Obotie Fires Back at Okpe, Calls Land Claims Kleptomaniac

The Obotie Community has accused Chief Onoriode Temiagin, Chairman of the Sapele Okpe Community of exhibiting kleptomaniac tendencies in his recent claims over the ownership of land in the Okpe-Sobo Forest Reserve.

“It is a kleptomaniac tendency for Chief Onoriode Temiagin and his people to lay claim to the Reserve.”

Temiagin had criticised a panel report by the Special Adviser on Conflict Resolution, Chief Edwin Uzor as on-sided, insisting that the Obotie people are tenants of the Ugbukurusu community.

In a press briefing on Saturday, February 1, the Obotie Elders Council rejected Temiagin’s claims, accusing him of spreading misinformation and deliberately misrepresenting colonial documents to support his assertions over land that legally belongs to the Obotie people.The council explained that Obotie was never a tenant to the Ugbukurusu people of Sapele Okpe, as suggested by Temiagin.

The dispute centers on a portion of land within the Okpe-Sobo Forest Reserve. The Obotie community asserts that a 2.245 square-mile area was legally excised from the forest reserve in 1944, following a Supreme Court ruling in 1925 that confirmed Obotie’s land ownership. The legal rights of the Obotie people were further affirmed by the Delta State Government’s white paper on the judicial panel’s report into the Okpe-Sobo Forest Reserve.

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Obotie leaders also cited historical documents, including petitions from 1940 and a subsequent court case in 1955, which dismissed claims by the Ugbukurusu people over the land.

“Chief Temiagin’s assertions are not only unfounded but display a shocking level of ignorance,” said Pa. Simeon Brikinns, Chairman of the Obotie Elders Council.

“Obotie has been in existence long before the creation of the Reserve in 1933, and the land in question has been legally recognized as ours.”

Pa. Brikinns further called on the Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori to intervene as continuous tolerance of Sapele-Okpe may lead to ethnic conflict.

Obotie leaders urged the public to dismiss Temiagin’s narrative as baseless and warned against attempts to forcibly take the land.

“We are of the candid opinion that Chief Onoriode Temiagin and his likes needs medical attention.”

Also speaking, Samuel Atiwe, Chairman of the Obotie Community Management Committee, urged SEPLAT and the state government to acknowledge their rights and accrue them benefits as stipulated by the PIA law.

The dispute remains unresolved, with the Obotie Community vowing to uphold its legal rights as host community and safeguard its land from further encroachment.