We’re not under Olu of Warri, Itsekiri community declares

Ugborodo community in Delta State has declared that it is not under the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Ikenwoli.

Twenty seven members of the Ugborodo Community Council of Elders disclosed this in a statement.

The Toritsemogha of Ugborodo, Thomas Metseagharun, explained that Ugborodo is an autonomous community under the leadership of Olaja-Orori.

The community refuted two open letters by loyalists of the monarch to President Muhammadu Buhari in a national daily, stating that Ugborodo is part and parcel of Warri kingdom.

Metseagharun said: “Ugborodo is an autonomous community. We have been in existence since 13 AD. It is the oldest community in this area and we are not under anybody.

“This community is under the Olaja-Orori, which is governed by Benson Dube Omadeli. Unfortunately, people outside have given us negative names because of the wealth found in the community.

“We are fighting against these agents of destruction and stabilization, because you cannot change who we are. We know that we originated from Ode in Ijebu land. We are from the Yoruba lineage.”

Ugborode, an Itsekiri community in the Warri South West Local Council, has been embroiled in internal leadership crisis that has claimed many lives.

The fresh protest started when loyalists of the Olu of Warri wrote to President Muhammadu Buhari on the need to commence work at the abandoned Ogidigben Export Processing Zone.

They claimed that the location of the export facility in Ugborodo was part of the Olu of Warri’s kingdom.

In a peaceful protest at the weekend, the community asserted that they had never been under the Olu of Warri.

They claimed that they neither have an Ugborodo representative at the palace of the monarch, nor any land in Ode-Itsekiri, which is the ancestral home of the Itsekiri people. 

The community protested against what they called “slavery” adding that they could no longer tolerate the injustice against them by the monarch’s palace.

He said: “How can we have Chevron Nigeria Limited in our community and are still living in abject poverty? Some people in Warri are calling us armed robbers, kidnappers and oil vandals.

The protesters carried various placards as “Ugborodo kingdom is not part of Olu of Warri,” “We have different monarchies as Ugborodo kingdom, Gbaramatu kingdom and Warri kingdom,” “There are no kidnappers, murderers and criminals in Ugborodo.”