The Itsekiri and Okpe ethnic nationalities of Delta State are at loggerheads over the proposed foundation laying of an Okpe Sub-Palace in Sapele.

The traditional palace of the Orodjie of Okpe is at Orerokpe, headquarters of Okpe Local Government Area of the state.

While the Itsekiri are not against the project, they however cautioned against trespass, urging the Okpe to confine their activities strictly to the 510 acres of land granted to them through a long-standing court judgment.

But the people of Okpe maintained that Sapele town is located on ancestral Okpe land, a position they said predates colonial administration and has not been lawfully altered.

They 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.

Reacting to the proposed sub-palace, the Alema of Warri Kingdom, Chief Emmanuel Tselomi Uduaghan, cautioned that any action beyond the scope of the ruling on the 510 acres of land granted Okpe in Sapele could trigger a fresh communal crisis in the old commercial town.

“I hope that the proposed foundation-laying ceremony of the sub-palace by the Orodje of Okpe is within the 510 acres granted to the Okpe in the judgment of Chief Ayomanor v. Ginuwa II (W.A.C.A), as anything outside this could trigger crisis in Sapele.

“Such actions will be resisted by every legal means,” Uduaghan warned.

He dismissed claims by the Okpe people that the judgment conferred ownership of Sapele on them, clarifying that the ruling only granted a clearly defined parcel of land and not the entire town.

According to him, historical records and colonial intelligence have consistently shown that Sapele is not an exclusive settlement of the Okpe people, but part of the ancestral territories of the Itsekiri nation

Uduaghan referenced the 1930 colonial Intelligence Report on the Okpe Sobo Clan, which listed prominent Okpe villages as Amukpe, Elume, Orerokpe and Gbukurusu, without mentioning Sapele

The Alema of Warri, who said he administers Ugbekoko, Utonyatsere, Ajimele, Aji Dore, Irakpa and other Itsekiri communities in Sapele under the overlordship of the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III, maintained that Okpe claims over Sapele lack both legal and historical basis.

“Sapele is not the exclusive town of the Okpe people. From time immemorial, Sapele belongs to the Itsekiri people,” Uduaghan said, urging all parties to respect the rule of law and avoid actions capable of undermining the fragile peace in the area,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Okpe Interest Group (OIG), in a statement by Comrade Ejomafume Akpomevine, described the Alema position on the matter 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, Sapele town is located on ancestral Okpe land, a position it said predates colonial administration and has never been lawfully altered.

The OIG also referenced what it described as a long-recognised natural boundary between Sapele and Abigborodo, identifying Hole Creek on 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 the boundary, describing such efforts as historically inaccurate and potentially destabilising.

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 Ayomano v. Ginuwa II, which, it said, has been repeatedly misrepresented as restricting Okpe territorial rights in Sapele.

The group added that the judgment neither declared Sapele as Itsekiri land nor extinguished Okpe ownership beyond a specific acreage.

On traditional authority, the OIG reaffirmed the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom as the constitutionally and historically recognised 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 towards other ethnic groups resident in Sapele, the group cautioned against what it described as provocative statements that could undermine communal harmony. (Nigerian Tribune)