Tension: Edo Ijaw Reject Attempts to Deny Indigenous Status, Warn Against Ethnic Provocation in Edo State,

PRESS STATEMENT

Edo Ijaw People Reject Attempts to Deny Indigenous Status, Warn Against Ethnic Provocation in Edo State.

By EgbemaVoice,

The Edo State Ijaw people have strongly rejected recent attempts to misrepresent their indigenous status and ancestral land rights in Edo State, describing such actions as historically false, provocative, and capable of destabilizing long-standing peaceful coexistence in the state.

In a statement issued by the focus Egbema Group on behalf of Edo State Ijaw communities, clans and five kingdoms, the people reaffirmed that they are aboriginal inhabitants of significant parts of Ovia South-West, Ovia North-East, and Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Areas within the Ovia Federal Constituency.

The statement reaffirmed that the ancestral boundary between Edo Ijaw people and the Benin (Bini) people has historically been recognized along the Ovia River to the Igoriache axis, long before colonial rule and modern political arrangements, when the Benin came to meet the Ijaw for the present Edo state,

“All lands within this axis are ancestral Ijaw territories. Any attempt to declare such lands vacant, ownerless, or subject to reassignment through legislative or political means is unacceptable and amounts to a distortion of history,” the statement said.

The Edo Ijaw people emphasized that their traditional institutions enjoy official government recognition, citing the 1973 gazette of the Pere of Olodiama Kingdom and the gazetted status of the Egbema Kingdom, with its traditional seat at Ajakurama for centuries before the Binis came, 

“These gazettes are legal and historical evidence that the Edo Ijaw people are not settlers but a recognized indigenous ethnic nationality within Edo State,” the statement noted.

The group said, Edo Ijaw communities expressed deep concern over recent bills, motions, and public statements attributed to Hon. (Mrs.) Gabrielle Omosede Igbindion, representing Ovia Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.

According to the statement, any suggestion that Edo Ijaw people are not indigenous to Edo State or opposition to initiatives such as the Toru-Ebe State creation on ethnic grounds constitutes an abuse of legislative privilege and a threat to inter-ethnic harmony.

“No legislator has the constitutional right to label an indigenous people as strangers in their ancestral homeland,” the statement stressed.

The statement referenced historical records, oral traditions, Portuguese accounts of the 15th and 16th centuries, and scholarly works by historians such as E. J. Alagoa, R. A. Ryder, and A. E. Afigbo, which confirm that Ijaw communities occupied riverine and adjoining hinterland areas of present-day Edo State centuries before colonial rule and before later political expansions in the region.

The Edo Ijaw people called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, the Senate president Godswill Akpabio, and national Assembly, the speaker of House representative to Uphold the constitutional rights and indigenous status of Edo State Ijaw people

Prevent the misuse of legislative processes to rewrite history or incite ethnic conflict and Promote inclusive governance and equitable development for all ethnic nationalities in Edo State

Commitment to Peace, 

The statement concluded by reaffirming the Edo Ijaw people’s commitment to peace, unity, and lawful engagement within Nigeria, while warning that they will firmly resist any attempt to deny their identity, history, or ancestral land rights.

“Edo Ijaw are indigenous.

Edo Ijaw are stakeholders.

Edo Ijaw will defend their land, history, and dignity through lawful and peaceful means.”

Signed:

Focus Egbema Group, Central coordinator, Comrade Mingo Meshach Sayami Ogumaka, 

For and on behalf of Edo State Ijaw Communities,