The Itsekiri Historical Front (IHF) has carefully read the publication credited to Senator Ede Dafinone concerning Sapele and the rightful intervention of Chief Emmanuel Oritsejolomi Uduaghan, the Alema of Warri Kingdom. We state again, clearly and without equivocation: Chief Emmanuel Uduaghan is absolutely correct, and we stand firmly by him.
This response is necessary because Senator Dafinone’s publication is not merely inaccurate; it is a deliberate attempt to rewrite history, misapply the law, and erase the Itsekiri people from a town where they are historically, legally, and indigenously rooted.
A SENATOR WITH A CONSISTENT RECORD OF DENIAL
Senator Dafinone has once again shown why he is widely regarded as one of the most ethnically biased politicians in Nigeria. A man elected to represent Delta Central, yet who repeatedly speaks and acts as though he is an ethnic spokesperson for only one group, while systematically denying the existence and history of the Itsekiri people within the same constituency.
This publication follows a familiar pattern: denial, distortion, intimidation, and intellectual arrogance. If this is not deliberate ignorance, then Senator Dafinone urgently needs to educate himself, because no informed person can make the claims he has made and still pretend to be serious.
THE BIG FALSEHOOD: “OKPE OWNS ALL OF SAPELE”
The most reckless assertion in Senator Dafinone’s publication is his claim that:
“Title to all lands in Sapele Community is vested in the Sapele Okpe Community Land Trust Association.”
This claim is false, unsupported, and legally indefensible.
We ask again, publicly and directly:
• Which court judgment granted Okpe title to all of Sapele?
• What is the name or number of the case?
• Who were the parties?
• Which judge delivered such a ruling?
No such judgment exists.
What does exist are court decisions granting limited possessory or farming rights over specific parcels of land, most notably 510 acres under WACA 41/43. That judgment never declared Sapele an exclusively Okpe town, nor did it vest ownership of the entire town in any single ethnic group.
By contrast, Itsekiri ownership of Obotie land was granted full title on 27 March 1925, reaffirmed again in 2008, covering over 1,800 acres. In addition, Itsekiri landholdings in Ugberikoko, Ajimele, Ogun-Aja, Aja-Ojigwo and other parts of present-day Sapele LGA are well documented.
The legal position is therefore clear: Sapele is not, and has never been, exclusively owned by the Okpe.
THE NANA-WAR REFUGEE MYTH IS HISTORICALLY IMPOSSIBLE
We state this categorically and without reservation:
The Itsekiri did NOT come to Sapele as refugees during or after the Nana War of 1894.
This claim collapses instantly under the weight of dated European records written before 1894. History does not move backwards. A people documented in Sapele before 1894 cannot logically have arrived there because of events that occurred after.
EUROPEAN PRIMARY SOURCES — FULL QUOTATIONS, NO DISTORTION
European explorers, traders, and colonial officials left behind primary, contemporaneous records. These are not oral traditions or modern reconstructions. They are dated documents.
In 1893, Captain H. L. Gallwey, British Vice-Consul, wrote in The Geographical Journal:
“First we come to the Jakris, who are connected in race and language with the Yoruba people, extending from the Mahin country on the west to the Forcados on the east, and inland about as far as Sapele.”
This statement was made before the Nana War. It places the Itsekiri inland as far as Sapele, clearly and unmistakably. In fact he even met Nana at the time.
Another European account describing the late 1800s recorded:
“West of the Niger Delta, the Itsekiri settlements included Ebrohemie, Warri and Sapele.”
The word used is settlements, not camps, not tenants, not refugees.
In 1897, during British military coordination, a European captain wrote:
“I am arranging for carriers and water transport with the Jakri Chiefs of Warri, Benin and Sapele, so that when I meet Admiral Rawson at Brass…”
This is decisive. It confirms recognized Itsekiri chiefs operating in Sapele, named alongside Warri and Benin (Benin River), exercising authority sufficient for imperial logistics. Refugees do not negotiate military transport on behalf of a government.
These records alone completely destroy the Nana-war refugee narrative.
MISUSE OF COLONIAL COURT DECISIONS
Senator Dafinone’s reliance on Ayomano v. Ginuwa II (9 WACA 85) is intellectually dishonest when stripped of context. As stated before the case did not declare Sapele exclusively Okpe, nor did it erase pre-existing Itsekiri presence.
Recognition of the Orodje of Okpe for administrative purposes under state law does not translate into exclusive ethnic ownership of land or sole indigeneity. Statutory recognition does not abolish land titles, ancestral presence, or history.
The Orodje has the right to site a palace on Okpe land. This has never been disputed. Which he did within his 510 acres of land.
What is disputed — rightly — is any attempt to site a palace on Itsekiri land within Sapele LGA, which is provocative and unnecessary.
OUR FINAL POSITION
Sapele is, and has always been, part of itsekiri land and although the court recognized okpe is also part owner with their 510 acres of land we do not dispute that.
The Itsekiri were present before 1894, were documented by Europeans, held land, exercised authority, and remain there today by history, law, and right.
If Senator Dafinone is not being deliberately dishonest, then he is simply ignorant and either way, he needs to educate himself. What he published is neither law, nor history, nor leadership; it is nothing more than ethnic propaganda. The statement reeks of intellectual bankruptcy, and it is an absolute disgrace coming from someone occupying the office of a senator.
We conclude by reminding Senator Dafinone of a basic constitutional fact:
You are not an Urhobo senator. You are a Delta Central senator. You represent both Itsekiri and Urhobo of Delta Central. Stop being an ethnic bigot.
Signed:
Comr. Lily-white O Esigbone
Chairman
Mr. Oritsegbubemi Adrian Edema
Chairman itsekiri historical front UK
Silva Samuel Maku
Secretary
Comr. Oritseweyiologbara Kwame Woode
PRO.
