Warri Indigenous People Movement, WIPM, has expressed dismay over harmful remarks about Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III, saying the monarch is not involved in arms importation.

The group, while responding to allegations against the monarch by some ethnic nationalities, demanded an investigation into the actual sources of arms proliferation in the Niger Delta.

Chairman of WIPM, Kingsley Tenumah; and Secretary of WIPM, Monoyo Edon, in a statement, urged security agencies to focus their efforts on those truly responsible for arms smuggling, illegal bunkering and destabilization of the Niger Delta.

According to them, they were concerned about repeated attempts to link the Olu of Warri, a globally respected traditional ruler, to these alleged activities.

The statement reads: WIPM is compelled to respond to the reckless and ethnically inflammatory press conference held by representatives of the Ijaw and Urhobo ethnic groups in Delta State on April 30, 2025.

“At that event, they made series of incendiary and unfounded allegations, including the deliberate targeting of a British officer of Itsekiri origin and an indirect but obvious attempt to malign the prestigious royal stool of His Majesty, the Olu of Warri.

“We wish to state emphatically that investigation is a process, not an event. The responsible course of action is for investigative authority to conclude their work and publish findings; not for groups to seize the narrative and run wild with baseless accusations. The British government has already cleared the air regarding the status of the detained officer in DSS custody. Yet, some sections of Urhobo in Warri and Ijaw of Ogbe-Ijoh continue to push a discredited and malicious narrative that serves no other purpose than to fan ethnic tension.

“We are deeply concerned by their repeated attempts to link the Olu of Warri, a globally respected traditional ruler to these alleged activities. This is a dangerous provocation that must stop immediately. His Majesty is too refined, too principled, and too dignified to be dragged into these petty and false claims. The Olu of Warri has no connection whatsoever to arms importation or the political interests being masked as security concerns by our Ijaw and Urhobo neighbours. Those who drag his name into this issue only expose their own desperation and disrespect for the sanctity of the traditional institution.

“We must remind the public and security agencies of an inconvenient truth that the Ijaw and Urhobo leaders conveniently omitted from their press conference that HRM Asari Dokubo has openly admitted to arming Tompolo to fight the Itsekiri. No joint statement was made at the time. No calls were made for investigation or prosecution. The selective outrage on display now is nothing short of hypocrisy.

“The Ijaw-Urhobo joint press conference is a diversionary tactic designed to detract from the real issue; the illegal stockpiling of weapons by known supposed ex-militants, particularly in Warri South-West, and the deliberate abuse of state security machinery to victimize innocent Itsekiris. The British officer being detained has no history of criminal activity. His only offense is his Itsekiri origin.

“We have it on good authority that certain top individuals from the aforementioned groups are actively pressuring the Department of State Services (DSS) to continue holding the officer, despite the absence of any evidence. If these individuals do not immediately cease their interference and intimidation, WIPM will have no choice but to publicly expose their names and roles in this gross abuse of power and ethnic profiling. We will not sit back while our son is scapegoated to serve the ethnic and political ambitions of others.

“Even more alarming is their continued obsession with the name of the Olu of Warri. Every time these groups make a public statement, they must mention the Olu. This fixation is not only disrespectful but smacks of deep rooted jealousy and inferiority complex.

“We make bold to state that if the Ijaw-Urhobo leaders can insinuate that the Olu could be involved in such pettiness, then they are invariably exposing their own kings and leaders as gun runners and complicit in all the cases of gun running, illegal bunkering, kidnapping of multinationals and men of the armed forces recorded in the Niger Delta.

“We demand: the Immediate release of our son, whose continued detention violates both due process and basic human rights.

“An end to the ethnic profiling and scapegoating of Itsekiris and our leaders. A public retraction of the spurious claims made against the Olu of Warri. A credible and balanced investigation into the actual sources of arms proliferation in the Niger Delta particularly in known hotspots deep in our creeks. The entire country is aware of the real gun runners in the Niger Delta, and they are not Itsekiri.”