PUBLIC NOTICE TO SENATOR JOEL-ONOWAKPO THOMAS AND THE IJAW NATION:
THE ITSEKIRI PEOPLE WILL NEVER SURRENDER WARRI OR ANY OF THEIR TERRITORY FOR THE PROPOSED TORU-EBE STATE ⚠️
We, the Itsekiri people, wish to inform and warn the general public, particularly Senator Joel-Onowakpo Thomas, who represents Delta South Senatorial District, and elements within the Ijaw nation, that the plot to annex Itsekiri lands, especially Warri and its environs, into a proposed Ijaw-dominated state known as Toru-Ebe, is illegal, provocative, and will be resisted in full, politically, legally, and historically.
Let it be known far and wide:
> Warri is Itsekiri land. Warri has always been Itsekiri land. Warri will remain Itsekiri land.
HISTORICAL FACTS THAT PROVE ITSEKIRI OWNERSHIP OF WARRI:
1. The Olu of Warri Kingdom, the traditional ruler of the Itsekiri people, has existed since the early 14th century (circa 1480s–1500s), long before the British colonial era. The first Olu, Ginuwa, settled in the Warri area wherr he met the aboriginal Itsekiri people and established a monarchy that has endured unbroken for over 548 years.
2. The title “Olu of Warri” was first formally recognized by European traders and missionaries in early maps, Portuguese records, and British documents as the sovereign authority over the Warri territory and its riverine surroundings.
3. The Itsekiri founded and named the Warri Kingdom, which was internationally recognized as an independent political and economic center long before Nigeria became a nation-state.
4. The original name of the city, Warri (Iwere), is a corruption of “Iwere”, the Itsekiri name for their kingdom. There is no Ijaw word “Warri”. This alone proves the Itsekiri indigenous claim over the name, identity, and history of the area.
5. Colonial maps, treaties, and records, including the British Protectorate Treaties of the late 1800s, recognize the Olu of Warri as the sovereign over the areas now called Warri South, Warri North, and Warri South-West LGAs.
6. The Supreme Court of Nigeria has ruled in multiple cases, affirming that customary ownership and settlement rights belong to original inhabitants. These rulings have consistently favored the Itsekiri in boundary disputes in the Warri region.
7. The British colonial government acknowledged and recognized the Olu of Warri as the paramount ruler in the province. No such equivalent recognition was ever accorded to the Ijaw residents in Warri.
THE DECEPTIVE GAME BEHIND TORU-EBE STATE:
It has become glaringly clear that the recent falsehoods and agitation by some Ijaw elements claiming Warri lands are tied to their desperate ambition to forcefully acquire land to satisfy constitutional requirements for creating a state, Toru-Ebe, where all the Local Government Areas bear Ijaw names and represent Ijaw interest alone.
This is an ethnic land grab disguised as state creation.
The inclusion of Itsekiri communities, under Ijaw-local-government names, without consent, is a violation of our rights, our sovereignty, and our identity.
A FINAL WARNING TO SENATOR JOEL-ONOWAKPO THOMAS:
We remind you, sir, that your duty as a Senator is to represent all the peoples of Delta South, not to facilitate the political agenda of one ethnic group at the expense of another.
If you continue to promote or support the inclusion of Warri or any Itsekiri territory in the proposed Toru-Ebe State, you will be seen as complicit in a land annexation conspiracy.
MESSAGE TO ITSEKIRI LEADERS:
To any Itsekiri leaders, politicians, or elites collaborating in silence or secrecy, we are watching. Do not betray your land and people. 2027 will not be business as usual.
Your silence or complicity will be remembered.
IN CONCLUSION:
Warri belongs to the Itsekiri people by ancestry, by history, by law, and by divine providence.
We have never sold it. We have never abandoned it. We will never surrender it.
Any attempt to rename, rezone, or transfer any part of our territory, whether by political manipulation or executive fiat, will be met with firm resistance from the Itsekiri people, at home and in the diaspora.
Signed,
Concerned Sons and Daughters of the Itsekiri Nation
Defenders of Iwere Land
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