ogiame Ikenwoli, that the site of the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko, belonged to it, is false.

Chairman of WIMPG, Chief Patrick Bigha, in a statement, in Warri, said: “Ordinarily, we would not have joined issues with the baseless presentation made to the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, during his visit to Delta State, because almost everyone in this country, including the Vice President, knows the troublesomeness of the Itsekiri when it comes to the ownership of land in Delta State.

“But for the records, we wish to state as follows: Okerenkoko community is the largest in terms of land mass and population as well as the third community in Gbaramatu Kingdom, which is the cradle of Ijaw origin historically.

“The Itsekiri have no land in Delta State as attested to by an Itsekiri son in early 20th  century as contained in a certified true copy of intelligent report of Warri obtained at the National Archives (Chief Dore Numa reply to the Warri Province Resident, upon a petition written by the Ogbe-Ijoh People, pages 1-4). Chief Numa said in his letter that the Itsekiri have no land where they are occupying now, and that it was the colonial masters that forcefully took land from the Ijaw and the Urhobo and gave to them.

“The land in which the Itsekiri palace is built in Warri town belongs to the Okere Urhobo, and they cannot deny this fact.

“Itsekiri have not participated in any agitation for a better living for the people of the Niger Delta region, but they always benefit whenever the government pays attention to issues of development and participation in governance and oil business. They only know how to criticize and condemn processes that lead to negotiation and recognition by government. The Presidential Amnesty Programme and the recent visit by the Vice president are points in case.”

“It is worthy of note that the demands presented to the Vice President by the Itsekiri monarch were selfish ones, unlike the ones presented by the Ijaws in Oporoza.”