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THE MENTION OF THE NAME, PERE OF OLODIAMA CLAN, EVOKES UGLY MEMORIES
In 1986, one Timothy Ofunama, issued a statement saying that Gelegele belonged to Ijaw and that the Oba of Benin had no jurisdiction over it in the welcome address I presented when Omo N’Oba Ewuare II visited Obazuwa on January 28, I enumerated some of the provocative acts of the Ijaws. We wish to state some of them here again.
In 1985, Philips Oil Company established business in Ughoton. It built a Flow Station in Gelegele. Ijaw fishermen, who lived in stilt-houses around the swamps, came out and began to supply labour to the company. Many of the Benin youths in Ughoton and Gelegele had left the villages in search of a better life in the City. When they heard of the new company and the job opportunities if offered, they returned home to seek employment. The Ijaws were not happy at their return. They feared they would displace them (the Ijaws) in competition for jobs. Suddenly, they attacked the returnees. The attack was so violent and widespread that the government setup an administrative panel, headed by Mr. S. Jamgbadi, a Senior District Officer, to look into it. Part of the panel’s report reads:
“… it is however established that the Ijaws have been resident in Gelegele for many years and that during these years they have acquired landed property and cultivate farms but from the facts in evidence they qualify as TENANTS on the land their long period of occupation notwithstanding…”
The Ijaws were not done yet with agitation. They agitated again, the same year, against Philips Company itself. The cause of the agitation was that the company also gave employment to non-Iyaw persons. Government again set up an inquiry to look into the crisis. Part of the panel’s report reads:
“… The inquiry further revealed that the claims by the Ijaws to the monopoly of employment provided by the oil company are not only unpatriotic but also preposterous. The Ijaws have no right whatsoever to prevent the oil company from employing persons of their choice; they should stop threatening the oil company from employing other persons who are not Ijaw…”
On Thursday, November 20, 1986, as said earlier, Timothy Ofunama, in the publication in the Nigerian Observer said that Gelegele belonged to Ijaw and that the Oba of Benin had no jurisdiction over it. The government reacted to the publication through a press statement issued by the Honourable Commissioner for Local Government, Engr. Enoch Ejofodomi. I reproduce the statement here in full.
1. My attention has been drawn to a publication at page 4 of the Nigerian Observer Newspaper of Thursday, 20th November, 1986 titled “Public Notice” and credited to one Timothy Ofunama who styled himself as the “Ama-Okosuwei of Gelegele”. In which he gave the impression that the traditional administration of Gelegele was under the “Pere of Olodiama Clan” and other Ijaw Chiefs in Ovia Local Government Area of Bendel State.
2. From records available in my Ministry, there is no chieftaincy title known as the “Pere of Olodiama Clan” in Ovia Local Government Area. Also there are no chieftaincy titles known as “Ama-Okosuwei of Gelegele” and “Amanana-Owei of Gelegele”, as claimed in the above mentioned publication. In this regards the Government couldn’t have appointed anybody to these non-existent chieftaincy stools.
3. The author of the above mentioned vexations publication also gave the impression that the Oba of Benin has no right to confer the chieftaincy title of “Okao of Gelegele” on Chief I. Iyonmahari and that Gelegele and some other Ijaw towns in Ovia Local Government Area are not under the jurisdiction of the Oba of Benin. In this regard, my Ministry wants to make it abundantly clear that the Oba of Benin who is the traditional paramount ruler in Benin kingdom is the Prescribed Authority for Oredo, Orhionmwon and Ovia Local Government Areas by virtues of Bendel State Legal Notice 44 of 1979 published in the Bendel State Legal Notice 44 of 1979 published in the Bendel State of Nigeria Extraordinary Gazette No. 51. Vol. 16 of 28th, September, 1979; He therefore acted within his constitutional powers: as the prescribed Authority for the area ‘when he appointed Chief I. Iyonmahan as the Okao of Gelegele. It is also pertinent to point out that Gelegele in Ovia Local Government Area is part and parcel of Bini land under the jurisdiction of the Oba of Benin having regard to the judgment of the Supreme Court of Nigeria delivered on 11th August, 1983 which made it clear that the land known as Gelegele belongs to the Binis.
4. In the light of the foregoing, Government sews the action of Timothy Ofunama who calls himself the “Ama-Okosuwei of Gelegele” as an attempt to incite the law abiding Ijaw citizens in Gelegele against their host as capable of causing serious disaffection among the entire community in that part of Ovia Local Government Area. I want to stress that Government will not tolerate that state of affairs which is capable of jeopardizing the peace, order and good government in the area.
5. For the purpose of clarification, it is considered necessary to inform the general public that it is not only contemptuous to reopen an issue on which the Supreme Court had already delivered judgment but that it is also unlawful for anyone to call himself a chief or allow himself to be so called or addressed if he has not been conferred with a chieftaincy title by a competent authority and has not been registered by the Ministry of Local Government as a Chief.
6. Finally, I want to warn that all those who are party to the aforementioned publication should desist forthwith from parading themselves either as traditional rulers or as traditional chiefs as the penalty for their actions under Sections 20 and 26 of the Traditional Rulers and Chiefs Law, 1979 is imprisonment for six months and two years respectively without an option of a fine.
(Engr. Enoch Ejofodomi)
Commissioner for Local Government
Ministry of Local Government
Benin City.
10th December 1986
The Ijaws still claim ownership of Gelegele. Yet, the question of who owns Gelegele had gone through litigation and had long been settled.
At the High Court of Justice, Benin, in suit B/44/1970, Judgment was delivered in favour of Benins by Honourable Justice Ekeruche on December 22, 1978. Part of the judgment reacts.
“…finally, I enter judgment in this case as follows: for the avoidance of all doubts, argument or controversy, I hear say unequivocally, that Gelegele village and its environs and bushes are Benin land. They do not belong to the Ijaws of Gelegele as owners. The Ijaws are tenants of His Highness Akenzua II the Oba of Benin. Apart from above, the plaintiffs’ claims are dismissed in their entirety”.
Dissatisfied with the judgment, the Ijaws went to the Court of Appeal, Benin. The court dismissed their appeal and delivered judgment in favour of Benin. The lead judgment was read by Honourable Justice Abdul Ganiyu Agbaje on December 16, 1981.
Still on satisfied, they headed for the Supreme Court. In Suit SC. 131/1/1982, Honourable Justice, Muhamadu Lawani Uwais (CJN) and four (4) others, on August 19, 1983 also dismisses their appeal and up-held the judgment of the lower courts. The CJN concluded thus:
“… For three reasons I am of the opinion that the appellants’ argument in support of the sole ground of appeal should be discountenanced. The appeal therefore fails and it is dismissed with N300.00 costs to the respondents. The decision of the Federal Court of Appeal is affirmed…”
The Supreme Court awarded costs against the Ijaws. Despite these judgments, the various reports and government statements, the Ijaws still claim ownership of Gelegele!
In 1987, they attacked Benin indigenes in Iko and Isekiri and Urhobo settlers there. They destroyed the Ogua-edion in Iko, they moved up-hill, to Ikonoke and unleashed mayhem. Benin indigenes in Ikonoke and in Ikonugboghodo fled, giving room to the Ijaws to entrench themselves in both places. At that time and up till the early 90s, one Pa Igbinosun, a Benin man, was the Odionwere of Iko, they have forayed into Agbomoba, Ozomu, Igbobi, Ekete, Ite, Orogo, Ewudu, Abiala, Eki-ohuan (now known as Ekewan), Okomu and Gelegele. They maim the Benin people in these communities and destroy their properties.
In June 2011, we, offered a parcel of land to Edo State government for the erection of a model school block. The Government sent a team led by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, then Mrs. Idaho is now the Head of Service. In anticipation of the inspection, we directed Obazuwa boys to demarcate the plot. As the boys were measuring it, Ijaws militants descended on them with machetes, guns, and clubs. Without any provocation, they brutalized the boys and abducted two of them. Obazuwa boys were unnamed and defenseless.
We sent an S.O.S to the Governor who directed his Chief of Staff, then Barr. Osarodion Ogie, to take up the matter with the Commissioner of Police. The Police Commissioner promptly dispatched a team of policemen from Evbotubu Police Station to rescue the abducted boys. He sent another team from SARS to arrest the militants who brutalized the boys, destroyed their motorcycles and a car. Those arrested were charged to Okada Magistrate’s Court where the case is still pending up till now.
In order to strengthen their claim of ownership of Gelegele, they have now coined names, Gelegelegbene and Gelegele-ama. These names are new. In all their previous write-ups and the dispatches by early European visitors. Gelegele had always been known and spelt as Gelegele. The use of Gelegelegbene and Gelegele-ama which they have only recently coined is ludicrous and intellectually dishonest.
Our people got judgment in the Supreme Court 34 years ago. Now they want to claim their judgment right. Those who were driven away from their homeland, Abiala, and Ikon’oke, want to return home. They want to erect a house in Gelegele for the Okao of Gelegele who was installed there by the Oba of Benin.
The Edo State Ijaws are bellicose, belligerent, militant, quarrelsome and unfriendly. They are fighting the Itsekiris in Warri; they are fighting the Urhobos, the Ibibios and the Ilajes. They are claiming land whereas they traditionally live in swamps along the coastal areas in houses they build on stilts.
The so-called Beni-Ebe, Toru-Ebe Kengama and Abadi States which they requested the Senate to create for them in 2009, traverses the whole of the Nigerian coastline, encroaching of Benin, Ibibio, Ilaje and Itsekiri territories.
We plead for your support in curbing the Ijaw aggressiveness and in enforcing the Supreme Court Judgment for which the Ijaws have rudely insulted the highest court in the Country, Honourable Justice, and the Chief Justice of Nigeria whom they contemptuously described as fraudulent.
This press statement was endorsed by HRH Prince Edun Akenzua, MFR, FNGE, Ogie-Obazuwa and six other Enigie for on behalf of 48 communities in the affected areas in the Benin Kingdom.
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Update : police tracks down mastermind of railway vandalism, recovers load of stolen Materials in Plateau, Says Opeifa
The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) had a major breakthrough recently it its efforts to apprehend the vandals of its critical assets across the country.
Towards this end, the Corporation’s police Command has arrested one Musa Abdullahi, aka Major aged 32, a notorious receiver and kingpin of vandalized railway materials, in Kaduna.
The arrest was a major success recorded by the Corporation in its campaign against the vandalisation and theft of railway materials, just as it intercepted a trailer loaded with railway components In plateau State.
In Kaduna, operatives of the Nigerian Police, Railway Command, arrested the suspect around the Rigasa area.
His arrest followed intelligence reports on the vandalism of electrical installations along the Mando–Rigasa corridor on Tuesday,14th October 2025.
Investigation is ongoing, and the case will be charged to court on conclusion.
In Plateau State, operatives of the Nigeria Police, Railway Command, intercepted trailer conveying large quantities of railway materials along KM 822–823, Foromaxis, in the early hours of Tuesday, 14th October 2025.
The truck, which was abandoned by its driver who fled the scene, was successfully towed to the Jos Railway Police Station on Wednesday, 15th October 2025.
Investigation is on going to uncover and apprehend all individuals connected to the theft.
The Managing Director of the NRC, Dr. Kayode Opeifa, commended the Nigeria Police for their professionalism, intelligence-led operation, and swift action in handling both incidents.
He described the arrests and recovery as clear evidence of the renewed synergy between the Corporation and security agencies in protecting critical railway infrastructure across the country.
Dr. Opeifa reaffirmed the Corporation’s resolve to strengthen collaboration with the Nigeria Police, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and other security formations to ensure that vandals, receivers, and collaborators are brought to justice.
He emphasized that such criminal acts amount to economic sabotage, warning that the NRC Management will continue to pursue zero tolerance for vandalism through enhanced surveillance, community engagement,and intelligence sharing.
Opeifa further appealed to residents of communities hosting railway facilities to remain vigilant and promptly report any suspicious movement around rail installations.
He noted that the railway system remains a major driver of national development and urged the public to view its protection as a shared responsibility.
President Bola Tinubu will depart Abuja on Sunday, October 12, for Rome, the capital of Italy, to participate in the Aqaba Process Heads of State and Government Level Meeting, with special focus on the security crisis in West Africa.
The meeting, which will begin on October 14, will bring together Heads of State and Government, senior intelligence and military officials from African countries, and representatives of intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations to discuss the evolving security challenges in West Africa.
The Aqaba Process Meeting is a counter-terrorism initiative launched by King Abdullah II of Jordan in 2015. It is co–chaired by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Italian Government.
It recognises the complex security challenges confronting West Africa, including the expansion of terrorist networks, the growing crime-terror nexus and the increasing overlap between land-based terrorism in the Sahel and the maritime piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.
At the meeting, participants will exchange assessments of the current security landscape in West Africa and foster collaboration between regional and international partners to address cross-border security challenges. Participants will also develop strategies to counter the terror threat on land and the sea.
The meeting will discuss ideas on how to coordinate efforts to combat online radicalisation and disrupt digital networks that facilitate terrorist propaganda and recruitment.
In addition to attending the plenary sessions of the Aqaba meeting, President Tinubu will hold bilateral talks with other leaders to explore ways of addressing the rising security challenges across the subregion.
The President will be accompanied by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu–Ojukwu, the Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed, and other senior government officials.
…..Gov, lawmakers, party executives exit party enmasse
……Uncertainty over Suswam’s, ex-NAFDAC boss’ defection in Benue
…….PDP kicks, says govs being intimidated, coerced to defect
……Put your house in order, we’re not architect of your woes – APC
In a manner reminiscent of the defections that occurred in Delta and Cross River states earlier in the year, Governor Peter Mbah and all elected and appointive officers of the state are set to formally defect from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday next week.
The newly inaugurated Enugu State APC Caretaker Committee Chairman, Dr. Ben Nwoye, confirmed the development to newsmen at the APC National Secretariat in Abuja after taking the oath of office yesterday.
He made the disclosure during a press briefing by the newly inaugurated Enugu State Caretaker Committee.
Describing Mbah’s defection as the dawn of a new political era for Enugu and the Southeast region, Nwoye said the governor’s coming into APC would be “a merger between transformation and renewed hope.”
“For the past 10 years, Enugu State has remained in opposition. But all that ends on Tuesday when Governor Peter Mbah declares for the APC. And he is not coming alone,” Nwoye said.
According to him, the defection will signal a “historic alignment” as Mbah will be joined by 260 councillors, 24 state lawmakers, National Assembly members, and the entire state executive council—an unprecedented political realignment with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“Where Enugu goes, the Southeast goes. This marks the beginning of the Southeast’s political reawakening and full integration into national politics,” Nwoye said with a tone of confidence.
Commending the Governor Mbah’s performance in his last two years in office, Nwoye, who was the founding state chairman of the party, noted that his economic and infrastructural reforms had elevated the state to one of Nigeria’s top-performing states in internally generated revenue.
He added that the synergy between Mbah’s Transformation Agenda and President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Vision would accelerate development and economic growth across the Southeast.
APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, who inaugurated the seven-man caretaker committee for the party in the state, had earlier hinted of moves by the APC to strengthen its foothold in the Southeast.
The APC chairman charged the new Enugu leadership to consolidate the shock defection into a “lasting political conquest”
“APC is home for all. The person who came yesterday, today or tomorrow has equal rights.
Nigerian government services
Private refinery investment Nigeria
Digital trade agenda investment
“Our goal is simple: to expand, to win, and to deliver overwhelming victory in 2027,” Yilwatda said.
APC’s Deputy National Chairman (South), Emma Eneukwu, who is from the state, said the political development in the state marked the return of the Southeast region to national relevance.
“We will no longer play second fiddle. With Enugu in APC, the Southeast has found its voice again,” he declared.
Uncertainty over Suswam’s, ex-NAFDAC boss’ defection in Benue
There were strong rumours yesterday that Suswam, Orhii who currently serves as a member of the House of Representatives representing Agatu/Apa Federal constituency, Hon. Ojema Ojotu and former Benue North East Senator, Prof. David Iornem were set to join the APC in Benue State.
This was in spite of a statement issued by the media aide to Suswam dispelling the rumour that his boss had defected from PDP to the ruling party.
Banners and signposts announcing their official defection and pre-decamping dinner adorned major roads and streets in Makurdi, the state capital, yesterday.
It is the first time Suswam would defect to another party since joining politics in 1999.
The black cat, as the former governor is widely known first won an election to represent Katsina Ala, Logo and Ukum Federal Constituency in the House Representatives on the platform of the PDP.
After eight years in the House of Representatives, he was elected the governor of Benue State for another eight years also on the platform of PDP.
His first bid to go to the Senate, however, ended in a fiasco as he lost the election. He, however, made a second bid and won election into the Senate.
He had remained in PDP even after losing his re-election bid until yesterday when the news of his defection broke.
There was jubilation from Suswam’s massive camp of supporters yesterday on hearing that the former governor had defected to APC.
In Anyiin his country home and Ayilamo settlement, there was dancing and singing throughout the day, with shouts Dom Agya as Suswam is known in his ancestry home.
At press time yesterday, he was locked in a meeting with his supporters.
Our correspondence learnt that the meeting was meant to deliberate on the date for the defection ceremony.
But the media aide to Senator Suwswam, Bede Bartholomew, yesterday denied the claims that his boss had defected to APC.
Bartholomew however admitted that Governor Hyacinth Alia two days ago extended an invitation to Suwswam and other leaders for a banquet with him at Government House Makurdi.
A press statement he signed and made available to our correspondent yesterday reads: “Moments ago, I received telephone calls from well-meaning Benuelites and leaders alerting me to trending news on Benue’s social media space purporting that the former governor of Benue State, His Excellency Senator Gabriel Torwua Suswam, is set to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC) today and would be received by the Governor of Benue State, His Excellency Governor Hyacinth Alia, this evening at the Banquet Hall of the Benue State Government House.
“I debunk this unholy rumour with all vehemence as it doesn’t represent the current interests of Senator Gabriel Suswam or that of his supporters across the state and should be treated as a mere rumour and that’s all.
“What I know is that two days ago, the Governor of Benue State HE. Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia respectfully extended an invitation to Sen. Suswam, among other stakeholders, expressing his desire to attend a State Banquet slated for 10th October, 2025.
“It should be noted that as a former Governor of the State, Suswam is a stakeholder in the Benue project, thus his reason for accepting the invitation.
“There was no indication in the invitation letter that it was a political event or a decamping ceremony whatsoever.
“The former governor advises his supporters and well-wishers to disregard this rumour as it is baseless, aimless, and a lie from the deepest pit of hell.
“Suswam appreciates everyone who called in for further enquiries and concerns and wishes everyone a happy weekend ahead.
Defections: Blame no one for your woes, says APC as PDP kicks
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday took a swipe at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), accusing the opposition party of being responsible for its woes as more of its members are dumping it for the governing party.
This came on the heels of plans by the PDP governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, and the entire elective and appointive officers of the state to defect to APC on Tuesday.
The PDP had on Thursday blamed the wave of defections from the party on APC, accusing the ruling party of engaging in intimidation and coercion of its elected members.
National Publicity Secretary of the party, Debo Ologunagba, while reacting to reports of the planned defection of some governors elected on the platform of the party to the APC, accused the ruling party for its misfortune.
“The APC is orchestrating all of this through intimidation, through coercion, through blackmail,” he said.
But APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, waved off the PDP allegation, insisting that the opposition party was only crying over a self-inflicted problem.
Dismissing the PDP allegation, Morka said: “The PDP continues to ridicule itself by the boring, repetitive and baseless claim that APC is, somehow, intimidating or cajoling its governors and other senior members to dump their wreck of a party.
“The PDP is the sole maker of its own political predicament. The party is only harvesting well-deserved adversity from decades of political recklessness, mindless corruption, ruthless desecration of democracy, disgraceful failure of leadership, and destructive impunity that characterised its existence.”
Justifying the defection to APC, Morka argued that “the governors and members that are dumping the party in their numbers are doing so in exercise of their free democratic will, and wisely so, to mitigate against the devastating fate that Nigerians will deal the party in the upcoming 2027 elections.”
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