The Chairman of the Sapele Okpe Community Land Trust Association, Okakuro Senator Ede Dafinone, has rejected a caveat issued by Chief Emmanuel Oritsejolomi Uduaghan, the Alema of Warri Kingdom, over the foundation laying ceremony of a new Sub-Palace of the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom in Sapele, Delta State.
In a detailed response, Dafinone described the caveat as legally baseless, historically inaccurate, and capable of inciting communal tension. “Title to all lands in Sapele is vested in the Sapele Okpe Community Land Trust Association, the statutory body responsible for the management and control of land on behalf of the indigenous Okpe people,” he said.
Dafinone cited the Delta State Traditional Rulers, Council and Chiefs Law, which recognises the Orodje of Okpe as the sole statutory traditional ruler for Sapele Local Government Area, and stressed that the Okpe people remain the only indigenous ethnic and linguistic group in Sapele Town.
He referenced the landmark case of Chief Ayomano & Another v. Ginuwa II, in which the West African Court of Appeal upheld the Okpe people’s ownership of Sapele lands and dismissed claims of Itsekiri overlordship. “The judgment established that the Okpe people were the original settlers on Sapele land and that Itsekiri presence in the town began only after the Nana War of 1894,” Dafinone explained.
Dafinone warned that responsibility for any unrest would rest with those who instigated it, and urged community leaders across ethnic lines to reject inflammatory rhetoric capable of undermining peace in the town. “Restraint should not be mistaken for weakness,” he cautioned.
