By Cletus Opukeme, Warri
The Okoloba Federated Community has emphasized that there was no time they had a land boundary with Okuama community. That the only land boundary they had is with Ewu Urhobo in Ughelli South. That the Okuama people were farmers from Ewu Urhobo indigenes who came for settlement as farmers and paid annual rent and other royalties to Okoloba Ijaw community in Bomadi LGA of Delta state..
Mr. Clement koki Chairman, Okoloba Federated Community chairman in a heavily worded press statement on Monday said, “‘Okoloba from time immemorial by collecting annual rents/royalties from strangers/settlers from various places (especially the Okuama Ewu-Urhobo) who come to farm on those lands and/or fish in those lakes in line with customary practice and we’re paying royalties to Okoloba community”
According to the Okoloba Federated Community chairman, ”We, Okoloba Federated Community wish to use this very unique medium to once again join Nigerians both at home and in diaspora to condemn in the strongest terms the killing of the 17 gallant officers and soldiers in the most gruesome manner in Okuama in Ughelii South LGA, Delta State and pray God grants the souls of the departed eternal rest, and their families the capacity to bear the loss.
”We equally empathize with those within the Okuama axis for the temporary inconveniences occasioned by the security measures put in place to forestall a spiral effect of the crisis and also to de-escalate tension. Having said that, we want to put on record that we have been watching with keen interest the various concocted stories, deliberate falsehoods, propaganda, misgivings as well as carefully orchestrated campaigns of calumny by some misguided persons and fifth columnists within the media space, in connection with the Okoloba/Okuama crisis. We have also studied the various narratives of the string of events that heralded the unwarranted killing of the 17 army officers and soldiers in Okuama in Ughelli South LGA, Delta State, and have decided to tell all right-thinking members of the Nigerian public our side of the story with the sole intention of putting issues and events in their proper perspective for posterity. In view of the fore-going, we wish to state unequivocally the following:” he noted.
Mr. Koki went into memory lane”” That Okoloba Federated Community in Bomadi Local Government Area, Delta State is unarguably the eldest son of Mein: the progenitor of all the Mein Ijaws, occupying the entire coastline of River Forcados, having settled there for centuries. Okoloba Federated Community maintains direct ancestral boundaries with Akugbene in Bomadi LGA, on the Southern flank: Ogodobiri in Bomadi LGA on the Northern flank: Oviri-Olomu in Ughelli-South LGA, Egodor and Agbodobiri communities in Burutu LGA respectively, on the Eastern flank, and of course, Ekamtagbene in Bomadi LGA and Oyangbene in Burutu LGA respectively on the Western flank.
”That Okoloba Federated Community is the undisputable proprietary owner of all that fishing Lakes (Afou Donou, Agu Bolou (Meinturubobor Donou), Oge Donou, Agbakoropei Donou, Okirimeli Donou, Benmo Donou, etc) :all that farm lands, economic trees, territorial waters falling within the ancestral boundaries so
elicited here above and that proprietary ownership and control has been peacefully established and maintained by Okoloba from time immemorial by collecting annual rents/royalties from strangers/settlers from various places (especially the Okuama Ewu-Urhobo) who come to farm on those lands and/or fish in those lakes in line with customary practice
”That Okoloba people are peace-loving, law-abiding, hospitable, benevolent and sociable, whose primary occupation is fishing and farming, and we have been co-existing with all our Mein Ijaw brothers peacefully from time immemorial.
” That the Okuama people on the other hand, are strangers from Ewu kingdom in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State. They are farmers who came seeking tor safe havens and were given some portions of land by Akugbene community (with whom we maintain direct ancestral boundaries on the Southern flank) to farm and fish. However, no sooner than they secured the portions of land for fishing and farming given to them by their benefactors that the Okuama strangers embarked on a wild and reckless ambition of land-grabbing and territorial expansion, as was aptly predicted P. V. Main (A. D. O) in page 56, paragraph 284 of his ’Assessment ’intelligence Report1 of the Commission of Inquiry, under the heading “SOBO INVASION”. P. V. Main had predicted that stranger Sobo (Urhobo) communities might one day claim ownership of land belonging to the Mein (ljo). This land-grabbing disposition the Okuama started by encroaching on the land of their benefactors (Akugbene) straying beyond the portions given to them and that set them on a war path with the Akugbene who accommodated them when they needed shelter, resuiting in series of altercations culminating in law suits that led to the 1945 judgment in favour of Akugbene: a fulfilment of P. V. Main’s prophecy.
”That the 1945 judgment unequivocally affirmed their (Okuama) strangers/settlers status in consonance with the ‘Intelligence Report’ of the Commission of inquiry set up to look into the root cause of the Akugbene/ Okuama embroglio. Not satisfied, they crossed our boundary line with Akugbene into Okoloba land which had also resulted to series of intermittent conflicts between us right from the days of our forefathers. Same Okuama people who accepted their stranger/settler status and were paying certain minimum rents to Okoloba for farming and fishing on our lands and fishing lakes for which
we have evidences! Their crafty and aggressive incursion and laying claim to Okoloba land is again an indisputable fulfilment of P. V. Man’s prophecy.
” That the crux of the intermittent conflicts between Okoloba and Okuama had been due to the resistance by Okoloba people towards the crafty and aggressive land-grabbing and territorial expansionist moves of the Okuama people, which came to the fore no sooner than they set foot on the land given to them by Akugbene people specifically for fishing and farming.
.” That the aggressive land-grabbing attitude of the Okuama people came to a head when in 2014, Okoloba Community set out to build a befitting permanent site for their secondary school. And the Okuama settlers mobilized their youths and thugs to disrupt the site-clearing process and a near-bloodbath situation erupted, wherein HRM S P Luke, Pere Kalanama Xlll, Pere of Akugbene – Mein Kingdom, interfaced with chiefs from Ewu kingdom to avert outright bloodbath and total breakdown of law and order. Thereafter, the Okuama people consistently unleashed terror on Okoloba, who made several reports to the Police, Army (JTF), DSS, NSCDC in Bomadi, and the local and state governments about the unbearable situation.
”That following from the ugly incident, the state government intervened via the Office of the Special Adviser on Peace Building and Conflict Resolution to the Executive Governor, Delta State in a Peace meeting, wherein both parties were charged to maintain peace, promising that government was going to resolve the dispute. While Okoloba people abided by the charge given by the state government, the Okuama people on the other hand continued with their aggression unabated. This prompted the Army (JTF) Bomadi to invite both parties to their Bomadi office for a meeting and sternly warned both parties to go back to their domains and remain peaceful. That brought about some reprieve but it didn’t last for long because they Okuama settlers kept on embarking on acts that were always heightening the tension. They never rested on their oars in fomenting one form of trouble or the other which Okoloba people had to be managing all the time and kept reporting to the authorities.
” That in a bid to find a lasting solution to the continued conflicts, and as a follow up, another Peace Parley was initiated by the State Government via the Special Adviser on Peace Building and Conflict Resolution to further calm frayed nerves on both sides, enhance peace and promised strongly that a lasting solution was underway.
Pursuant to the above, HRM S. P. Luke, Pere Kalanama VIII, Pere of Akugbene-Mein Kingdom convened a common boundary adjustment exercise in 2020 which was inconclusive but both parties accepted to work with it for peace to reign. Suffice it to say that the relative peace did not last as Okuama people destroyed the temporary boundary line by removing the survey beacons which invalidated the boundary exercise. Okuama resumed their hostilities with a higher frequency of criminality and violence which was so unbearable beyond what can be chronicled effectively, but we will take time out to elicit just a few gory details hereunder to underscore the magnitude of the Okuama aggression on Okoloba Federated Community:
i. Earlier in 2023: Kidnap and raping of a young pregnant Okoloba woman: Mrs Ogheghe Clement Tondase by Okuama settlers to a point of coma, on her way for routine ante-natal exercise in Akugbene and was rescued by a passerby and taken to Okoloba: a crime for which they, Okuama settlers, accepted culpability. This ugly event was reported to the police.
ii. 18th December, 2023: Capturing of eight (8) defenseless Okoloba persons among whom were heavily pregnant women and children and subjecting them to untold torture. This was also promptly reported to the appropriate authorities.
iii. 8th January, 2024: capturing one Mr. Owotorufa Ovie, an Okoloba indigene who was traveling peacefully to Akugbene and was subjected to severe torture that almost sent him to his untimely grave, but for the timely intervention of Akugbene people. Again, this was promptly reported to the authorities.
iv. 27th January, 2024: attacking Okoloba Federated Community with mercenaries with arms and ammunitions, which attack was swiftly foiled by Okoloba and the attention of the security agencies and the state government promptly drawn to it. As we speak, the matter is with the police.
v. 9th March, 2024: Kidnap and murder of Mr. Zipamone Pigha and his lifeless body thrown into the River Forcados. As we speak, the body is lying cold in the mortuary in the General Hospital, Bomadi. Again this was reported to the authorities. Pictorial evidence of the above incident is available.
vi. 11th March, 2024: kidnap and murder of one Anthony Aboh.
vii. 13th June 2024: Ambushing and shooting of defenceless Okoloba fishermen and women at Meinturuabobor River. Again, this was promptly reported to the security agencies. Pictorial evidences are also available.
It is however very instructive to note, that miffed by the January 27, 2024 sad event, the state government promptly summoned Okuama and Okoloba to Government House, Asaba for a Peace Parley to stem the tide of the rising hostilities and de-escalate tension. At the Peace Parley, both parties were made to sign a Peace Accord, promising to maintain peace in their various domains. It may interest the public to note that right there on the floor of the Peace Parley, a topmost leader in Ewu Kingdom and high profile academic (name withheld) said that the coming of Okuama to the Peace Parley was just a mere formality, and that they had a carefully designed plan they intend to hatch at all cost, no matter what happens and that it was the collective and irrevocable position of his Okuama people. And true to their threats, it was no sooner than we left the venue of the Peace Parley that they Okuama people started ambushing and attacking Okoloba people. One such episode was the ambushing of teachers who were going for interview in Bomadi with an intention to slaughtering them all, and then ambushing our people in Agu Bolou (Mienturubobor fishing lake) and shooting at them at very close range unprovoked but which event fortunately didn’t record any casualty. Permit us to add here also that the ambushing and cold-blooded murders of Messrs Zipamone Pigha on March 9, 2024 and Anthony Aboh on March 11, 2024 were direct fulfilments of the threats issued by the said top rank Ewu leader and high profile academic on the floor of the Peace Parley.
March 14, 2024: Killing of 17 army personnel in Okuama Community:-
As explicitly espoused above, Okuama people kidnapped Messrs Zipamone Pigha and Anthony Aboh (both Okoloba indigenes) on March 9 and 11, 2024 respectively, and it was the reports and the SOS calls made by the family members to the authorities (Police, Army (JTF), DSS, NSCDC etc. that prompted the Army (JTF) to respond and embark on the peace and rescue mission on that ill-fated day to Okuama Community in Ughelli South LGA, Delta State, to effect the release of the kidnap victims, and that culminated in the killing of the 17 officers and soldiers in Okuama Community as widely reported. That singular act was no doubt the height of barbarism and recklessness of the violent and murderous Okuama people because the soldiers were on a peace and rescue mission, despite the fruitless attempt by Okuama people embarking on a wild goose chase of concocting stories and constantly changing narratives to cover up their dastardly act and tracks: which has rather heightened their culpability more in the heinous crime. An act we condemn in the strongest terms and as a people, our hearts still bleed and quake for the souls of the gallant officers and soldiers who lost their lives in the most unthinkable and barbaric manner in the line of duty to their fatherland! We pray God grants their souls eternal rest and their families the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. Amen.
As the popular African adage goes: the witch cries in the night and the child dies in the morning, who do you ask that killed the child? They promised through their top rank academic and leader of carrying out a carefully orchestrated wicked plan they had perfected in their mind, no matter what happens and whose ox is gored, and followed their threat through with a string of unprovoked attacks, multiple kidnaps in quick succession with their victims’ lifeless bodies thrown into River Forcados, and the killing of the 17 fine army officers and soldiers, and eventual decapitation of their bodies (as widely reported) was a strong testament to their unquenchable taste for blood. Therefore, looking further for who was responsible for such dastardly act is merely dressing their blood-thirsty and blood-soaked ego, and of course unbridled criminal-cum- murderous disposition of the Okuama people.
In conclusion, we wish to re-iterate that Okoloba Federated Community only have and maintains ancestral boundary directly with Akugbene people. Okuama farmers are from far away upland Ewu-Urhobo kingdom and are strangers to Akugbene who gave them portions of land to farm and fish. So they do not have any basis claiming any land in the first instance, because they never owned one, and that they should vacate all that land which they have craftily and aggressively grabbed, as we shall not allow even a foot of our God-given land to be occupied by them for whatsoever reasons, and we will do everything legitimately possible, acting within the ambit of the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to achieve just that, without taking laws into our hands.
We are also very willing and ready to support the security agencies, the state and Federal governments to effectively resolve the long-standing impasse but we add that the root cause of the dispute must be explored exhaustively because that is the only sure bet to a lasting peace. We advise strongly that any hurried and haphazard approach to the dispute will be like pouring water on top of rock, which will not stand the test of time, whilst we strongly wish and pray for peace and prosperity to reign in Delta State and of course Nigeria at large.” He added
