PRESS RELEASE BY IJAWS OF EGBEMA CLAN: REJOINDER.

1. The attention of the Toru-Ibe Ijaws of Edo state has been drawn to the Rejoinder of the Benin Traditional Council Christened Press Release by the Ijaws of Egbema clan: REJOINDER: In the said rejoinder the Benin Chiefs affirm that the Ijaws as a people have no God given lands in Edo State, particularly Benin area". They continued: "In conjunction with representatives of Ugbo and Itsekiri people we have proved in previous Press statement that the Ijaws in Warri, Benin and Ugbo land are migrants and settlers."
2. To say the least, nothing can be farther from the truth. In fact, the reverse is the case. It is the Binis, the Itsekiris and the Ilajes who are laying false and baseless claims to Ijaws lands in Edo, Delta and Ondo States, and that they are the migrants and settlers in Ijaw land. The Ijaws In Edo, Delta and Ondo States are in their own God given lands from time immemorial.
3. While the Itsekiris in Warri, Delta state, the Ilajes (Mahin) in Ondo state including the Binis in Edo state, are all in Ijaw-lands. The Itsekiris descendants of Ginuwa I, the rejected and banished eldest son of Oba Olua of Benin in the 15th century, precisely 1480AD. came from Benin; the Ilajes (Mahins) from Ile-Ife while the Binis migrated from Egypt, after a short stay in the Sudan and Ile-Ife, to Ijaw lands.
4. In all probability the Press statement to which these Bini Chiefs are referring is very likely to be the one they conspired with Itsekiris and Ilajes to publish in the Nigerian Tribune of March 31,1994 and repeated in the Guardian of April 10th, 1994.
5. We published a very adequate and comprehensive response to all their false-hoods in a Press statement published in the Sunday Tribune of June 26,1994, to which these Bini Chiefs have no clues till today; that in reality the reverse is the case, that the Binis, Itsekiris and the Ilajes are the migrants, squatters and settlers in Ijaw land.
6. The history of the Ijaws in Nigeria including the Toru-Ibe Ijaws of Edo State, Egbema Ijaws in Delta State and the Arogbo Ijaws in Ondo State as the aborigines of both the Niger Delta and wherever they are found in the Nigerian Coast board has never been questioned or disputed. No history or historian has been able to establish that the Ijaws of Nigeria migrated from any where to the coast which they have been identified with. While many other ethnic groups in Nigeria have traced their origins to countries outside Nigeria, the Ijaws of the Niger Delta have no home other than their present habitat the Niger Delta which stretches from the Eastern Adonis in Akwa-Ibom state through the Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Ondo States. But on the other hand the Binis migrated from Egypt via the Sudan to Ile-Ife; the Itsekiris came from Benin, and so by implication, from Ile-Ife , and the Ilajes from Ile-Ife. The Ijaws are in their proper original home in the Niger Delta of Nigeria.
In other words whereas, there was a time when there was none of these people- Binis, Itsekiris and Ilajes (Mahins)- in the riverine places that they are now falsely claiming to be their own, the Ijaws, the most ancient people in Nigeria, have always been in these riverine areas, their natured habitat.
7. WITNESS OF HISTORY TO IJAW AUTOCHTHONISM IN NIGERIA
History books are replete with the fact that the Ijaws are the most ancient and indigenous inhabitants of wherever they are found in the riverine areas in Benin, Warri and Ugbo. In fact, it is the verdict of history that the Ijaws are the most ancient people in the whole of Nigeria, and are among the most ancient in West Africa. We shall quote a few historians who testify to this fact. Professor J.S, Coleman in his book titled Nigeria: Background to Nationalism (Los Angeles, 1963, p. 28) describes the Ijaws as "perhaps the most ancient in West Africa whose Language has little or no affinity with any other in Nigeria ". In similar vein Professors Stride and Ifeka submit: "Some of the oldest inhabitants of the Atlantic Coast are the Jola, Pepeh and Sorer of the Senegambia, and Sherbro and Bulom of Sierra Leone. Along the Guinea Coast, the Lagoon folk of Ivory Coast, the Guan of Southern Ghana and the Ijaws of the Niger Delta (underlining ours) must be included among the most ancient of the coastal dwellers." (.G.T Stride and C. Ifeka, peoples and empires of West Africa 1000-1800, 1971, P.S).
8. Dr. P.A Talbot, once acting Resident of Benin Division (1920), calls the Ijaws "this strange people- a survival from the dim past beyond the dawn of history- whose language and customs are distinct from those of their neighbors and without trace of any tradition of time before they were driven-southwards into these regions of sombre mangroves." (Tribes of the Niger Delta, 1932, p.5). In another context, Dr. Talbot submits firmly; "their (Ijaws) origin is wrapped in mystery. The people inhabit practically the whole Coast, some 250 miles in length, stretching between the Ibibio and Yoruba. The Niger Delta therefore, is…occupied by this strange people." (Ibid)
9. Professor Wilfrid D. Hambly testifies: " Beliefs held by the Ijaws are of particular interest because these people are probably the oldest inhabitants of Nigeria."(Serpent Worship in Africa, (Chicago, U.S.A. 1931, p.16). In another context, Professor Wilfrid Hambly declares firmly: "Pythons are held sacred throughout the region of Marsh lands and waters inhabited by the most ancient tribe of all, the Ijaws." "(underlining ours Ibid).
10. These and more are objective and honest historians and writers who have no ulterior motive for their work. They are unanimous in their submission that the Ijaws are the indigenous and most ancient people of the Delta and the riverine, coastal areas of Nigeria.
The Binis , Itsekiris and Ilajes who say the Ijaws are strangers, settlers , tenants or squatters in the Nigeria coast line are betraying themselves as liars, deceivers, and people engaged in dirty, expansionist politicking and who are bound to fail.
11. ITSEKIRI - ORIGIN
As a matter of fact, a historian, William Moore, an Itsekiri himself actually called the Itsekiris and the Ilajes (Mahins) squatters in Ijaw-land. He writes: "Prior to the advent of the Bini Ginuwa (i.e 1480), the territory now known as the Kingdom of Itsekiri or Iwere, was inhabited by three tribes, namely, the Ijaws, Sobos (Urhobo) and Mahins (Ilajes)… (The Sobos) occupied the hinterland, while the Ijaws occupied the coastline, and the Mahins (llajes) squatted on the sea-shore near the Benin River… the Mahins (Ilajes) hailed from Akoko and Ikale in the province of Ondo, Nigeria." (History of Itsekiri, 1970), P. B.
12. In another context, William Moore submits: "Prince Ginuwa first landed at Amatu (an Ijaw town) where he squatted for about three decades, he moved to Oruselomo where he married an Ijaw woman named Derumo… a dispute arose between him and the Ijaws of Gulani on account of the woman Derumo who was killed by him… he fled to Ijala where he later died…" (Ibid. pp. 18 - 20).
13. According to Chief Dr. Egharevba, "Oba Olua knew that his eldest son Iginua was hated by the Binis for the bad advice he had given against the people. He decided to send him away… The Oba did not wish the scheme to be known to his chiefs in order that they might send their sons to accompany him as his subjects so he cunningly asked them to send their sons with Iginua (Ginuwa) to sacrifice for him by the sea… Olua made a big box and filled it with the necessary royal attire… and to conceal the secret put the sacrificial victims on the top. He had made arrangements in advance for Ijaw men to take Igniua and his retinue in their canoes to their destination… Being very proud and fond of wearing fine clothes he was nicknamed "Iginua the proud". He was also very cunning and cruel. " (A Short History of Benin, 1968, P. 21).
14. Ginuwa's (Iginua) retinue was made up of seventy (70) all male including Ginuwa and all first sons of Bini Chiefs. There was no single woman among them. The Ijaws took them in their canoes to Amalu. After waiting for a long time and seeing that their sons did not return, the Bini chiefs realised that they had been deceived by their Oba. So they sent warriors to Ugharagin (now Oghareki) to fetch their sons home. But they had been ferried across the river by the Ijaws who refused to co-operate with the Bini chiefs, so, their mission failed.
15 Apart from accommodating these seventy men and giving them land to stay, the Ijaws gave wives to these seventy to marry and taught them all the techniques of living in the rivers including how to make river craft.
16. This is the story of the Itsekiri people who are actually the tenants, squatters and settlers in Ijawland as any reader can see for himself/herself.
17. ILAJES (MAHINS) - ORIGIN
The Ilajes met the Arogbo-Ijaws in the home land of the latter people. The Ilajes escaped from Ile-Ife a few centuries ago running for their dear life because of the misunderstanding between them and their kith and kins in Ile-Ife. They arrived in Ijawland in the present Ondo State and pleaded to be sheltered. Thus the Ilajes whose countrymen, the Yoruba are hinterland based people found themselves settled along the Atlantic sea-coast separated from the hinterland by the Arogbo-Ijaw clan who inhabit the fresh water swamps of the Delta adjoining the mainland. This historical event explains why the oldest Ilaje-towns can only be found along the Atlantic coast line and not more than a few decades old. The Arogbo-Ijaws taught the Ilajes the art of swimming, fishing, house building and canoe-paddling the only mode of transportation in the area.
18. This story was corroborated by the testimony of the then Olugbo-Elect, Crown Prince Adebanjo Akingbade Mafimisebi. He is now the substantive Olugbo of Ugbo. Testifying before the Justice Ajakaiye Chieftaincy Commission of Inquiry sitting at Akure, he deposed as follows: "The Ugbo-Kingdom in the Ilaje-Ese Odo Local Government of Ondo State existed before Oduduwa came to Ile-Ife. Ugbo (Ilaje) Kingdom is one of the ancient Kingdoms in Yorubaland as a whole, and the people (Ilajes) were originally (underlining ours) in Ile-Ife before Oduduwa (father of the Yorubas) came and raided them. They first settled at Oke Mafunranyan (High Hill) which was later known as Oke-Igbo, and later migrated to the Arogbo-Ijaw riverine area of Ondo State." (See Sunday Sketch, June 19, 1988.
19. This history of Ilaje settlement in their present habitat is further corroborated in a short history of the Ilajes by an expatriate, Patriarch J. G. Campbell who stated that the Ilajes left Ile-Ife to Ese-Odo area where they were assisted by the Ijos (Ijaws) to settle in their new environment.
20. The said press statement by the conspirator Chiefs was released on the eve of the so called Constitutional Conference organised by the Abacha Administration. Its intention was to mislead, misinform and deceive the public, the Abacha Government and the delegates to the conference to deny us our request for a separate Local Government - Toru-Ibe Local Government Area.
21. The present Rejoinder by these writers has the same intention: to misinform, mislead and deceive the public and the Federal and State Governments in the on-going Boundary delimitation exercise embarked upon by the National Boundary Commission. The third purpose of these conspirators is to show the Ijaws in a bad light, all in their attempt to corner our God-given oil rich lands.
22. They insulted the whole Ijaw race by describing it as " a nomadic and highly sedentary race that migrate to other places to live, "using their canoes in the water ways and settling on shore to engage in their fishing business." These are very inflamming words , and these chiefs owe an unreserved apology to the Ijaw ethnic nationality.
23. The Ijaws are neither nomads, migrants nor settlers, as we shall prove very presently.
But we are proud that we have our own river-craft, canoes, with which we ply our criss-cross rivers, rivulets and seas all over the coast of Nigeria and convey our goods and goods of others; we are not beast of burden like these chiefs who heave their loads on their heads and shoulders, walking miles and miles some times on bare foot.
24. Secondly, these Bini Chiefs are either very ignorant people or they are just being mischievous, out to deceive, misinform and mislead the public and governments. Their own son, late Chief (Dr.) Jacob Uwagboe Egharevba wrote that they are actually, the migrants, that they migrated from Egypt to the Sudan, and then migrated from the Sudan to Ile-Ife and then again migrated from Ile-Ife to the present place, and that "Tradition says that they (the Binis) met some people who were in the land before their arrival "(A Short History Benin, Ibadan University Press, 1968, P.1).
25. And the people, they met in the land were the Ijaws who ferried them across the Ovia river with their river-craft (Ibid. pp. 6&9) which the Bini Chiefs tried to ridicule. This duty of ferrying Binis and other people across Ovia River the Ijaws continued to perform creditably over the years until a few decades ago when bridges were constructed across the River Ovia. When vehicles appeared in Nigeria the Ijaws wisely joined two or three big canoes together to continue to do their job of ferrying men and goods across the river Ovia. The last Ijaw ferryman was chief Beyo of Ikoro, an Ijaw community in Ovia North-East Local Government Area.
26 In his book titled. The Origin and Titles of Yoruba Rulers (n.d. p.3) E. A. Kenya writes about the new comers (the Binis) "Up till that time the Oba of (Benin) and his people were pure Yoruba and did not understand the language of the aborigines who usually saluted themselves and the people thus: 'A doo', dolo o; and whenever the Oba's people saw these aborigines they used to call them "Ados".
27 S. K. Owonaro corroborates Kenyo's statement. He writes: "To the proposal Prince Godo readily consented. He therefore left Ife with the old woman and the regalia of authority… He migrated southwards till he got to the present site of Benin City where he met with some people known as Ifa, or Edos." (The History of Ijo and Her Neighbouring Tribes in Nigeria, 1949, p. 94).
28 And according to P. C. Lloyd, "… Yoruba was the Court language in Benin both before and at the time of Ginuwa's departure (in 1480), hence its use at Ode Itsekiri". (The Benin Kingdom and the Edo speaking Peoples of Southern Nigeria by R.E. Bradbury with a section on the Itsekiri by P. C. Llyod. 1957, p. 179).
29 Ado o., dolo o are the greetings of the Ijaws till today, an incontrovertible evidence that the aborigines Kenyo wrote about are the Ijaws. The aliens (the Binis) ridiculed and nicknamed the Ijaws Ados which in the corrupt form Edo/Ado became the name of the Edo people, their language, and the city of Benin. The Ijaws are the aborigines of Benin and the entire land.
30 Thus there are two elements in Benin today. The Oba and his dynasty commencing with Prince Oranmiyan from Ile-Ife in 1170 AD represent the alien, Yoruba element while the Ogiamwen, the Uzama, (an Ijaw word meaning "Ijaw people or Ijaw town"wink and the Iyase represent the Ijaw aborigines (A. Ryder, Benin and the Europeans 1485 - 1897), 1969, pp. 3 - 8. Cf Egharevba, Op. Cit, pp. 9f)
31 This was why there was a near perfect harmony between the Binis and the Ijaws all over the Country until the reign of the present Oba of Benin who has put the spanner between people who had been living together in peace for centuries. His ambition is to be both Oba of Benin and the Oba of Toru-Ibe Ijaws. We consider this as an inordinate ambition, impossible to realise.
32 It is important to state at this juncture one very important historical fact. And this is to the effect that numberless centuries before the slave trade, during the slave trade and long after the inhuman human traffic no interior tribe including the Binis dared to found any village near a river, particularly the five so-called slave rivers, namely Rio Primeriro (First River), Rio Fermoso (the Beautiful River, now the Benin River), Riodos Escravos (the slave River), the Rio dos Forcados (the Swallowtail River) and the Rio dos Ramos (Creek River).

Well articulated.. so these 3 tribes are no longer afraid of Egbema again.....they have forgotten so soon..

giftibo:
PRESS RELEASE BY IJAWS OF EGBEMA CLAN: REJOINDER.

1. The attention of the Toru-Ibe Ijaws of Edo state has been drawn to the Rejoinder of the Benin Traditional Council Christened Press Release by the Ijaws of Egbema clan: REJOINDER: In the said rejoinder the Benin Chiefs affirm that the Ijaws as a people have no God given lands in Edo State, particularly Benin area". They continued: "In conjunction with representatives of Ugbo and Itsekiri people we have proved in previous Press statement that the Ijaws in Warri, Benin and Ugbo land are migrants and settlers."
2. To say the least, nothing can be farther from the truth. In fact, the reverse is the case. It is the Binis, the Itsekiris and the Ilajes who are laying false and baseless claims to Ijaws lands in Edo, Delta and Ondo States, and that they are the migrants and settlers in Ijaw land. The Ijaws In Edo, Delta and Ondo States are in their own God given lands from time immemorial.
3. While the Itsekiris in Warri, Delta state, the Ilajes (Mahin) in Ondo state including the Binis in Edo state, are all in Ijaw-lands. The Itsekiris descendants of Ginuwa I, the rejected and banished eldest son of Oba Olua of Benin in the 15th century, precisely 1480AD. came from Benin; the Ilajes (Mahins) from Ile-Ife while the Binis migrated from Egypt, after a short stay in the Sudan and Ile-Ife, to Ijaw lands.
4. In all probability the Press statement to which these Bini Chiefs are referring is very likely to be the one they conspired with Itsekiris and Ilajes to publish in the Nigerian Tribune of March 31,1994 and repeated in the Guardian of April 10th, 1994.
5. We published a very adequate and comprehensive response to all their false-hoods in a Press statement published in the Sunday Tribune of June 26,1994, to which these Bini Chiefs have no clues till today; that in reality the reverse is the case, that the Binis, Itsekiris and the Ilajes are the migrants, squatters and settlers in Ijaw land.
6. The history of the Ijaws in Nigeria including the Toru-Ibe Ijaws of Edo State, Egbema Ijaws in Delta State and the Arogbo Ijaws in Ondo State as the aborigines of both the Niger Delta and wherever they are found in the Nigerian Coast board has never been questioned or disputed. No history or historian has been able to establish that the Ijaws of Nigeria migrated from any where to the coast which they have been identified with. While many other ethnic groups in Nigeria have traced their origins to countries outside Nigeria, the Ijaws of the Niger Delta have no home other than their present habitat the Niger Delta which stretches from the Eastern Adonis in Akwa-Ibom state through the Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Ondo States. But on the other hand the Binis migrated from Egypt via the Sudan to Ile-Ife; the Itsekiris came from Benin, and so by implication, from Ile-Ife , and the Ilajes from Ile-Ife. The Ijaws are in their proper original home in the Niger Delta of Nigeria.
In other words whereas, there was a time when there was none of these people- Binis, Itsekiris and Ilajes (Mahins)- in the riverine places that they are now falsely claiming to be their own, the Ijaws, the most ancient people in Nigeria, have always been in these riverine areas, their natured habitat.
7. WITNESS OF HISTORY TO IJAW AUTOCHTHONISM IN NIGERIA
History books are replete with the fact that the Ijaws are the most ancient and indigenous inhabitants of wherever they are found in the riverine areas in Benin, Warri and Ugbo. In fact, it is the verdict of history that the Ijaws are the most ancient people in the whole of Nigeria, and are among the most ancient in West Africa. We shall quote a few historians who testify to this fact. [b]Professor J.S, Coleman in his book titled Nigeria: Background to Nationalism (Los Angeles, 1963, p. 28) describes the Ijaws as "perhaps the most ancient in West Africa whose Language has little or no affinity with any other in Nigeria ". In similar vein Professors Stride and Ifeka submit: "Some of the oldest inhabitants of the Atlantic Coast are the Jola, Pepeh and Sorer of the Senegambia, and Sherbro and Bulom of Sierra Leone. Along the Guinea Coast, the Lagoon folk of Ivory Coast, the Guan of Southern Ghana and the Ijaws of the Niger Delta (underlining ours) must be included among the most ancient of the coastal dwellers." (.G.T Stride and C. Ifeka, peoples and empires of West Africa 1000-1800, 1971, P.S).
8. Dr. P.A Talbot, once acting Resident of Benin Division (1920), calls the Ijaws "this strange people- a survival from the dim past beyond the dawn of history- whose language and customs are distinct from those of their neighbors and without trace of any tradition of time before they were driven-southwards into these regions of sombre mangroves." (Tribes of the Niger Delta, 1932, p.5). In another context, Dr. Talbot submits firmly; "their (Ijaws) origin is wrapped in mystery. The people inhabit practically the whole Coast, some 250 miles in length, stretching between the Ibibio and Yoruba. The Niger Delta therefore, is…occupied by this strange people." (Ibid)
9. Professor Wilfrid D. Hambly testifies: " Beliefs held by the Ijaws are of particular interest because these people are probably the oldest inhabitants of Nigeria."(Serpent Worship in Africa, (Chicago, U.S.A. 1931, p.16). In another context, Professor Wilfrid Hambly declares firmly: "Pythons are held sacred throughout the region of Marsh lands and waters inhabited by the most ancient tribe of all, the Ijaws." "(underlining ours Ibid).
10. These and more are objective and honest historians and writers who have no ulterior motive for their work. They are unanimous in their submission that the Ijaws are the indigenous and most ancient people of the Delta and the riverine, coastal areas of Nigeria[/b].
The Binis , Itsekiris and Ilajes who say the Ijaws are strangers, settlers , tenants or squatters in the Nigeria coast line are betraying themselves as liars, deceivers, and people engaged in dirty, expansionist politicking and who are bound to fail.
11. ITSEKIRI - ORIGIN
As a matter of fact, a historian, William Moore, an Itsekiri himself actually called the Itsekiris and the Ilajes (Mahins) squatters in Ijaw-land. He writes: "Prior to the advent of the Bini Ginuwa (i.e 1480), the territory now known as the Kingdom of Itsekiri or Iwere, was inhabited by three tribes, namely, the Ijaws, Sobos (Urhobo) and Mahins (Ilajes)… (The Sobos) occupied the hinterland, while the Ijaws occupied the coastline, and the Mahins (llajes) squatted on the sea-shore near the Benin River… the Mahins (Ilajes) hailed from Akoko and Ikale in the province of Ondo, Nigeria." (History of Itsekiri, 1970), P. B.
12. In another context, William Moore submits: "Prince Ginuwa first landed at Amatu (an Ijaw town) where he squatted for about three decades, he moved to Oruselomo where he married an Ijaw woman named Derumo… a dispute arose between him and the Ijaws of Gulani on account of the woman Derumo who was killed by him… he fled to Ijala where he later died…" (Ibid. pp. 18 - 20).
13. According to Chief Dr. Egharevba, "Oba Olua knew that his eldest son Iginua was hated by the Binis for the bad advice he had given against the people. He decided to send him away… The Oba did not wish the scheme to be known to his chiefs in order that they might send their sons to accompany him as his subjects so he cunningly asked them to send their sons with Iginua (Ginuwa) to sacrifice for him by the sea… Olua made a big box and filled it with the necessary royal attire… and to conceal the secret put the sacrificial victims on the top. He had made arrangements in advance for Ijaw men to take Igniua and his retinue in their canoes to their destination… Being very proud and fond of wearing fine clothes he was nicknamed "Iginua the proud". He was also very cunning and cruel. " (A Short History of Benin, 1968, P. 21).
14. Ginuwa's (Iginua) retinue was made up of seventy (70) all male including Ginuwa and all first sons of Bini Chiefs. There was no single woman among them. The Ijaws took them in their canoes to Amalu. After waiting for a long time and seeing that their sons did not return, the Bini chiefs realised that they had been deceived by their Oba. So they sent warriors to Ugharagin (now Oghareki) to fetch their sons home. But they had been ferried across the river by the Ijaws who refused to co-operate with the Bini chiefs, so, their mission failed.
15 Apart from accommodating these seventy men and giving them land to stay, the Ijaws gave wives to these seventy to marry and taught them all the techniques of living in the rivers including how to make river craft.
16. This is the story of the Itsekiri people who are actually the tenants, squatters and settlers in Ijawland as any reader can see for himself/herself.
17. ILAJES (MAHINS) - ORIGIN
The Ilajes met the Arogbo-Ijaws in the home land of the latter people. The Ilajes escaped from Ile-Ife a few centuries ago running for their dear life because of the misunderstanding between them and their kith and kins in Ile-Ife. They arrived in Ijawland in the present Ondo State and pleaded to be sheltered. Thus the Ilajes whose countrymen, the Yoruba are hinterland based people found themselves settled along the Atlantic sea-coast separated from the hinterland by the Arogbo-Ijaw clan who inhabit the fresh water swamps of the Delta adjoining the mainland. This historical event explains why the oldest Ilaje-towns can only be found along the Atlantic coast line and not more than a few decades old. The Arogbo-Ijaws taught the Ilajes the art of swimming, fishing, house building and canoe-paddling the only mode of transportation in the area.
18. This story was corroborated by the testimony of the then Olugbo-Elect, Crown Prince Adebanjo Akingbade Mafimisebi. He is now the substantive Olugbo of Ugbo. Testifying before the Justice Ajakaiye Chieftaincy Commission of Inquiry sitting at Akure, he deposed as follows: "The Ugbo-Kingdom in the Ilaje-Ese Odo Local Government of Ondo State existed before Oduduwa came to Ile-Ife. Ugbo (Ilaje) Kingdom is one of the ancient Kingdoms in Yorubaland as a whole, and the people (Ilajes) were originally (underlining ours) in Ile-Ife before Oduduwa (father of the Yorubas) came and raided them. They first settled at Oke Mafunranyan (High Hill) which was later known as Oke-Igbo, and later migrated to the Arogbo-Ijaw riverine area of Ondo State." (See Sunday Sketch, June 19, 1988.
19. This history of Ilaje settlement in their present habitat is further corroborated in a short history of the Ilajes by an expatriate, Patriarch J. G. Campbell who stated that the Ilajes left Ile-Ife to Ese-Odo area where they were assisted by the Ijos (Ijaws) to settle in their new environment.
20. The said press statement by the conspirator Chiefs was released on the eve of the so called Constitutional Conference organised by the Abacha Administration. Its intention was to mislead, misinform and deceive the public, the Abacha Government and the delegates to the conference to deny us our request for a separate Local Government - Toru-Ibe Local Government Area.
21. The present Rejoinder by these writers has the same intention: to misinform, mislead and deceive the public and the Federal and State Governments in the on-going Boundary delimitation exercise embarked upon by the National Boundary Commission. The third purpose of these conspirators is to show the Ijaws in a bad light, all in their attempt to corner our God-given oil rich lands.
22. They insulted the whole Ijaw race by describing it as " a nomadic and highly sedentary race that migrate to other places to live, "using their canoes in the water ways and settling on shore to engage in their fishing business." These are very inflamming words , and these chiefs owe an unreserved apology to the Ijaw ethnic nationality.
23. The Ijaws are neither nomads, migrants nor settlers, as we shall prove very presently.
But we are proud that we have our own river-craft, canoes, with which we ply our criss-cross rivers, rivulets and seas all over the coast of Nigeria and convey our goods and goods of others; we are not beast of burden like these chiefs who heave their loads on their heads and shoulders, walking miles and miles some times on bare foot.
24. Secondly, these Bini Chiefs are either very ignorant people or they are just being mischievous, out to deceive, misinform and mislead the public and governments. Their own son, late Chief (Dr.) Jacob Uwagboe Egharevba wrote that they are actually, the migrants, that they migrated from Egypt to the Sudan, and then migrated from the Sudan to Ile-Ife and then again migrated from Ile-Ife to the present place, and that "Tradition says that they (the Binis) met some people who were in the land before their arrival "(A Short History Benin, Ibadan University Press, 1968, P.1).
25. And the people, they met in the land were the Ijaws who ferried them across the Ovia river with their river-craft (Ibid. pp. 6&9) which the Bini Chiefs tried to ridicule. This duty of ferrying Binis and other people across Ovia River the Ijaws continued to perform creditably over the years until a few decades ago when bridges were constructed across the River Ovia. When vehicles appeared in Nigeria the Ijaws wisely joined two or three big canoes together to continue to do their job of ferrying men and goods across the river Ovia. The last Ijaw ferryman was chief Beyo of Ikoro, an Ijaw community in Ovia North-East Local Government Area.
26 In his book titled. The Origin and Titles of Yoruba Rulers (n.d. p.3) E. A. Kenya writes about the new comers (the Binis) "Up till that time the Oba of (Benin) and his people were pure Yoruba and did not understand the language of the aborigines who usually saluted themselves and the people thus: 'A doo', dolo o; and whenever the Oba's people saw these aborigines they used to call them "Ados".
27 S. K. Owonaro corroborates Kenyo's statement. He writes: "To the proposal Prince Godo readily consented. He therefore left Ife with the old woman and the regalia of authority… He migrated southwards till he got to the present site of Benin City where he met with some people known as Ifa, or Edos." (The History of Ijo and Her Neighbouring Tribes in Nigeria, 1949, p. 94).
28 And according to P. C. Lloyd, "… Yoruba was the Court language in Benin both before and at the time of Ginuwa's departure (in 1480), hence its use at Ode Itsekiri". (The Benin Kingdom and the Edo speaking Peoples of Southern Nigeria by R.E. Bradbury with a section on the Itsekiri by P. C. Llyod. 1957, p. 179).
29 Ado o., dolo o are the greetings of the Ijaws till today, an incontrovertible evidence that the aborigines Kenyo wrote about are the Ijaws. The aliens (the Binis) ridiculed and nicknamed the Ijaws Ados which in the corrupt form Edo/Ado became the name of the Edo people, their language, and the city of Benin. The Ijaws are the aborigines of Benin and the entire land.
30 Thus there are two elements in Benin today. The Oba and his dynasty commencing with Prince Oranmiyan from Ile-Ife in 1170 AD represent the alien, Yoruba element while the Ogiamwen, the Uzama, (an Ijaw word meaning "Ijaw people or Ijaw town"wink and the Iyase represent the Ijaw aborigines (A. Ryder, Benin and the Europeans 1485 - 1897), 1969, pp. 3 - 8. Cf Egharevba, Op. Cit, pp. 9f)
31 This was why there was a near perfect harmony between the Binis and the Ijaws all over the Country until the reign of the present Oba of Benin who has put the spanner between people who had been living together in peace for centuries. His ambition is to be both Oba of Benin and the Oba of Toru-Ibe Ijaws. We consider this as an inordinate ambition, impossible to realise.
32 It is important to state at this juncture one very important historical fact. And this is to the effect that numberless centuries before the slave trade, during the slave trade and long after the inhuman human traffic no interior tribe including the Binis dared to found any village near a river, particularly the five so-called slave rivers, namely Rio Primeriro (First River), Rio Fermoso (the Beautiful River, now the Benin River), Riodos Escravos (the slave River), the Rio dos Forcados (the Swallowtail River) and the Rio dos Ramos (Creek River).

Just when I was showing Porbeni(Igboid) excerpts of Talbot proving Ijos as one of the most ancient tribes in Africa and most àncient in Nigeria.

Ijaws like Fulanis won't take what they have in peace ...I know they think expanding is the best form of defense

Simple DNA test would expose who are and who are not indigenous to Nigeria

We know people who came with the Portuguese on boat and blending with the hand full of tribe by the coast

Ijaw is a political identity there is no cultural , language binding the so called ijaws ...the similar cultures are all less than 200 years

Hold what you have ooh ...no body is dragging with u ... supreme court has ruled that ijaws are strangers to Edo ...Igbos igbanekas have more land in Edo than ijaws

JANK23H:

Just when I was showing Porbeni(Igboid) excerpts of Talbot proving Ijos as one of the most ancient tribes in Africa and most àncient in Nigeria.

Must you quote that long essay.

mrvitalis:
Ijaws like Fulanis won't take what they have in peace ...I know they think expanding is the best form of defense

Simple DNA test would expose who are and who are not indigenous to Nigeria

We know people who came with the Portuguese on boat and blending with the hand full of tribe by the coast

Ijaw is a political identity there is no cultural , language binding the so called ijaws ...the similar cultures are all less than 200 years

Hold what you have ooh ...no body is dragging with u ... supreme court has ruled that ijaws are strangers to Edo ...Igbos igbanekas have more land in Edo than ijaws

Go n read those books written by their own people
I don't like arguing with empty head come with your facts n disapprove what is written by your own people

mrvitalis:
Ijaws like Fulanis won't take what they have in peace ...I know they think expanding is the best form of defense

Simple DNA test would expose who are and who are not indigenous to Nigeria

We know people who came with the Portuguese on boat and blending with the hand full of tribe by the coast

Ijaw is a political identity there is no cultural , language binding the so called ijaws ...the similar cultures are all less than 200 years

Hold what you have ooh ...no body is dragging with u ... supreme court has ruled that ijaws are strangers to Edo ...Igbos igbanekas have more land in Edo than ijaws

Guy why,stop these.i personally hate ijaws and igbos have conflict or misunderstanding.
Ijaws actually own those land.
Any tribe that want to push ijaw from their ancestry land go collect I swear.
Mind you ijaws are the bravest,richest and most blessed black tribe on Earth..
Yorubas has sieze our land in Lagos but you won't say anything and now they want to do same in ondo.
Ijaws won't give up our land.even an inch

Bravetunde:

Guy why,stop these.i personally hate ijaws and igbos have conflict or misunderstanding.
Ijaws actually own those land.
Any tribe that want to push ijaw from their ancestry land go collect I swear.
Mind you ijaws are the bravest,richest and most blessed black tribe on Earth..
Yorubas has sieze our land in Lagos but you won't say anything and now they want to do same in ondo.
Ijaws won't give up our land.even an inch

Your land in Lagos hahahaha very funny, anyways this are noise online if Ijaws do anyhow in Ese Odo Ondo that we are accommodated them they will see anyhow. Even since GEJ empowered them with money and all those guns they are being very loud and planning to expand into people's ancestral land and territory. If they try any nonsense in both Ilajes and Itserikiri territory in Ese Odo, Itseriki territory in Ologbo in Edo and, Iteseriki land in Delta they will have theirselves to blame. All those groundnut and guns they have kept in the creed will not save them from the help that will befall them. They better mind their territory and live peacefully with those that has accommodated them.

[s]

giftibo:
PRESS RELEASE BY IJAWS OF EGBEMA CLAN: REJOINDER.

1. The attention of the Toru-Ibe Ijaws of Edo state has been drawn to the Rejoinder of the Benin Traditional Council Christened Press Release by the Ijaws of Egbema clan: REJOINDER: In the said rejoinder the Benin Chiefs affirm that the Ijaws as a people have no God given lands in Edo State, particularly Benin area". They continued: "In conjunction with representatives of Ugbo and Itsekiri people we have proved in previous Press statement that the Ijaws in Warri, Benin and Ugbo land are migrants and settlers."
2. To say the least, nothing can be farther from the truth. In fact, the reverse is the case. It is the Binis, the Itsekiris and the Ilajes who are laying false and baseless claims to Ijaws lands in Edo, Delta and Ondo States, and that they are the migrants and settlers in Ijaw land. The Ijaws In Edo, Delta and Ondo States are in their own God given lands from time immemorial.
3. While the Itsekiris in Warri, Delta state, the Ilajes (Mahin) in Ondo state including the Binis in Edo state, are all in Ijaw-lands. The Itsekiris descendants of Ginuwa I, the rejected and banished eldest son of Oba Olua of Benin in the 15th century, precisely 1480AD. came from Benin; the Ilajes (Mahins) from Ile-Ife while the Binis migrated from Egypt, after a short stay in the Sudan and Ile-Ife, to Ijaw lands.
4. In all probability the Press statement to which these Bini Chiefs are referring is very likely to be the one they conspired with Itsekiris and Ilajes to publish in the Nigerian Tribune of March 31,1994 and repeated in the Guardian of April 10th, 1994.
5. We published a very adequate and comprehensive response to all their false-hoods in a Press statement published in the Sunday Tribune of June 26,1994, to which these Bini Chiefs have no clues till today; that in reality the reverse is the case, that the Binis, Itsekiris and the Ilajes are the migrants, squatters and settlers in Ijaw land.
6. The history of the Ijaws in Nigeria including the Toru-Ibe Ijaws of Edo State, Egbema Ijaws in Delta State and the Arogbo Ijaws in Ondo State as the aborigines of both the Niger Delta and wherever they are found in the Nigerian Coast board has never been questioned or disputed. No history or historian has been able to establish that the Ijaws of Nigeria migrated from any where to the coast which they have been identified with. While many other ethnic groups in Nigeria have traced their origins to countries outside Nigeria, the Ijaws of the Niger Delta have no home other than their present habitat the Niger Delta which stretches from the Eastern Adonis in Akwa-Ibom state through the Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Ondo States. But on the other hand the Binis migrated from Egypt via the Sudan to Ile-Ife; the Itsekiris came from Benin, and so by implication, from Ile-Ife , and the Ilajes from Ile-Ife. The Ijaws are in their proper original home in the Niger Delta of Nigeria.
In other words whereas, there was a time when there was none of these people- Binis, Itsekiris and Ilajes (Mahins)- in the riverine places that they are now falsely claiming to be their own, the Ijaws, the most ancient people in Nigeria, have always been in these riverine areas, their natured habitat.
7. WITNESS OF HISTORY TO IJAW AUTOCHTHONISM IN NIGERIA
History books are replete with the fact that the Ijaws are the most ancient and indigenous inhabitants of wherever they are found in the riverine areas in Benin, Warri and Ugbo. In fact, it is the verdict of history that the Ijaws are the most ancient people in the whole of Nigeria, and are among the most ancient in West Africa. We shall quote a few historians who testify to this fact. Professor J.S, Coleman in his book titled Nigeria: Background to Nationalism (Los Angeles, 1963, p. 28) describes the Ijaws as "perhaps the most ancient in West Africa whose Language has little or no affinity with any other in Nigeria ". In similar vein Professors Stride and Ifeka submit: "Some of the oldest inhabitants of the Atlantic Coast are the Jola, Pepeh and Sorer of the Senegambia, and Sherbro and Bulom of Sierra Leone. Along the Guinea Coast, the Lagoon folk of Ivory Coast, the Guan of Southern Ghana and the Ijaws of the Niger Delta (underlining ours) must be included among the most ancient of the coastal dwellers." (.G.T Stride and C. Ifeka, peoples and empires of West Africa 1000-1800, 1971, P.S).
8. Dr. P.A Talbot, once acting Resident of Benin Division (1920), calls the Ijaws "this strange people- a survival from the dim past beyond the dawn of history- whose language and customs are distinct from those of their neighbors and without trace of any tradition of time before they were driven-southwards into these regions of sombre mangroves." (Tribes of the Niger Delta, 1932, p.5). In another context, Dr. Talbot submits firmly; "their (Ijaws) origin is wrapped in mystery. The people inhabit practically the whole Coast, some 250 miles in length, stretching between the Ibibio and Yoruba. The Niger Delta therefore, is…occupied by this strange people." (Ibid)
9. Professor Wilfrid D. Hambly testifies: " Beliefs held by the Ijaws are of particular interest because these people are probably the oldest inhabitants of Nigeria."(Serpent Worship in Africa, (Chicago, U.S.A. 1931, p.16). In another context, Professor Wilfrid Hambly declares firmly: "Pythons are held sacred throughout the region of Marsh lands and waters inhabited by the most ancient tribe of all, the Ijaws." "(underlining ours Ibid).
10. These and more are objective and honest historians and writers who have no ulterior motive for their work. They are unanimous in their submission that the Ijaws are the indigenous and most ancient people of the Delta and the riverine, coastal areas of Nigeria.
The Binis , Itsekiris and Ilajes who say the Ijaws are strangers, settlers , tenants or squatters in the Nigeria coast line are betraying themselves as liars, deceivers, and people engaged in dirty, expansionist politicking and who are bound to fail.
11. ITSEKIRI - ORIGIN
As a matter of fact, a historian, William Moore, an Itsekiri himself actually called the Itsekiris and the Ilajes (Mahins) squatters in Ijaw-land. He writes: "Prior to the advent of the Bini Ginuwa (i.e 1480), the territory now known as the Kingdom of Itsekiri or Iwere, was inhabited by three tribes, namely, the Ijaws, Sobos (Urhobo) and Mahins (Ilajes)… (The Sobos) occupied the hinterland, while the Ijaws occupied the coastline, and the Mahins (llajes) squatted on the sea-shore near the Benin River… the Mahins (Ilajes) hailed from Akoko and Ikale in the province of Ondo, Nigeria." (History of Itsekiri, 1970), P. B.
12. In another context, William Moore submits: "Prince Ginuwa first landed at Amatu (an Ijaw town) where he squatted for about three decades, he moved to Oruselomo where he married an Ijaw woman named Derumo… a dispute arose between him and the Ijaws of Gulani on account of the woman Derumo who was killed by him… he fled to Ijala where he later died…" (Ibid. pp. 18 - 20).
13. According to Chief Dr. Egharevba, "Oba Olua knew that his eldest son Iginua was hated by the Binis for the bad advice he had given against the people. He decided to send him away… The Oba did not wish the scheme to be known to his chiefs in order that they might send their sons to accompany him as his subjects so he cunningly asked them to send their sons with Iginua (Ginuwa) to sacrifice for him by the sea… Olua made a big box and filled it with the necessary royal attire… and to conceal the secret put the sacrificial victims on the top. He had made arrangements in advance for Ijaw men to take Igniua and his retinue in their canoes to their destination… Being very proud and fond of wearing fine clothes he was nicknamed "Iginua the proud". He was also very cunning and cruel. " (A Short History of Benin, 1968, P. 21).
14. Ginuwa's (Iginua) retinue was made up of seventy (70) all male including Ginuwa and all first sons of Bini Chiefs. There was no single woman among them. The Ijaws took them in their canoes to Amalu. After waiting for a long time and seeing that their sons did not return, the Bini chiefs realised that they had been deceived by their Oba. So they sent warriors to Ugharagin (now Oghareki) to fetch their sons home. But they had been ferried across the river by the Ijaws who refused to co-operate with the Bini chiefs, so, their mission failed.
15 Apart from accommodating these seventy men and giving them land to stay, the Ijaws gave wives to these seventy to marry and taught them all the techniques of living in the rivers including how to make river craft.
16. This is the story of the Itsekiri people who are actually the tenants, squatters and settlers in Ijawland as any reader can see for himself/herself.
17. ILAJES (MAHINS) - ORIGIN
The Ilajes met the Arogbo-Ijaws in the home land of the latter people. The Ilajes escaped from Ile-Ife a few centuries ago running for their dear life because of the misunderstanding between them and their kith and kins in Ile-Ife. They arrived in Ijawland in the present Ondo State and pleaded to be sheltered. Thus the Ilajes whose countrymen, the Yoruba are hinterland based people found themselves settled along the Atlantic sea-coast separated from the hinterland by the Arogbo-Ijaw clan who inhabit the fresh water swamps of the Delta adjoining the mainland. This historical event explains why the oldest Ilaje-towns can only be found along the Atlantic coast line and not more than a few decades old. The Arogbo-Ijaws taught the Ilajes the art of swimming, fishing, house building and canoe-paddling the only mode of transportation in the area.
18. This story was corroborated by the testimony of the then Olugbo-Elect, Crown Prince Adebanjo Akingbade Mafimisebi. He is now the substantive Olugbo of Ugbo. Testifying before the Justice Ajakaiye Chieftaincy Commission of Inquiry sitting at Akure, he deposed as follows: "The Ugbo-Kingdom in the Ilaje-Ese Odo Local Government of Ondo State existed before Oduduwa came to Ile-Ife. Ugbo (Ilaje) Kingdom is one of the ancient Kingdoms in Yorubaland as a whole, and the people (Ilajes) were originally (underlining ours) in Ile-Ife before Oduduwa (father of the Yorubas) came and raided them. They first settled at Oke Mafunranyan (High Hill) which was later known as Oke-Igbo, and later migrated to the Arogbo-Ijaw riverine area of Ondo State." (See Sunday Sketch, June 19, 1988.
19. This history of Ilaje settlement in their present habitat is further corroborated in a short history of the Ilajes by an expatriate, Patriarch J. G. Campbell who stated that the Ilajes left Ile-Ife to Ese-Odo area where they were assisted by the Ijos (Ijaws) to settle in their new environment.
20. The said press statement by the conspirator Chiefs was released on the eve of the so called Constitutional Conference organised by the Abacha Administration. Its intention was to mislead, misinform and deceive the public, the Abacha Government and the delegates to the conference to deny us our request for a separate Local Government - Toru-Ibe Local Government Area.
21. The present Rejoinder by these writers has the same intention: to misinform, mislead and deceive the public and the Federal and State Governments in the on-going Boundary delimitation exercise embarked upon by the National Boundary Commission. The third purpose of these conspirators is to show the Ijaws in a bad light, all in their attempt to corner our God-given oil rich lands.
22. They insulted the whole Ijaw race by describing it as " a nomadic and highly sedentary race that migrate to other places to live, "using their canoes in the water ways and settling on shore to engage in their fishing business." These are very inflamming words , and these chiefs owe an unreserved apology to the Ijaw ethnic nationality.
23. The Ijaws are neither nomads, migrants nor settlers, as we shall prove very presently.
But we are proud that we have our own river-craft, canoes, with which we ply our criss-cross rivers, rivulets and seas all over the coast of Nigeria and convey our goods and goods of others; we are not beast of burden like these chiefs who heave their loads on their heads and shoulders, walking miles and miles some times on bare foot.
24. Secondly, these Bini Chiefs are either very ignorant people or they are just being mischievous, out to deceive, misinform and mislead the public and governments. Their own son, late Chief (Dr.) Jacob Uwagboe Egharevba wrote that they are actually, the migrants, that they migrated from Egypt to the Sudan, and then migrated from the Sudan to Ile-Ife and then again migrated from Ile-Ife to the present place, and that "Tradition says that they (the Binis) met some people who were in the land before their arrival "(A Short History Benin, Ibadan University Press, 1968, P.1).
25. And the people, they met in the land were the Ijaws who ferried them across the Ovia river with their river-craft (Ibid. pp. 6&9) which the Bini Chiefs tried to ridicule. This duty of ferrying Binis and other people across Ovia River the Ijaws continued to perform creditably over the years until a few decades ago when bridges were constructed across the River Ovia. When vehicles appeared in Nigeria the Ijaws wisely joined two or three big canoes together to continue to do their job of ferrying men and goods across the river Ovia. The last Ijaw ferryman was chief Beyo of Ikoro, an Ijaw community in Ovia North-East Local Government Area.
26 In his book titled. The Origin and Titles of Yoruba Rulers (n.d. p.3) E. A. Kenya writes about the new comers (the Binis) "Up till that time the Oba of (Benin) and his people were pure Yoruba and did not understand the language of the aborigines who usually saluted themselves and the people thus: 'A doo', dolo o; and whenever the Oba's people saw these aborigines they used to call them "Ados".
27 S. K. Owonaro corroborates Kenyo's statement. He writes: "To the proposal Prince Godo readily consented. He therefore left Ife with the old woman and the regalia of authority… He migrated southwards till he got to the present site of Benin City where he met with some people known as Ifa, or Edos." (The History of Ijo and Her Neighbouring Tribes in Nigeria, 1949, p. 94).
28 And according to P. C. Lloyd, "… Yoruba was the Court language in Benin both before and at the time of Ginuwa's departure (in 1480), hence its use at Ode Itsekiri". (The Benin Kingdom and the Edo speaking Peoples of Southern Nigeria by R.E. Bradbury with a section on the Itsekiri by P. C. Llyod. 1957, p. 179).
29 Ado o., dolo o are the greetings of the Ijaws till today, an incontrovertible evidence that the aborigines Kenyo wrote about are the Ijaws. The aliens (the Binis) ridiculed and nicknamed the Ijaws Ados which in the corrupt form Edo/Ado became the name of the Edo people, their language, and the city of Benin. The Ijaws are the aborigines of Benin and the entire land.
30 Thus there are two elements in Benin today. The Oba and his dynasty commencing with Prince Oranmiyan from Ile-Ife in 1170 AD represent the alien, Yoruba element while the Ogiamwen, the Uzama, (an Ijaw word meaning "Ijaw people or Ijaw town"wink and the Iyase represent the Ijaw aborigines (A. Ryder, Benin and the Europeans 1485 - 1897), 1969, pp. 3 - 8. Cf Egharevba, Op. Cit, pp. 9f)
31 This was why there was a near perfect harmony between the Binis and the Ijaws all over the Country until the reign of the present Oba of Benin who has put the spanner between people who had been living together in peace for centuries. His ambition is to be both Oba of Benin and the Oba of Toru-Ibe Ijaws. We consider this as an inordinate ambition, impossible to realise.
32 It is important to state at this juncture one very important historical fact. And this is to the effect that numberless centuries before the slave trade, during the slave trade and long after the inhuman human traffic no interior tribe including the Binis dared to found any village near a river, particularly the five so-called slave rivers, namely Rio Primeriro (First River), Rio Fermoso (the Beautiful River, now the Benin River), Riodos Escravos (the slave River), the Rio dos Forcados (the Swallowtail River) and the Rio dos Ramos (Creek River).

[/s]

jneutron4000:
Your land in Lagos hahahaha very funny, anyways this are noise online if Ijaws do anyhow in Ese Odo Ondo that we are accommodated them they will see anyhow. Even since GEJ empowered them with money and all those guns they are being very loud and planning to expand into people's ancestral land and territory. If they try any nonsense in both Ilajes and Itserikiri territory in Ese Odo, Itseriki territory in Ologbo in Edo and, Iteseriki land in Delta they will have theirselves to blame. All those groundnut and guns they have kept in the creed will not save them from the help that will befall them. They better mind their territory and live peacefully with those that has accommodated them.

Accommodate who.
I hope you know Yorobad are the weakest black tribe on Earth.
Like the weakest and all tribes in Nigeria has confirmed it.including the northerners you lots warship like godss.
Ijaws wey people dey fear.
Try any nonsense and see if you people won't be wipedd out.
All the strong men of Niger deltas are even ijaws I mean war heroes and millitants.
My guy will no be iigbos wey una dey play hide and sick with uorobas.
Try ijaws and see

giftibo:
PRESS RELEASE BY IJAWS OF EGBEMA CLAN: REJOINDER.

1. The attention of the Toru-Ibe Ijaws of Edo state has been drawn to the Rejoinder of the Benin Traditional Council Christened Press Release by the Ijaws of Egbema clan: REJOINDER: In the said rejoinder the Benin Chiefs affirm that the Ijaws as a people have no God given lands in Edo State, particularly Benin area". They continued: "In conjunction with representatives of Ugbo and Itsekiri people we have proved in previous Press statement that the Ijaws in Warri, Benin and Ugbo land are migrants and settlers."
2. To say the least, nothing can be farther from the truth. In fact, the reverse is the case. It is the Binis, the Itsekiris and the Ilajes who are laying false and baseless claims to Ijaws lands in Edo, Delta and Ondo States, and that they are the migrants and settlers in Ijaw land. The Ijaws In Edo, Delta and Ondo States are in their own God given lands from time immemorial.
3. While the Itsekiris in Warri, Delta state, the Ilajes (Mahin) in Ondo state including the Binis in Edo state, are all in Ijaw-lands. The Itsekiris descendants of Ginuwa I, the rejected and banished eldest son of Oba Olua of Benin in the 15th century, precisely 1480AD. came from Benin; the Ilajes (Mahins) from Ile-Ife while the Binis migrated from Egypt, after a short stay in the Sudan and Ile-Ife, to Ijaw lands.
4. In all probability the Press statement to which these Bini Chiefs are referring is very likely to be the one they conspired with Itsekiris and Ilajes to publish in the Nigerian Tribune of March 31,1994 and repeated in the Guardian of April 10th, 1994.
5. We published a very adequate and comprehensive response to all their false-hoods in a Press statement published in the Sunday Tribune of June 26,1994, to which these Bini Chiefs have no clues till today; that in reality the reverse is the case, that the Binis, Itsekiris and the Ilajes are the migrants, squatters and settlers in Ijaw land.
6. The history of the Ijaws in Nigeria including the Toru-Ibe Ijaws of Edo State, Egbema Ijaws in Delta State and the Arogbo Ijaws in Ondo State as the aborigines of both the Niger Delta and wherever they are found in the Nigerian Coast board has never been questioned or disputed. No history or historian has been able to establish that the Ijaws of Nigeria migrated from any where to the coast which they have been identified with. While many other ethnic groups in Nigeria have traced their origins to countries outside Nigeria, the Ijaws of the Niger Delta have no home other than their present habitat the Niger Delta which stretches from the Eastern Adonis in Akwa-Ibom state through the Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Ondo States. But on the other hand the Binis migrated from Egypt via the Sudan to Ile-Ife; the Itsekiris came from Benin, and so by implication, from Ile-Ife , and the Ilajes from Ile-Ife. The Ijaws are in their proper original home in the Niger Delta of Nigeria.
In other words whereas, there was a time when there was none of these people- Binis, Itsekiris and Ilajes (Mahins)- in the riverine places that they are now falsely claiming to be their own, the Ijaws, the most ancient people in Nigeria, have always been in these riverine areas, their natured habitat.
7. WITNESS OF HISTORY TO IJAW AUTOCHTHONISM IN NIGERIA
History books are replete with the fact that the Ijaws are the most ancient and indigenous inhabitants of wherever they are found in the riverine areas in Benin, Warri and Ugbo. In fact, it is the verdict of history that the Ijaws are the most ancient people in the whole of Nigeria, and are among the most ancient in West Africa. We shall quote a few historians who testify to this fact. Professor J.S, Coleman in his book titled Nigeria: Background to Nationalism (Los Angeles, 1963, p. 28) describes the Ijaws as "perhaps the most ancient in West Africa whose Language has little or no affinity with any other in Nigeria ". In similar vein Professors Stride and Ifeka submit: "Some of the oldest inhabitants of the Atlantic Coast are the Jola, Pepeh and Sorer of the Senegambia, and Sherbro and Bulom of Sierra Leone. Along the Guinea Coast, the Lagoon folk of Ivory Coast, the Guan of Southern Ghana and the Ijaws of the Niger Delta (underlining ours) must be included among the most ancient of the coastal dwellers." (.G.T Stride and C. Ifeka, peoples and empires of West Africa 1000-1800, 1971, P.S).
8. Dr. P.A Talbot, once acting Resident of Benin Division (1920), calls the Ijaws "this strange people- a survival from the dim past beyond the dawn of history- whose language and customs are distinct from those of their neighbors and without trace of any tradition of time before they were driven-southwards into these regions of sombre mangroves." (Tribes of the Niger Delta, 1932, p.5). In another context, Dr. Talbot submits firmly; "their (Ijaws) origin is wrapped in mystery. The people inhabit practically the whole Coast, some 250 miles in length, stretching between the Ibibio and Yoruba. The Niger Delta therefore, is…occupied by this strange people." (Ibid)
9. Professor Wilfrid D. Hambly testifies: " Beliefs held by the Ijaws are of particular interest because these people are probably the oldest inhabitants of Nigeria."(Serpent Worship in Africa, (Chicago, U.S.A. 1931, p.16). In another context, Professor Wilfrid Hambly declares firmly: "Pythons are held sacred throughout the region of Marsh lands and waters inhabited by the most ancient tribe of all, the Ijaws." "(underlining ours Ibid).
10. These and more are objective and honest historians and writers who have no ulterior motive for their work. They are unanimous in their submission that the Ijaws are the indigenous and most ancient people of the Delta and the riverine, coastal areas of Nigeria.
The Binis , Itsekiris and Ilajes who say the Ijaws are strangers, settlers , tenants or squatters in the Nigeria coast line are betraying themselves as liars, deceivers, and people engaged in dirty, expansionist politicking and who are bound to fail.
11. ITSEKIRI - ORIGIN
As a matter of fact, a historian, William Moore, an Itsekiri himself actually called the Itsekiris and the Ilajes (Mahins) squatters in Ijaw-land. He writes: "Prior to the advent of the Bini Ginuwa (i.e 1480), the territory now known as the Kingdom of Itsekiri or Iwere, was inhabited by three tribes, namely, the Ijaws, Sobos (Urhobo) and Mahins (Ilajes)… (The Sobos) occupied the hinterland, while the Ijaws occupied the coastline, and the Mahins (llajes) squatted on the sea-shore near the Benin River… the Mahins (Ilajes) hailed from Akoko and Ikale in the province of Ondo, Nigeria." (History of Itsekiri, 1970), P. B.
12. In another context, William Moore submits: "Prince Ginuwa first landed at Amatu (an Ijaw town) where he squatted for about three decades, he moved to Oruselomo where he married an Ijaw woman named Derumo… a dispute arose between him and the Ijaws of Gulani on account of the woman Derumo who was killed by him… he fled to Ijala where he later died…" (Ibid. pp. 18 - 20).
13. According to Chief Dr. Egharevba, "Oba Olua knew that his eldest son Iginua was hated by the Binis for the bad advice he had given against the people. He decided to send him away… The Oba did not wish the scheme to be known to his chiefs in order that they might send their sons to accompany him as his subjects so he cunningly asked them to send their sons with Iginua (Ginuwa) to sacrifice for him by the sea… Olua made a big box and filled it with the necessary royal attire… and to conceal the secret put the sacrificial victims on the top. He had made arrangements in advance for Ijaw men to take Igniua and his retinue in their canoes to their destination… Being very proud and fond of wearing fine clothes he was nicknamed "Iginua the proud". He was also very cunning and cruel. " (A Short History of Benin, 1968, P. 21).
14. Ginuwa's (Iginua) retinue was made up of seventy (70) all male including Ginuwa and all first sons of Bini Chiefs. There was no single woman among them. The Ijaws took them in their canoes to Amalu. After waiting for a long time and seeing that their sons did not return, the Bini chiefs realised that they had been deceived by their Oba. So they sent warriors to Ugharagin (now Oghareki) to fetch their sons home. But they had been ferried across the river by the Ijaws who refused to co-operate with the Bini chiefs, so, their mission failed.
15 Apart from accommodating these seventy men and giving them land to stay, the Ijaws gave wives to these seventy to marry and taught them all the techniques of living in the rivers including how to make river craft.
16. This is the story of the Itsekiri people who are actually the tenants, squatters and settlers in Ijawland as any reader can see for himself/herself.
17. ILAJES (MAHINS) - ORIGIN
The Ilajes met the Arogbo-Ijaws in the home land of the latter people. The Ilajes escaped from Ile-Ife a few centuries ago running for their dear life because of the misunderstanding between them and their kith and kins in Ile-Ife. They arrived in Ijawland in the present Ondo State and pleaded to be sheltered. Thus the Ilajes whose countrymen, the Yoruba are hinterland based people found themselves settled along the Atlantic sea-coast separated from the hinterland by the Arogbo-Ijaw clan who inhabit the fresh water swamps of the Delta adjoining the mainland. This historical event explains why the oldest Ilaje-towns can only be found along the Atlantic coast line and not more than a few decades old. The Arogbo-Ijaws taught the Ilajes the art of swimming, fishing, house building and canoe-paddling the only mode of transportation in the area.
18. This story was corroborated by the testimony of the then Olugbo-Elect, Crown Prince Adebanjo Akingbade Mafimisebi. He is now the substantive Olugbo of Ugbo. Testifying before the Justice Ajakaiye Chieftaincy Commission of Inquiry sitting at Akure, he deposed as follows: "The Ugbo-Kingdom in the Ilaje-Ese Odo Local Government of Ondo State existed before Oduduwa came to Ile-Ife. Ugbo (Ilaje) Kingdom is one of the ancient Kingdoms in Yorubaland as a whole, and the people (Ilajes) were originally (underlining ours) in Ile-Ife before Oduduwa (father of the Yorubas) came and raided them. They first settled at Oke Mafunranyan (High Hill) which was later known as Oke-Igbo, and later migrated to the Arogbo-Ijaw riverine area of Ondo State." (See Sunday Sketch, June 19, 1988.
19. This history of Ilaje settlement in their present habitat is further corroborated in a short history of the Ilajes by an expatriate, Patriarch J. G. Campbell who stated that the Ilajes left Ile-Ife to Ese-Odo area where they were assisted by the Ijos (Ijaws) to settle in their new environment.
20. The said press statement by the conspirator Chiefs was released on the eve of the so called Constitutional Conference organised by the Abacha Administration. Its intention was to mislead, misinform and deceive the public, the Abacha Government and the delegates to the conference to deny us our request for a separate Local Government - Toru-Ibe Local Government Area.
21. The present Rejoinder by these writers has the same intention: to misinform, mislead and deceive the public and the Federal and State Governments in the on-going Boundary delimitation exercise embarked upon by the National Boundary Commission. The third purpose of these conspirators is to show the Ijaws in a bad light, all in their attempt to corner our God-given oil rich lands.
22. They insulted the whole Ijaw race by describing it as " a nomadic and highly sedentary race that migrate to other places to live, "using their canoes in the water ways and settling on shore to engage in their fishing business." These are very inflamming words , and these chiefs owe an unreserved apology to the Ijaw ethnic nationality.
23. The Ijaws are neither nomads, migrants nor settlers, as we shall prove very presently.
But we are proud that we have our own river-craft, canoes, with which we ply our criss-cross rivers, rivulets and seas all over the coast of Nigeria and convey our goods and goods of others; we are not beast of burden like these chiefs who heave their loads on their heads and shoulders, walking miles and miles some times on bare foot.
24. Secondly, these Bini Chiefs are either very ignorant people or they are just being mischievous, out to deceive, misinform and mislead the public and governments. Their own son, late Chief (Dr.) Jacob Uwagboe Egharevba wrote that they are actually, the migrants, that they migrated from Egypt to the Sudan, and then migrated from the Sudan to Ile-Ife and then again migrated from Ile-Ife to the present place, and that "Tradition says that they (the Binis) met some people who were in the land before their arrival "(A Short History Benin, Ibadan University Press, 1968, P.1).
25. And the people, they met in the land were the Ijaws who ferried them across the Ovia river with their river-craft (Ibid. pp. 6&9) which the Bini Chiefs tried to ridicule. This duty of ferrying Binis and other people across Ovia River the Ijaws continued to perform creditably over the years until a few decades ago when bridges were constructed across the River Ovia. When vehicles appeared in Nigeria the Ijaws wisely joined two or three big canoes together to continue to do their job of ferrying men and goods across the river Ovia. The last Ijaw ferryman was chief Beyo of Ikoro, an Ijaw community in Ovia North-East Local Government Area.
26 In his book titled. The Origin and Titles of Yoruba Rulers (n.d. p.3) E. A. Kenya writes about the new comers (the Binis) "Up till that time the Oba of (Benin) and his people were pure Yoruba and did not understand the language of the aborigines who usually saluted themselves and the people thus: 'A doo', dolo o; and whenever the Oba's people saw these aborigines they used to call them "Ados".
27 S. K. Owonaro corroborates Kenyo's statement. He writes: "To the proposal Prince Godo readily consented. He therefore left Ife with the old woman and the regalia of authority… He migrated southwards till he got to the present site of Benin City where he met with some people known as Ifa, or Edos." (The History of Ijo and Her Neighbouring Tribes in Nigeria, 1949, p. 94).
28 And according to P. C. Lloyd, "… Yoruba was the Court language in Benin both before and at the time of Ginuwa's departure (in 1480), hence its use at Ode Itsekiri". (The Benin Kingdom and the Edo speaking Peoples of Southern Nigeria by R.E. Bradbury with a section on the Itsekiri by P. C. Llyod. 1957, p. 179).
29 Ado o., dolo o are the greetings of the Ijaws till today, an incontrovertible evidence that the aborigines Kenyo wrote about are the Ijaws. The aliens (the Binis) ridiculed and nicknamed the Ijaws Ados which in the corrupt form Edo/Ado became the name of the Edo people, their language, and the city of Benin. The Ijaws are the aborigines of Benin and the entire land.
30 Thus there are two elements in Benin today. The Oba and his dynasty commencing with Prince Oranmiyan from Ile-Ife in 1170 AD represent the alien, Yoruba element while the Ogiamwen, the Uzama, (an Ijaw word meaning "Ijaw people or Ijaw town"wink and the Iyase represent the Ijaw aborigines (A. Ryder, Benin and the Europeans 1485 - 1897), 1969, pp. 3 - 8. Cf Egharevba, Op. Cit, pp. 9f)
31 This was why there was a near perfect harmony between the Binis and the Ijaws all over the Country until the reign of the present Oba of Benin who has put the spanner between people who had been living together in peace for centuries. His ambition is to be both Oba of Benin and the Oba of Toru-Ibe Ijaws. We consider this as an inordinate ambition, impossible to realise.
32 It is important to state at this juncture one very important historical fact. And this is to the effect that numberless centuries before the slave trade, during the slave trade and long after the inhuman human traffic no interior tribe including the Binis dared to found any village near a river, particularly the five so-called slave rivers, namely Rio Primeriro (First River), Rio Fermoso (the Beautiful River, now the Benin River), Riodos Escravos (the slave River), the Rio dos Forcados (the Swallowtail River) and the Rio dos Ramos (Creek River).

All of you will beg to leave Nigeria at the right time.

Bravetunde:

Accommodate who.
I hope you know Yorobad are the weakest black tribe on Earth.
Like the weakest and all tribes in Nigeria has confirmed it.including the northerners you lots warship like godss.
Ijaws wey people dey fear.
Try any nonsense and see if you people won't be wipedd out.
All the strong men of Niger deltas are even ijaws I mean war heroes and millitants.
My guy will no be iigbos wey una dey play hide and sick with uorobas.
Try ijaws and see

Well no be by noise and insult online since you think Yoruba is weak, engage them, the Igbos that push the false narration of Yoruba is weak and Yoruba is coward, themselves know say you no go engage Yoruba and no hear am. Mind you Yoruba have never fought anyway as Yoruba, the one against Fulani was only Oyos and later Ibadan just dealt with it. Ijaws no reach at all, only Itserikiris and only Ilajes they shake the whole Ijaw Nation you come want make a whole Yoruba together bounce on them hahahaha that will be on fair thats why if them and Ilajes they run am, we mostly observe because Ilajes self are very much up to the task. The gunboats and machinery wey Tompolo buy keep during GEJ era, make we see them fo fit use am run battle for 5 years. Find an elderly ijaw man especially those that live in Lagos ask them wetin justopc take their eye see when they no fear host their Egbesu flag and claiming territory for Lagos Yoruba land, meanwhile opc is the very least of combat force o.

jneutron4000:
Well no be by noise and insult online since you think Yoruba is weak, engage them, the Igbos that push the false narration of Yoruba is weak and Yoruba is coward, themselves know say you no go engage Yoruba and no hear am. Mind you Yoruba have never fought anyway as Yoruba, the one against Fulani was only Oyos and later Ibadan just dealt with it. Ijaws no reach at all, only Itserikiris and only Ilajes they shake the whole Ijaw Nation you come want make a whole Yoruba together bounce on them hahahaha that will be on fair thats why if them and Ilajes they run am, we mostly observe because Ilajes self are very much up to the task. The gunboats and machinery wey Tompolo buy keep during GEJ era, make we see them fo fit use am run battle for 5 years. Find an elderly ijaw man especially those that live in Lagos ask them wetin justopc take their eye see when they no fear host their Egbesu flag and claiming territory for Lagos Yoruba land, meanwhile opc is the very least of combat force o.

So the fight with ilajes that you called other yorubas sef,don't you know it's only ondo ijaws that fought it.
Ijaws are the fourth largest tribe in Nigeria after the cowwardly fearr fearr yorub ass.
Finally is ibb also an igbo man that says when ever I hear the afonja weak cowwards threatening war,I go back to enjoy my sleep.
E be like una want collect.
Just try and c

Bravetunde:

So the fight with ilajes that you called other yorubas sef,don't you know it's only ondo ijaws that fought it.
Ijaws are the fourth largest tribe in Nigeria after the cowwardly fearr fearr yorub ass.
Finally is ibb also an igbo man that says when ever I hear the afonja weak cowwards threatening war,I go back to enjoy my sleep.
E be like una want collect.
Just try and c

so you pick Ibrahim badamasi words gave it your own meaning. Anyways no need to yarn any more as even your moniker and everything about it is so fake.

jneutron4000:
so you pick Ibrahim badamasi words gave it your own meaning. Anyways no need to yarn any more as even your moniker and everything about it is so fake.

Fearr fearr

jneutron4000:
Well no be by noise and insult online since you think Yoruba is weak, engage them, the Igbos that push the false narration of Yoruba is weak and Yoruba is coward, themselves know say you no go engage Yoruba and no hear am. Mind you Yoruba have never fought anyway as Yoruba, the one against Fulani was only Oyos and later Ibadan just dealt with it. Ijaws no reach at all, only Itserikiris and only Ilajes they shake the whole Ijaw Nation you come want make a whole Yoruba together bounce on them hahahaha that will be on fair thats why if them and Ilajes they run am, we mostly observe because Ilajes self are very much up to the task. The gunboats and machinery wey Tompolo buy keep during GEJ era, make we see them fo fit use am run battle for 5 years. Find an elderly ijaw man especially those that live in Lagos ask them wetin justopc take their eye see when they no fear host their Egbesu flag and claiming territory for Lagos Yoruba land, meanwhile opc is the very least of combat force o.

So how is Itshekiri Yoruba again I thought you just read his narative how them came from Benin so Benin sons don still turn Yoruba own overnight nawa

jneutron4000:
Your land in Lagos hahahaha very funny, anyways this are noise online if Ijaws do anyhow in Ese Odo Ondo that we are accommodated them they will see anyhow. Even since GEJ empowered them with money and all those guns they are being very loud and planning to expand into people's ancestral land and territory. If they try any nonsense in both Ilajes and Itserikiri territory in Ese Odo, Itseriki territory in Ologbo in Edo and, Iteseriki land in Delta they will have theirselves to blame. All those groundnut and guns they have kept in the creed will not save them from the help that will befall them. They better mind their territory and live peacefully with those that has accommodated them.

See cowward too wet never baff.
Afonjas that are cowwards
If men are talking so afonja fear fear men. Will come out.
Guy these discussions is not for you,we are not talking about skull minning of defense less little girls.
When you see your fellow man you pee in your pant
Ijaws own their ancestry land and anybody that wants to claim it should come forward.

Jameseddi1:


So how is Itshekiri Yoruba again I thought you just read his narative how them came from Benin so Benin sons don still turn Yoruba own overnight nawa

go and read your history, not the fake Benin history. Even Benin royalty is from Yoruba .
Benin language is a combination of many languages go and make your research

Bravetunde:

See cowward too wet never baff.
Afonjas that are cowwards
If men are talking so afonja fear fear men. Will come out.
Guy these discussions is not for you,we are not talking about skull minning of defense less little girls.
When you see your fellow man you pee in your pant
Ijaws own their ancestry land and anybody that wants to claim it should come forward.

na Nigeria constitution dey give una mouth, make 9ja burst today, everybody go know where their ancestral land dey.

jneutron4000:
go and read your history, not the fake Benin history. Even Benin royalty is from Yoruba .
Benin language is a combination of many languages go and make your research

So why not just say Benin Royals is from Yoruba as you think and Itshekiri is from Benin. Why being Hippocrates.

Jameseddi1:


So why not just say Benin Royals is from Yoruba as you think and Itshekiri is from Benin. Why being Hippocrates.

Itserikiris are our cousins even before Ginuwa, mind you Ginuwa and Binin Royals have ancestral root to Yoruba. Simple make your research.

jneutron4000:
Itserikiris are our cousins even before Ginuwa, mind you Ginuwa and Binin Royals have ancestral root to Yoruba. Simple make your research.

Yoruba and history twisting is 5and6 70 sons of the Benin kingdom suddenly just being twisted as Yoruba sons.

The only relationship Itshekiri have with Yoruba is their language with a much Yoruba influence. Their ancestors are Edoid so stop blabbing.

If you are not being Hippocrates as I said why not simply just say Itshekiri are Benin why Benin Royals are from Yoruba.

What I hate about you people is twisting and laying claim over all what Benin ancestors lagacy even the ones being documented by European in pre colony.

Yes I know Igbo Yoruba is much bigger than Benin or Edo right now but let everyone keep history as it is not try to twist it to form superiority.

Yes I read a lot about Benin and Yoruba relationship what I understand is that.

Oba dynasty in Benin was founded by Yoruba Edo in the other hand also said they found the Oni dynasty in Ife but I don’t know if this are authentic. But this are what was verified.

Benin founded Lagos first Oba of Lagos was Ado a Benin prince this name was the name west called people who came from Benin or Edo or Ado then.

Benin founded many places in Ondo and Ado Ekiti fact Ado Ekiti means Edo Ekiti Yoruba called Ekiti people Edo people or people that came from Edo before colony.

Ondo Ado Ekiti Lagos Itshekiri was among the old Benin kingdom before colony. fact Ondo Ado Ekiti was known as Ado Benin or Edo Benin or great Benin before 19th century.

Do me a favor go research west Africa map before colony you will see all this I don’t tell lies or twist history to favor anyone

[s]

Jameseddi1:


Yoruba and history twisting is 5and6 70 sons of the Benin kingdom suddenly just being twisted as Yoruba sons.

The only relationship Itshekiri have with Yoruba is their language with a much Yoruba influence. Their ancestors are Edoid so stop blabbing.

If you are not being Hippocrates as I said why not simply just say Itshekiri are Benin why Benin Royals are from Yoruba.

What I hate about you people is twisting and laying claim over all what Benin ancestors lagacy even the ones being documented by European in pre colony.

Yes I know Igbo Yoruba is much bigger than Benin or Edo right now but let everyone keep history as it is not try to twist it to form superiority.

[/s]Edo that is a recent event and you are classifying Itserikiris as Edoid hahaha very funny. Benin language itself came about from the mixture of Idu language( which some Uhrobo, Ijaws and some part of Esan still speak) + Yoruba language of Ife dialect + even some Portuguese words. Even till date, the Usen people still retained the Yoruba ife dialect which is even older that the Benin language but you classified it as Edoid. Well Keep being delusional about historical facts, truth will surely come out one day.

[s]

Philistine:

Can't you Yorubas stand alone? Must you shamelessly attach yourself to other tribes? You Yorubas have no self dignity. Spits!

[/s]

jneutron4000:
na Nigeria constitution dey give una mouth, make 9ja burst today, everybody go know where their ancestral land dey.

Aswear , igbos fit push ijaws inside Atlantic ocean if them no dey careful

boyfrank:


Aswear , igbos fit push ijaws inside Atlantic ocean if them no dey careful

no be only 12 days Ojukwu take ransack the whole Ijaw people ever since GEJ empower them wey even make Tompolo buy war ship for 2014 where Nigeria the government seize, ever since then Ijaws just come dey feel like say they pass wetin them be

jneutron4000:
go and read your history, not the fake Benin history. Even Benin royalty is from Yoruba .
Benin language is a combination of many languages go and make your research

Even the English language we speak is a combination of many languages. Dude, languages evolve, get educated and stop spreading your ignorance on the internet.

jneutron4000:
no be only 12 days Ojukwu take ransack the whole Ijaw people ever since GEJ empower them wey even make Tompolo buy war ship for 2014 where Nigeria the government seize, ever since then Ijaws just come dey feel like say they pass wetin them be

You are one of the most ignorant people on Nairaland.

Tompolo bought a war ship? How can one be so dumb

May God bless the Ijaw Republic people.

Parachoko:
You are one of the most ignorant people on Nairaland.

Tompolo bought a war ship? How can one be so dumb

jneutron4000 is so daft. Look at the type of things he posts. I have reported the nuisance to the mods for proper disciplinary actions