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The Okpe Interest Group has issued a rejoinder to a recent publication credited to Chief Emmanuel Oritsejolomi Uduaghan, the Alema of Warri Kingdom, over comments concerning the proposed foundation laying of an Okpe Sub Palace in Sapele, Delta State.
In a statement signed by Comrade Ejomafume Akpomevine on behalf of the group, the Okpe Interest Group described the publication as a distortion of history capable of inflaming ethnic relations if left unaddressed. The group said its response was aimed at clarifying historical and territorial facts while reaffirming its commitment to peaceful coexistence.
According to the statement, the group maintained that Sapele town is located on ancestral Okpe land, a position it said predates colonial administration and has never been lawfully altered. It stressed that the Okpe people are indigenous to Sapele and not settlers or tenants, noting that the town’s growth into a major urban centre occurred on Okpe territory, with other ethnic nationalities being accommodated over time.
The Okpe Interest Group also referenced what it described as a long recognizednatural boundary between Sapele and Abigborodo, identifying Hole Creek along the Benin River where the Sapele/Abigborodo Bridge is situated as the traditional and administrative demarcation between Okpe and Itsekiri territories. It warned against attempts to reinterpret or deny this boundary, describing such efforts as historically inaccurate and potentially destabilizing.
Addressing the use of colonial records in land and boundary debates, the group argued that colonial intelligence reports were administrative tools and not instruments for transferring indigenous land ownership. It insisted that no colonial document ceded Sapele to the Itsekiri people.
The statement further challenged interpretations of the judgment in Chief Ayomanov. Ginuwa II, which it said has been repeatedly misrepresented as restricting Okpeterritorial rights in Sapele.
According to the group, the judgment neither declared Sapele as Itsekiri land nor extinguished Okpe ownership beyond a specific acreage.
On traditional authority, the Okpe Interest Group reaffirmed the Orodje of OkpeKingdom as the constitutionally and historically recognized ruler with jurisdiction over Okpe land, including Sapele. It described the proposed Okpe Sub Palace as an internal cultural and administrative initiative within the Okpe Kingdom.
While restating the Okpe people’s history of peaceful coexistence and hospitality toward other ethnic groups resident in Sapele, the group cautioned against what it described as provocative statements that could undermine communal harmony.
It warned that tolerance should not be misconstrued as a relinquishment of ancestral rights.
The group also called on the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III, to caution his subjects against public statements capable of provoking ethnic tension or disputing established territorial boundaries, stressing the role of traditional institutions as custodians of peace.
The statement concluded by reiterating the Okpe Interest Group’s commitment to dialogue, lawful engagement, and peaceful coexistence, while insisting it would continue to respond to what it described as misinformation concerning Okpehistory and territory.
