The owners of Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State, the Odion Ogisi family, has given a 30-day ultimatum to the Urhobo families of Oghorogbo, Eyekpimi, Eravo and Onoriobe, to pay the arrears of one pound yearly tax imposed on them as tenants by a court judgment in 1928.

This ultimatum was handed down to the descendants of the four patriarchs at a press briefing yesterday in Lagos, by the eldest member of the Odion Ogisi family and rights activist, Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor.

Lori-Ogbebor noted that her forefather, Odion-Ogisi, is the original owner of Warri South, but out of magnanimity, he gave two plots to the Urhobo, who came to farm and settle in the area. She lamented that what started as a friendly gift later became complicated when the tenants wanted to take over the land by force, probably because they outnumbered the Odion-Ogisi family.

She stated that the legal action that followed led to the court’s pronouncement in 1928 that the entire Warri South lands belong to the Odion Ogisi family and that the four Urhobo families would be paying one pound yearly to the family. She noted that according to legal records, the court also acknowledged that Odion Ogisi only gave out two plots of land to the Urhobo families as tenants and warned them not to do farm work anywhere outside those two plots without permission from the owners of the land.

She lamented that they flouted the court judgment and have been tormenting the owners of the land ever since then. “Years later the children refused to pay the yearly one pound and our fathers went to court. The court again ruled that they must pay and that they should never plant any crop or tree without permission and that has been the legal position till date.

“The Urhobo should start paying one pound every year from now. Our kindness has been taken for granted. We have been beaten to stupor. The land from Odion to Okere belongs to us. We give Urhobo 30 days to pay us one pound yearly starting from 1928,” Lori-Ogebor stated.

Continuing, she said: “But if this peaceful demand is not met, we will resort to our usual legal battle.”

She further quoted one of the court rulings, where the Urhobo were asked to pay the Odion family one pound annually for the usage of their land, saying, “Case No. 388/28 of the Native Appeal Court of Warri between the first Defendant as plaintiff and Iyara as the Defendant shows that the Ogisi family are the owners of Odion land and that Iyara and his people were ordered to pay annually one pound for the right to remain in possession and to farm thereon. Iyara is dead. He was the first plaintiff and at the time of the case was head of the Oghorogbo family.”

She insisted that the Odion Ogisi family has enough legal documents to prove that Warri South belongs to it and challenged anybody with contrary claim to come forward with evidence. (Daily Sun)