Ijaw communities in the Okomu Kingdom, Ovia South Local Government Area of Edo State, have alleged that they are victims of marginalization by their Bini neighbors and the Edo State government.
Ijaw communities in the Okomu Kingdom, Ovia South Local Government Area of Edo State, have alleged that they are victims of marginalization by their Bini neighbors and the Edo State government.
They also claimed that they are the aborigines of the area, not settlers, which the Bini want to appropriate. Their claims were made in a statement issued from the palace of the traditional ruler, the Kalasuo of Okomu Kingdom, by the Traditional Council.
According to the statement, Okomu Kingdom is made up of many communities, including: Okomu, Osikoloba, Oyibogbene, Markilolo Gbene, Wuluku Gbene, Ejuko Gbene, Iwala Gbene, Zughu Gbene, Agbede Gbene, Oweike Gbene, Izon Gbene, Beri 1, Beri 2, Usaku-Uba Gbene and Dinou Bou Gbene, Others are Ogiri Fulaba Gbene, Tala Gbene, IK Gbene, Ebi Gbene, Itoko Gbene, Orubai Ukumu, Opu-Uba Gbene, Iroko Gbene and Reuben Gbene.
The statement maintained that the people of Okomu Kingdom were among the aborigines of Ovia South West Local Government Area of Edo State.
"The Ijaw being the fourth largest tribe in Nigeria are balkanized into the following six states; Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa, Edo, Delta, and Ondo. In all the aforementioned states, the full rights and privileges of the Ijaw as citizens are guaranteed except in Edo State. One wonders, why the status of the Ijaws of Okomu, Egbema Olodiama, Furupagha, and Gbanraun clans in Edo state is different," the statement said.
It added that the people of Okomu Kingdom have lived on the coastline stretching from Akwa Ibom State to the Mahin River in Ondo State for centuries. It also stated that Ijawland contributes about 60% of Nigeria’s foreign earnings, making the area the economic pillar on which Nigeria rests.
"In the same manner in Okomu Kingdom and their kith and kin of Olodiama, Egbema Furupagha and Gbanraun Clans are the economic livewires of Edo State, due to their endowment with natural and mineral resources," the Okomu Traditional Council said.
It claimed that historians of Portuguese and British origins are unanimous on the fact that the Ijaw, including the Okomu Kingdom, are aborigines of the Niger Delta.
"Dr. Talbort, one of the earliest historians that wrote about most ethnic groups in Southern Nigeria, was very explicit about the status of the Ijaw of the Niger Coast. The witness of Dr. Talbort to the effect that the Ijaws are the earliest people in the land and that they occupy virtually the whole coast is very important. This is because he was the Acting Resident Officer of the defunct Bini Division in 1920,” said the Traditional Council.
The Council also stated that the Portuguese, who came to Nigeria, first met the Ijaw of Ogulagha Kingdom (whom they referred to as Gulani) in the Fekedosi (Forcados) River via the Oporoza Toru (Escravos) of Gbaramatu Kingdom down to the Ijaw of Okomu, Olodiama and Egbema Kingdoms before making contact with the Bini in the hinterland.
"It is important to note that the Bini people are not of aboriginal stock in their present settlement and also do not belong to the coastal belt of the Niger Delta that is occupied by the Ijaws, since the Bini of Edo State neither know how to paddle nor are they aquatic by nature," claimed the Traditional Council.
Quoting author/historian, E.A. Kenyo, the Council said the Bini are of Yoruba stock."In his book, 'The Origin and Title of Yoruba Rulers' page 3, he described and referred to the Bini people as 'the new people,” the council further stated. It also quoted Allan Rider's “Bini and the Europeans” 1485 – 1897 published 1967 as saying: “Whichever of the 'slave River' the Portuguese frequented, the people they first met would have belonged to the Ijohs (Ijaws), which dominated the coastal belt swamp forest, extending hinterland to a depth of 30 to 40 miles in this region.”
Rider also wrote that the Bini Edo lived outside the swamp forest area. Also quoted was Professor Bradbury's in his The Benin Kingdom and Edo Speaking People, which states:“The rich poll of incontrovertible scholarly evidence and documentation in support of the aboriginal status of the Ijaws of Okomu, Olodiama, Egbema, Furupagha and Gbanraun Clans of the Midwestern Region, which later metamorphosed to Bendel State that later gave birth to Edo and Delta states, was sealed by the most outstanding Bini historian, Dr. Jacob Uwagboe Egharevba."
Egharevba, the first curator of the Benin Museum, stated that the Bini met the Ijaw in the geographical area called Edo State.
"The incontrovertible truth is that the Ijaw, including the Okomu Kingdom and the entire Ijaw Kingdoms in Edo State, are not Edoid people and so cannot be part of Bini Kingdom."
The Okomu Kingdom with its kith and kin of Egbema, Olodiama, Furupagha and Gbanraun Clans of Edo State has never been conquered by anybody through war or treaty. "
"Our refutation of the false claims and expansion tendencies of the Oba of Bini and the Bini Kingdom should not be seen as joining issues over what ordinarily could have been termed frivolities of twisted minds or dignifying a roguish and bullish attempt to falsify, subjugate and culturally appropriate ownership of our land since the historical truth of our aboriginal status is a well documented and settled issue," said the Traditional Council.
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