Leaders of the Sapele Okpe Community have categorically dismissed claims by the Alema of the Warri Kingdom, Chief Emmanuel Oritsejolomi Uduaghan, regarding the ownership and naming of the proposed Abigborodo Oil Field within Petroleum Prospecting Licence 220 (PPL 220). They maintain that the land in question belongs solely to the Okpe people.
In a strongly worded response issued on Sunday, the Okpe leaders criticized a Facebook post credited to Chief Uduaghan, describing his claims as deceptive, historically incorrect, and inconsistent with colonial-era documents, government White Papers, and established legal records.
The statement was jointly signed by Chief Onoriode Temiagin, Chief Austin Arieja, Chief Lt. Col. Babuba Moses Abeke (rtd.), Hon. Chief Godwin Atose, and Chief Patrick Akomovba, who said they were speaking for the Sapele Okpe Community in Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State.
They called on the Federal Ministry of Environment (FME), Navante Exploration and Production Limited, and the public to take seriously the earlier protest submitted by the Udogun Okpe (Orodje-in-Council), the highest authority in the Okpe Kingdom, over what they termed the improper naming of the oil field.
According to the leaders, the land covered by PPL 220 does not belong to Abigborodo Community, a position they said was clearly confirmed in a 2020 Delta State Government White Paper that followed a thorough judicial panel of inquiry. They emphasized that communities such as Gbekoko and Otonyatsere have never been part of Abigborodo nor subject to Itsekiri authority.
The Okpe leaders also rejected claims that colonial officials ignored objections to the creation of the Okpe–Urhobo Forest Reserve, stating that archival records show the Olu of Itsekiri’s claim was investigated and dismissed before the reserve was officially established in 1933.
They further explained that the forest reserve was administered by a native authority made up entirely of Okpe indigenes, contradicting assertions that the Okpe did not contribute land to the reserve. Questioning the logic of such claims, they asked who else could have provided the land, noting that Itsekiri claims were rejected from the beginning.
Additionally, the leaders denied assertions that Abigborodo farmers ever possessed or successfully defended land rights within the reserve, stressing that no court ruling or legal document supports such claims. They described the term “Abigborodo Oil Field” as a later distortion intended to falsely imply ownership by a community whose claims had already been settled against it.
They revealed that during a state-level meeting on October 23, 2025, attended by Navante Limited, Delta State Commissioners for Oil and Gas and Environment, and Sapele Okpe representatives, the company was clearly instructed to ensure the oil field is named after the rightful landowners before beginning the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
The statement warned that wrongly identifying landowners during the EIA process constitutes environmental injustice, as it excludes the true host community that would suffer the environmental effects of oil exploration.
The Okpe leaders advised the Federal Ministry of Environment and Navante not to be misled by what they called “false narratives on Facebook,” stressing that land ownership in the Okpe–Urhobo Forest Reserve cannot be established through the naming of an oil field. They challenged Chief Uduaghan and Abigborodo leaders to seek a court declaration of title if they believe their claim is valid.
This response follows an earlier statement by Chief Uduaghan, who had urged the Federal Ministry of Environment to ignore protests by the Udogun Okpe, insisting that the Abigborodo Oil Field rightly belongs to Abigborodo Community in Warri North Local Government Area.
The disagreement has once again brought to the surface long-standing disputes over land ownership in the Okpe–Urhobo Forest Reserve, as federal and state authorities prepare to examine the competing claims ahead of the EIA process.
