Abigborodo Community in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State has dismissed claims made by Sapele Okpe Community leaders in their January 29 and February 4, 2025, press statements describing them as false, misleading and unfounded.
Abigborodo Community at a press conference addressed by the Abigborodo Management Committee on Monday at the community hall accused the chairman of Sapele Okpe Community, Chief Onoriode Temiagin and his cohorts of orchestrating a “ploy to scuttle” the legal resolution of land disputes tied to SEPLAT host community designation under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
Chief Onoriode Temiagin and the Sapele Okpe Community had alleged amongst others in their press briefing that Abigborodo Community through their leader and Illustrious son, Chief Emmanuel Oritsejolomi Uduaghan is the one concocting documents and/or forging documents in Abigborodo community’s quest to reclaim the Ugbekoko lands and other lands that the Sapele Okpe Community lay claim to.
But, in a press statement read by the chairman of Abigborodo Management Committee, Misan Ukubehinje, a lawyer and jointly signed by Secretary Victor Atseponu, the community asserted that all allegations made by Chief Onoriode Temiagin and the Sapele Okpe Community, including forged land documents, violence incitement, and false boundary claims are unguided, false and unfounded.
According to Abigborodo Community, “Chief Temiagin and Sapele Okpe Community are ill-informed about ownership of Lands and Political Local government boundary adjustment. That Abigborodo falls under Warri North Local Government Area cannot extinguish their ownership of Ugbekoko Land even if it falls in Sapele Local Government Area as Abigborodo bona fide claim of ownership predates the Creation of State and Local Government in Nigeria”.
Abigborodo reaffirmed its commitment to peace and legal processes, detailing petitions to Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and presentations before the state’s Peace Building and Conflict Resolution Committee led by Chief Edwin Uzor.
Ukubehinje emphasized that Abigborodo community has followed due process, while Sapele Okpe’s actions aim to derail investigations under the PIA 2021.
Abigborodo community condemned recent violence, including the alleged shooting of an Okpe fisherman, labelling it a “false flag” to incite tensions.
They accused Sapele Okpe of blockading Ugberikoko Gana Road, profiling and attacking Itsekiri indigenes, adding that without military intervention, lives would have been lost.
Misan Ukubehinje who referenced filed police reports on assaults against Abigborodo residents like Solomon Ayiri and Louis Atunu, challenged Chief Onoriode Temiagin to substantiate his forgery claims, spotlighting certified 1919 leases, colonial-era correspondence, and archival records as irrefutable proof of ownership.
The people of Abigborodo community in their press release highlighted the February 5, 2025, truce brokered by the Department of State Services (DSS), where Abigborodo community and Sapele Okpe Community agreed to uphold the state’s white paper on the Ukpe-Sobo Forest Reserve and allow peaceful committee investigations.
Abigborodo reiterated calls for restraint, vowing to pursue justice through lawful means while expressing optimism that the Delta State committee will expose Sapele Okpe’s schemes.
Tensions escalated between both communities after an alleged shooting on February 3 of Sapele Okpe’s Patrick Gageche in the contested zone.
While Sapele Okpe decried “unprovoked aggression,” Abigborodo blamed the incident on “orchestrated sabotage” against the state’s peace efforts.
