This new claim simply boils down money (oil royalties) why are they just finding their voice?
It's like ikwere or ngwa people saying they're not ibo.utter nonsense!
As someone who has spent the last 8 yrs in rivers with many ogoni n eleme friends, i say eleme people are ogonis.

Ibime: Everybody wants to be King of his own little castle. Eleme is to Ogoni what Opobo is to Ibani. Leaders of Eleme are the ones pushing this nonsense because they need power base rather than diluting themselves into the larger Ogoni. Eleme consists of barely ten villages. My people share border with them and the Ogonis and I have visited their lands more than any other ethnic group in Nigeria. They should stop this nonsense. Even back in 90's main Eleme town was just a smattering of houses. From Onne to Bori, there's little difference between them. We Ijaws have never recognised ELeme as seperate entity from Ogoni in all our recordings of dealings with them back in the 19th century. It is impossible for Eleme to be completely seperate people from Ogonis yet speak the same or similar language. Ogoni language was never a lingua franca or language of trade in our region so anybody who speaks it does so by blood. If Eleme feel they have been sidelined in terms of developmental projects, they should sort that out by concensus agreement with Ogoni rather than dissociate themselves totally. If not for their close association with Ogoni, Okrika would have flattened them completely several times in the past. They should be careful what they wish for.

and if I may ask, who told u that Ogonis joined Eleme in fighting the Okrikans? Rather than betraying those they claimed to be their brothers.

Goodgoody1: If the people of Eleme claims they are not Ogonies by virtue of name can they tell the world where they migrated from. Every tribe in this world came from some where and landed some where. Majority of the villages of Eleme migrated from Gokhana, and for fear of not answering OGONI PURE PURE which was a form of abuse melted on the Ogonis in those days they re-framed to the claim of not been OGONIS. It is clear and most of them know that is is clear. The language they speak and is called Eleme, which other does it resemble in Nigeria, they do not belong to the Okrika clan, neither do they belong to the Ikwere clans which are their immediate neighbours where on earth did they appear from. When a child grows up and does not ask questions about his ancestors he grows up to claim he is me meaning nothing. They should write their history and publish to the hearing of the world to read.
I like them because when it is hot between them and the Ogu and Okrika, they run down to become Ogonis and when it is cool no war no crisis they are not Ogonis, may God help them

Dejavu!
When an Ikwerre nor Ika man is ready to run for president they will remember they are Igbo. Just like GEJ remembered his Igbo names during his presidential campaign.....

careytommy: This new claim simply boils down money (oil royalties) why are they just finding their voice?
It's like ikwere or ngwa people saying they're not ibo.utter nonsense!
As someone who has spent the last 8 yrs in rivers with many ogoni n eleme friends, i say eleme people are ogonis.

Can you tell me or post any source where an Ngwa man is saying that he is not Igbo?. All this idiotic lies about Ngwas has to stop now.

Environer:

You think everyting is Igbo, Hausa-Fulani and Yoruba? There are ethnic groups in Nigeria that are far less than Eleme. Try northern Cross River and Middle Belt. There are people with pops of only 10 K to 50 K in those places.

Then these are not ethnic groups rather tribes or sub groups or clans....How can you say 10K people make up an ethnic group? Biko e kwuru ihea ozo..

Ngwa, ikwerre, ika, ijebu, etc are all sub groups or tribes within a larger ethnic group....

Eleme is not Ogoni. Anybody who thinks otherwise is ignorant of the fact.

Quit the BS, Eleme is Ogoni land.

I have a friend who is Ogoni, his name is Kenunle and he is from Eleme. He has never said he isn't Ogoni.

WTH? Who's starting this bullshit propaganda?

If Eleme was Ogoni, why was it not mentioned as one of the tribes that make up Ogoniland in the Ogoni Bill of Rights which was the key document used to draw the attention of the world to the extent of pollution in Ogoniland?? The Ogoni bill of rights reads and I quote, "We, the people of Ogoni(Babbe,Gokana, Ken Khana, Nyo Khana and Tai)"....dated December 1991. Such a relatively recent and important bill could not have forgotten to include one of its tribes, could they? . Eleme is not Ogoni. It was added in latter documents as an afterthought for obvious economic reasons. Unfortunately the people themselves have failed to ask this question and many commentators on this topic are not well informed. Google theOgoni bill of rights and be informed!

Ngoreta: If Eleme was Ogoni, why was it not mentioned as one of the tribes that make up Ogoniland in the Ogoni Bill of Rights which was the key document used to draw the attention of the world to the extent of pollution in Ogoniland?? The Ogoni bill of rights reads and I quote, "We, the people of Ogoni(Babbe,Gokana, Ken Khana, Nyo Khana and Tai)"....dated December 1991. Such a relatively recent and important bill could not have forgotten to include one of its tribes, could they? . Eleme is not Ogoni. It was added in latter documents as an afterthought for obvious economic reasons. Unfortunately the people themselves have failed to ask this question and many commentators on this topic are not well informed. Google theOgoni bill of rights and be informed!

I thought it was Tai-Eleme.... Or are they two different places??

Eleme is more igbo than ogoni. Their names are distinctively igbo.

KokoBeware:

I thought it was Tai-Eleme.... Or are they two different places??

They are different places. It is like saying that because we once had OTELGA- Okrika Tai Eleme LGA, that the three are the same. The igbos and Ikweres and Okrika and Kalabari even understand each other better than Eleme and ogoni when they speak. Sometimes we need to leave these arguments to the people that come from those areas.

LastApostle: Eleme is more igbo than ogoni. Their names are distinctively igbo.

How did you come about the above? Eleme is more Ogoni than anything else but they believe in being distinct. The names found in Eleme lean more to Ogoni but has Igbo, Ikwerre and Okrika influence.

LastApostle: Eleme is more igbo than ogoni. Their names are distinctively igbo.

Some people mistake Eleme for Eleme junction which is in Rumuokwurusi that speaks Ikwerre hence this wrong assertion of Igbo names. Eleme starts from Akpajo.

Hmm.

Funny. Another Oil politics induced identity crisis in Rivers state.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleme_people

Look at the Wikipedia page. The extent people can go just because material resources, these people are fast to throw away the bond of brotherhood.

Eleme now claiming distinct from Ogoni.
The only thing that is missing is the classic "Bini migration" story.

[b] The ongoing controversy that the Elemes
are not Ogonis has been described as the
handiwork of selfish politicians.
Former Deputy President of the Movement
of the Survival of the Ogoni People
(MOSOP) and Coordinator of Aborigines of
Eleme, Dr. Abraham Olungwe on a phone-
in programme organised by Silverbird
Communications in Port Harcourt at the
weekend, said Elemes are part of Ogoni.
According to Olungwe, those behind the
current ploy to separate Elemes from their
neighbours are bent on sowing seeds of
suspicion and preventing the people of
the area from speaking with one voice.
The coordinator, Eleme Aborignes noted
that problem started with the call for the
creation of Ogoni state, insisting that,
“even the UNEP Report gave Eleme
serious attention. Eleme is a nuclear
family just like Gokana and Tai.”
Olungwe further said, “you don’t divide
the people because of selfish interests.
He added that the Elemes have a lot to
benefit from the ongoing Ogoni
governorship project.
Olungwe’s view was corroborated by
President of KAGOTE, a socio-political
group, Dr. Peter Mede, who maintained
that Elemes are part and parcel of Ogoni.
Mede noted, “Eleme is part of Ogoni; they
are one, and will remain one”.
However, President of Eleme General
Assembly, Mr Jonah Chujor has disagreed
with the position canvassed by Olungwe
and Mede, saying that while Eleme people
will like to associate with their
neighbours, they will also like to preserve
their identity.
”While we are looking at things that unite
us, we should not allow our identities to
be submerged,” Chujor said. [/b]
http://www.thetidenewsonline.com/2014/10/20/eleme-ogoni-division-politically-motivated/

Mr Jonah Chujor has disagreed
with the position canvassed by Olungwe
and Mede, saying that while Eleme people
will like to associate with their
neighbours, they will also like to preserve
their identity.
”While we are looking at things that unite
us, we should not allow our identities to
be submerged,” Chujor said.

Of course, it's the craft of the greedy politicians and leaders, seeking to carve out a niche for themselves, where they will become the numero Uno. All of a sudden, their fellow Ogonis are now referred to as neighbors who influenced them linguistically and culturally, ancient bonds of brotherhood thrown out the window just because of Eleme newly found economic importance via the presence of multinationals and sea port in Eleme, on that basis, the rest of Ogoni must now be classified as neighbors trying to impose on Eleme an Ogoni identity.

Look at the mouth of that Jonah Chujor. No foresight whatsoever, eyes fixed on present gains, blinded by illusions to see the future.

[b] Sometimes I think that nobody in rivers knows who they are any more. 'I'm Ikwere im not Igbo, 'I'm Eleme Im not Ogoni', 'I'm Okirika Im not Ijaw'. What the heck is happening down there? I don't know if it was because they were the first people to meet the White man has something to with this identity crisis. I visited Elele a couple or times in the 90's during the hayday of 'Fr Edeh' and I remember that Fr Edeh not only preached in Igbo, he sometimes dabbled into his native Nkanu-Igbo dialect. The people of Elele understood him very well. Walking around Elele, I spoke to the people in Igbo and replied in Igbo too although for me their Igbo was a bit crude but still Igbo none the less and I thought the were my Igbo kith and kin. For a long time, I didn't even know Elele was in Rivers, I thought it was in old Imo state. It came as a rude shock to me that these days, the people who spoke Igbo to me, had Igbo names now say they are Ikwere and not Igbo. I'm also shocked that Igbo is also spoken in Opobo and parts of Bonny Island.[/b]

zendy:
[b] Sometimes I think that nobody in rivers knows who they are any more. 'I'm Ikwere im not Igbo, 'I'm Eleme Im not Ogoni', 'I'm Okirika Im not Ijaw'. What the heck is happening down there? I don't know if it was because they were the first people to meet the White man has something to with this identity crisis. I visited Elele a couple or times in the 90's during the hayday of 'Fr Edeh' and I remember that Fr Edeh not only preached in Igbo, he sometimes dabbled into his native Nkanu-Igbo dialect. The people of Elele understood him very well. Walking around Elele, I spoke to the people in Igbo and replied in Igbo too although for me their Igbo was a bit crude but still Igbo none the less and I thought the were my Igbo kith and kin. For a long time, I didn't even know Elele was in Rivers, I thought it was in old Imo state. It came as a rude shock to me that these days, the people who spoke Igbo to me, had Igbo names now say they are Ikwere and not Igbo. I'm also shocked that Igbo is also spoken in Opobo and parts of Bonny Island.[/b]

The whole thing reeks of laziness induced madness.