The Okpe Interest Group has issued a strong statement rejecting claims made by Emmanuel Oritsejolomi Uduaghan, the Alema of Warri Kingdom, regarding the proposed foundation-laying ceremony of an Okpe Sub-Palace in Sapele, Delta State. The group expressed “deep concern” over what it described as historical misrepresentation and provocative claims regarding land ownership and traditional authority in Sapele.
In the statement signed by Comrade Ejomafume Akpomevine, the Okpe Interest Group reaffirmed that Sapele lies within Okpe ancestral territory, insisting that the Okpe people are neither settlers nor tenants in the town. “Sapele is Okpe land,” the group stated, adding that hospitality should never be mistaken for forfeiture of ancestral rights.
The group criticized the selective use of colonial intelligence reports to support territorial claims, arguing that such documents were administrative in nature and did not transfer land ownership. It also rejected interpretations of the judgment in Chief Ayomano v. Ginuwa II that allegedly restrict Okpe authority in Sapele to 510 acres, describing such interpretations as misleading.
The Okpe Interest Group warned against attempts to blur or reinterpret the boundary between Sapele and Abigborodo, stating that there is a “clear, natural and historically recognised boundary” between the two communities. The group called on the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III, to caution his subjects against statements capable of provoking communal tension or undermining established territorial boundaries.
