BENIN- Communal clash is brewing between the Bini and Ijaw in Edo State following claims by the Bini that the Ijaw were claiming ownership of the land the Binis gave them as migrant fishermen.

In a petition to the state government, the Enogie of Obazuwa, and brother to the Oba of Benin, who is in charge of most of the territories being annexed and 80 others, said their subjects had been attacked unprovoked by the “settlers.” They added that they had maintained calm because there are court decisions that went as far as the Supreme Court which confirmed that the Binis were the original inhabitants and owners of the land.

According to Akenzua, on June 3, 2011, while the Binis in the area were measuring a land donated to the state government to build a school, “Ijaw militants from Iko” attacked them with machetes, abducted three of his subjects and vandalised property and vehicles in the area.

“The question of who owns Gelegele had gone through litigation and had long been settled. For 50 years, these Ijaw settlers have provoked the Bini. We are finding it increasingly difficult to restrain ourselves from retaliating against these unwarranted attacks by the Ijaw.

“If they refuse to co-exist in harmony with us, they are at liberty to join their kiths and kins in Bayelsa or Rivers states. They must respect the bond of love that binds host and guests.”

1 Ijaws against Ilajes in Ondo State

2 Ijaws against Binis in Edo State

3 Ijaws against Itsekiris in Delta State

4 Ijaws against Urhobos (Ogbe Ijo, Gbarigolo, Olota, Okweagbe etc.),all in Delta State

5 Ijaws against Ikwerres in Rivers State

6 Ijaws against Ogonis in Rivers State

7 Ijaws against Ibibios in Akwa Ibom State

8 Ijaws against Yorubas in Ajegunle; Lagos State
These Ijaws seems to be fighting with everybody. They really needs to be carefull. If katakata (mitifag, back off) should break, THE RETARDEEN wont be able to save them




[b] GELEGELE

Has any body heard this Bini song.Gelegele nor ewanta gelenor oo ,gelegele. Ijaws came to gelegele to do trade by bata with Binis, they bring fish from Ofunama area close to an Itsekiri settlement known as Ita- Eko(Lagos Junction) in Bini river. They usually give fish to Benis in exchange for garri, plantain,stach, etc and the point of exchange are two Beni villages called Gelegele and Ekewan(Eki-owan), The road leading to the two villages is the road where the University of Benin Ekewan campus is situated. In the process of the business, they establish Ijaw quarter there, the Itsekiris bringing fishes from Ita-Eko and Oghoye also extablish Itsekiri quarters there and the both groups were under the rep of Oba of Benin called Okakuro. In less than 50 years Ijaws said they dont want to be under the Okakuro that they want to make their own Pere as ruler that Gelegele is now their property.


They attack Itsekiri quarter and the Oba became angry and ordered the demolition of Ijaw quarter in Ekewan. They ran away like fugitive and later came back to plead for mercy. Under GEJ now they have started again that they want to include Gelegele in their proposed Toru Ebe state. I think Ijaws have a genetic problem.That was [/b]why when we taught of developing a locally made biological weapon to further alter their gene, we consildered so many things including their closeness to us. Very soon people will start denying their Ijawism, they are even constituting embarrazment to the president.The president got the highest resistance from his people before he became president.They never wanted him to be president, the total vote of Bayelsa state is less than the vote of delta central.

WHERE IS IJAW HOME LAND? The language has no relationship with any other language except Calaba.Ibimeyee, I need answer to this question because a tribe must not have home land in every state, if so Nigeria will be Igbo home land



On Ijaws Attack Binis Over Ownership Of Gelegele Land In Edo State by PhysicsQED
Sep 15, 2011.
By kpogede77

Historically, there has been an Okao of Gelegele, and before that there were edionwere. Okao is the word the Edo (Bini) use for that particular position, not Okakuro. I don't mean to nitpick, because I get what you were saying and know who you were referring to (you were 100% accurate except that you used a similar Urhobo word, not the exact title) and anyone who had looked into that issue would know that there are Okaos of Gelegele and not Ijaw "kingdoms" in Gelegele. But thanks for sharing. Very interesting account. I had always wondered how things got so sour between the Benin palace and the Ijaws in that area before it went to court.


I think the word Okakuro is a separate title, rank or a name used by some Urhobos which is extremely similar to the word Okakuo (war captain) which is a title/rank in Edo.

I think Okakuro and Okakuo (okao = "leader", okuo = "war') are basically the same word, except used slightly differently by different groups.

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VANGUARD NEWSPAPER
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Ijo is a manipulated ethnic group. It is derived from Jos, a Portuguese term for people of the river. Reasonable percentages of the people who claim Ijo are not Ijo since original boat people were porters who came from Gold Coast with Europeans to the bight of Biafra.

Every unadulterated historical record points to the fact that so-called Ijo were either migrant fishermen or porters or boat people who had no pedigree to claim lands offshore.


1. Ijaws have severally attacked, invaded and occupied Bini villages without provocation and retaliation for too long.

2. Gelegele is a recurring decimal in Edo politics that it is a sing-song in the mouth of politicians seeking relevance and electoral patronage. Gelegele is to the Binis what Lagos is to the Yorubas; or what Port Harcourt is to the Ikwerres or what Calabar is to the Efiks.

3. It must be made abundantly clear that the Ijaws have always been erratic, provoking showdown but the Binis’ have cleverly evaded direct confrontation not because we are afraid of war but believe much in peace sine qua non for national stability, growth. and progress·

4. Because of the Gelegele escapade the Ijaws have further audacity to extend their ambitious voyage of annexation to many Benin communities because no one has challenged them since modern development has refused to come to their peculiar terrain they have embarked on a voyage to seek land to rediscover themselves.

5. The Ijaws who settled along river banks in Benin land in spite of our openness and acceptance has become a thorn in the flesh of ‘Binis constituting themselves as malfeasance, aggressors, instigators and violators of civilized behaviour.

6. Ijaw militancy has made Gelegele a disarmament centre because the place is being used as militia centre and gateway to the creeks in Delta and Bayelsa States. This has brought discomfort and tension to the Binis living in the area.

7. Binis has been excluded from the scheme of things as the Ijaws has dominated the affairs of not only Gelegele but environ like Abiala and Ughoton. where the crude oil being exploited by Dubri Oil Company Limited is located. They insisted and got only Ijaws employed by Dubri and derived benefits from royalties through .threat of fire and brimstone.

8. We are reawakening the Bini consciousness of responsibility, brotherhood, communal sensitivity and vibrancy through non-violent means. Gelegele is a starting point to other areas Benin land has been encroached on without challenge.

9. We will no longer tolerate for any moment the calculated and surreptitious stripping of Binis of their age-long territory from every side.

10. Otu Notedoghewii is sounding a strong warning to any Bini man that would want to betray the Benin nationalism to desist from it as he would be consumed with it in the new renaissance. Ladies and Gentlemen, the unprovoked attack of the Gelegele militants led by one Don Ben who has been terrorizing the locality on Abiaia when the people were building their community hall shows the Ijaws’ ulterior desire to invade, occupy and gradually eliminate the Binis from their land, Abiala forms the nexus Gelegele and Ughoton community which last month also suffered attack without being reported,

Therefore, we are calling on the respective authorities in Edo State and beyond to call a spade a spade and address the recurring issue of ownership of Gelegele once and for all. Those that are buying lands from strangers and settlers are doing so at their own risk. Henceforth, the Binis will resort to SELF-HELP if the government does not come to our rescue.



OKOMU IS NOT IJAW BUT BENINLAND, BENIN RIVER, GULF OF BENIN, BIGHT OF BENIN. BENIN KINGDOM LAND AND TERRITORY

Okomu is not owned by the Ijaws but Edos. Benin was the capital so all dialects you see today in various states in most part of nigeria and Cameroon, Togo, Dahomey, and others migrated to Benin. When the British colonial government started after the Benin kingdom invasion, for 17 years Benin was without a King. British then started empowering the dialects (tribes) to become autonomous by instituting hate into them (divide and conquer). When the Oba's son and heir was crowned then the amalgamation, it was so difficult for the Oba to maintain his power and government over the entire kingdom because many of them already became colonial territories. We are all one, the Ijaws are part of Edo nation, trying to claim some part of Benin land as theirs is totally senseless, the federal Supreme Court already passed the verdict on the matter. The land belongs to Benin. The Ijaws are just being forgetful or rather allowing their current waywardness overshadow their common sense.
Again, it was when the forest exploitation became lucrative during colonial period that Ijaws moved into Okomu in large numbers to ferry timber through the creeks to sapele and lagos. What business have fishermen with forests except to cut wood occasionally for canoe. The ijaws were tenants of the Oba of Benin and there are extant documents written by Ijaws to prove it as they paid rents till recent times
Benin is the only kingdom built in the heart of rainforest. Check Asante, Dahomey and Kongo, they were built either on the fringes of the forest or in the Savanna. Benin rainforest was the richest forest in Nigeria during the colonial period and accounted for two third of Nigeria's timber export. The town of Sapele +AT & P (African Timber and Plywood) were built on the exploitation and proceeds of Benin forest to the coast (Bight of Benin). The forest was teaming with elephants and leopards in the past and special quarters still exist in Benin that were responsible for hunting, trapping and taming these animals- namely Oreẹgbeni (quarters of Elephant hunters) and Ehaẹkpẹn (quaters of Leopard tamers). The Oba never stepped out of the palace without his pet leopards preceding him. One tusk of any elephant hunted in the empire belonged to the Oba abd he had the prerogative to buy the other tusk at his price. Any leopard killed in the kingdom must be surrendered to the Oba. There is a proverb among the Yoruba of Ondo, Ekiti, Akoko, Owo and Ikale area that "a person who killed a leopard have sent himself on an errand to the Oba of Benin".
The elephant tusk were used for documenting the every Oba's achievements as they were carved on the numerous tusk placed on his ancestral altar. Chiefs also used ivories for ornaments in Benin and other places. Ivory was never imported. There are still a very few forest elephants surviving and protected in Okomu forest reserves and were sighted by researchers in the 1990s.

Constant bush burning lead to development of derived savanna and destroys the habitat for wildlife. This is in addition to unregulated logging of the forest . What saved the cross river cameroun forest was the mountainous terrain that made logging difficult during most of the colonial period and the European companies lack of interest in developing infrastructure for their exploitation until very late into the colonial period. But the chinese are busy logging the cross river basin now and the super highway is going to destroy it. Benin being on lowland with adjoining rivers to float the logs did not require heavy investment in infrastructure development and so they concentrated on destroying the Benin rainforest during the colonial period. the destruction is still ongoing

The British looted textile materials (apliqued clothing, bark materials), leather (ekpokin leather boxes & ezuzu-fans, ema-drums), gourd and shell works.

I have a relative who only specialized in hunting elephant and he does not have to travel to Kenya or Zimbabwe to hunt elephant. Like I said we have elephants in Edo land, if you have no idea of that, then your Business is ask an Edo elder where in Edoland they have elephant he will tell you. Nri live in derived savanna as their forest had been cleared long time imo river. Vegetations change and that is what has affected some areas of Igboland. But some parts of Igboland have always been guinea savanna particularly Northern Igboland near benue and kogi borders
Ijaws are making claims of Edoland and okomu because of Oil in these areas which they are trying to claim ownership of. They are tenants of the Oba of Benin.
The forest was never Ijaw ancestral homeland. The documents are not online, but you can read them from intelligence reports on Ekenwan and Siluko District at the National archives Ibadan. Today the urhobos claim Jesse as their land, but it was Benin land that transferred in the late 1930s by the British and they paid rents to the Oba till the creation of Midwest


https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwibmeiO4sLTAhXMLI8KHUeADS8QFggmMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fihuanedo.ning.com%2Fgroup%2Fhealtheducation%2Fforum%2Ftopics%2Fwhy-every-edo-must-fight-against-ijaw-s-plan-of-civil-war-in-edol&usg=AFQjCNGUvfrJbKSCPHkNKzZGOt8Jcz5Tiw&sig2=Gm4zFCz3QxSNavGqmGiOkQ



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1svmObqukg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg_MZ0kPaMw


https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwibmeiO4sLTAhXMLI8KHUeADS8QFggmMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fihuanedo.ning.com%2Fgroup%2Fhealtheducation%2Fforum%2Ftopics%2Fwhy-every-edo-must-fight-against-ijaw-s-plan-of-civil-war-in-edol&usg=AFQjCNGUvfrJbKSCPHkNKzZGOt8Jcz5Tiw&sig2=Gm4zFCz3QxSNavGqmGiOkQ