The Abigborodo community has reaffirmed its claim to Ugbekoko, Uton Iyatsere and lands associated with the PPL 220 oil field, in response to recent counter-claims attributed to leaders of the Sapele Okpe community.

In a position paper, Hon. Misan Ukubeyinje, Chairman of the Abigborodo Management Committee, urged relevant government agencies and stakeholders to carefully review historical and documentary records before taking any position on the ownership and naming of the oil field.

Ukubeyinje was reacting to statements circulated on an online platform which called on the Federal Ministry of Environment, oil companies and other authorities to disregard Abigborodo’s claims and consider changes to the existing designation of PPL 220.

According to him, Abigborodo’s position is based on historical records, archival materials and administrative documents, which he said support the community’s longstanding association with Ugbekoko and Uton Iyatsere.

He stated that records obtained from the National Archives in Ibadan, as well as correspondence attributed to Emmanuel Oritsejolomi Uduaghan, the Alema of Warri Kingdom, reference investigations and proceedings conducted during the colonial era that recognised Abigborodo’s claims to the areas in question.

Ukubeyinje further noted that several Itsekiri communities, including Abigborodo, Obotie, Aruwun, Ogorode, Ajimele, Ogwanja and Aja-Ojigwo, are documented in colonial-era reports as early settlements within the wider Sapele area. He cited intelligence reports which, according to him, recorded the movement of Okpe groups into the area in the early 1900s, after Sapele had already emerged as a colonial administrative and commercial centre.

He also referenced historical court records and correspondence from the 1930s and 1940s, including cases involving farmland disputes and petitions addressed to colonial authorities, which he said were reviewed by the administration at the time.

Addressing arguments based on present-day local government boundaries, Ukubeyinje explained that such administrative divisions were created for governance purposes and, in his view, do not necessarily determine the extent of ancestral land ownership.

He further referred to the 2021 Judicial Panel of Enquiry into the Okpe-Urhobo forest reserve, noting that the panel’s report identified Ugbekoko, Obotie and Aja-Ojigwo as Itsekiri communities and recognised Uton Iyatsere as an Itsekiri settlement.

Ukubeyinje also expressed concern over reports of a meeting allegedly involving the Delta State Commissioner for Oil and Gas, Navante Exploration and Production Limited and representatives of the Sapele Okpe community. He called for transparency in all engagements relating to the oil field to ensure fairness and inclusiveness.

He questioned whether any individual or agency has the authority to alter the name of an oil field that has already been designated through regulatory processes, adding that the naming of PPL 220, according to him, followed consultations and regulatory approvals.

Maintaining that Abigborodo is the community most directly affected by activities within the PPL 220 area, Ukubeyinje appealed to the Minister of Environment, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the Minister of Petroleum Resources, the Delta State Government and other relevant institutions to consider all available records and perspectives in addressing the matter.

He urged stakeholders to handle the issue with sensitivity and adherence to due process in the interest of peace and stability in the area.