"Itsekiri Gave You Shelter," Edon Tells Tompolo, Fact-Checks Claims to Warri Southwest

Niger Delta advocate and former chairmanship aspirant for Warri South Local Government Area, Monoyo Edon, has challenged recent claims by ex-militant leader and Gbaramatu Ijaw figurehead, Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, regarding the demographic and territorial influence of the Gbaramatu Ijaw in Warri Southwest.

In a public statement, Edon described Tompolo’s comment as a “fallacy” that misrepresents the historical and demographic realities of the region. He warned that such assertions threaten to inflame ethnic tensions between the Itsekiri and Ijaw communities.

While acknowledging Tompolo’s prominence among the Gbaramatu Ijaw, Edon firmly rejected the claim that the Gbaramatu Ijaw outnumber the Itsekiris in Warri Southwest.

Edon sharply corrected Tompolo’s overreaching narrative that the Gbaramatu Ijaws are the dominant ethnic group in Warri Southwest. He stated that the Gbaramatu Ijaw represent only a portion of the Ijaw population in the area and are concentrated in limited territories within Warri Kingdom. Edon added that the Gbaramatu Ijaw cannot sever their land from Omadino or Ugborodo, which are both Itsekiri lands.

“Gbaramatu Kingdom does not extend beyond Ugborodo, because you will get to Gbaramatu before you get to Ugborodo, Gbaramatu kingdom does not extend to Isaba,” Edon stated.

He further stressed that attempts to portray the Gbaramatu Ijaw as the dominant ethnic group in the region were misleading, citing other Ijaw communities such as Ogbe-Ijoh and Isaba who have communities in Warri-Southwest.

Speaking further, Edon questioned the historical foundations of the Gbaramatu Kingdom and its attempts to claim parity with older ethnic and traditional institutions in the area. “As the Ijaws are making it seem, Gbaramatu kingdom is not older than I am. This current king you have who was his predecessor? Where are the facts to show that your kingdom (Gbaramatu) is as old as even the Okere-Urhobo and Agbassa Kingdom which are two recent kingdoms that I am also older than as a kingdom and not the people.”

He emphasized the longstanding heritage of the Itsekiri people and their kingdom, stating that the Warri Kingdom, established in 1480 AD, should not be compared to Gbaramatu, a kingdom that only began in 2017 and remains a part of Warri.

“The seven federated communities in Ugborodo are more than the Gbaramatu people in your southwest alone not to talk of other parts of Warri and remember the Gbaramatu Ijaws are not the only Ijaws in Warri Southwest. There is no basis for comparison!” Edon said.

The Niger delta advocate also accused the Gbaramatu people of misinforming the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) regarding population data. “You are telling INEC that the Gbaramatu Ijaws are more than the Itsekiris, is it by your word of mouth, pronouncement, that the Ijaws of Gbaramatu will be more than the entire Itsekiris, that’s an insult. If you are agitating for more wards for your Gbaramatu people, that is fine, but don’t stop us whom INEC have used their proposal to insult”

He linked the ongoing refusal of some Ijaw communities to recognize the Olu of Warri to an unwillingness to accept that the Gbaramatu Kingdom is within Warri territory. “One of the reasons why Tompolo and his people do not want to address the king of Warri as the Olu of Warri is because they have realised that Gbaramatu Kingdom is inside Warri, the same way Okere Urhobo and Agbassa is inside Warri.”

“Warri is the domain of the Olu of Warri. A king must have a domain, refusing to accept that he is the Olu of Warri is because you have realised that your kingdom is inside Warri,” Edon added.

Responding to Tompolo’s land ownership claims that Omadino, Obodo, Kantu belongs to the Ijaws, Edon firmly rejected the idea that Gbaramatu Kingdom could claim ownership of Itsekiri communities. “Omadino as a community predates your Gbaramatu kingdom same with Ugborodo. In fact, both are among the five Itsekiri Aboriginal communities, before 1480AD. Check government records and tell me where is Gbaramatu?”

He warned that such territorial claims and rhetoric could undermine years of coexistence and destabilize the region.

Edon reminded Tompolo that the Itsekiri people had sheltered him during his conflict with the federal government and had supported him when his company, Tantita Security Services, was awarded the pipeline surveillance contract.

On the issue of oil and resource control, Edon acknowledged the contributions of the larger Ijaw nation to Nigeria’s oil economy, but reminded Tompolo of the equally vital role played by the Itsekiri. “The same way the larger Ijaw produces oil well is same way Itsekiri produces for Nigeria,” he said, urging Tompolo to speak to younger Ijaw youth to avoid unnecessary provocation. Edon noted that the Itsekiris produce the largest oil wealth in Delta State.

He also raised concerns over alleged land-grabbing efforts by the Gbaramatu Ijaw under the guise of the operations of Tantita Security Services.

Edon called for a renewed sense of unity and cooperation in the Niger Delta. He emphasized that the shared history and intertwined communities of the Itsekiri and Ijaw should serve as a foundation for peace and progress, rather than conflict.

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