The Olare - Aja ( Head) of Pessu Town and The Onukute of Okotomu - Irigbo, Warri Kingdom, Pa. Hon. ( Lawyer) D.S.T.O. Pessu, says it's a taboo for anybody to refer to Pessu family as tenant in Warri.
In a letter dated July 11, 2025 and addressed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Pa D. S. T. O. Pessu, explained that the clarification became necessary " to debunk all the false accounts of Chief Rita Lori Ogbebor, regarding ownership of Warri as it relates to the Pessu Family."
Below is the communication, which was made available to Fresh Angle International Saturday July 19.
11TH JULY 2025
HIS EXCELLENCY
PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU (GCFR) FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA THREE ARMS ZONE, ABUJA. FCT
NIGERIA
THE CHAIRMAN
INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION (INEC) HEADQUARTERS, ABUJA-FCT
NIGERIA
Sir,
RE: THREAT OF URHOBO AND JAW CONSPIRACY AND CONNIVANCE WITH DELTA ELECTORAL COMMISSION ON WARRI-SOUTH WARD DELINEATION
EXERCISE ON OUR ANCESTRAL LAND
We are Pessu Ebiowa Family of Warri and we humbly wish to draw Your Excellency's attention to the above subject matter.
Our attention has been brought to a Letter dated 22nd April 2025 written to His Excellency by Chief Rita Lori Ogbebor for the Ereku/Ogisi family of Odion Town Warri in respect of the above subject matter.
In the said letter, Chief Rita Lori Ogbebor created an impression that Warri was initially known as Odion and was founded by her forefather Ogisi. She went ahead to name some families/communities in Warri (amongst whom is the Pessu Family of Warri) whom she alleged are tenants to her family.
At No. 6 of her Letter which she subtitled as "The Pessu family/community", she cited Suit No. 25 of 1926 between Ogegede on behalf of himself and agbassa people (Plaintiff) vs Chief Dore Numa (defendant) wherein she referred to the evidence of Chief Dore Numa at paragraph 30 thereof as saying "I gave Pessu permission" This she said defines the status of Pessu family/community.
She went further at No. 7 of her letter which she subtitled as "The Ijaw People/Eselemo family" and stated thus "Suit No. W/26/1929 and others suffice for the status of the Ijaw people in the three Warris. And, of which the Ijaw family of Colins Eselemo is on lease from the Pessu family who also on lease and permission by Chief Dore Numa. Thus, both are our tenants."
Since she wrote the above misinformed and misguided letter she and her family members have been going about harassing our tenants especially with this letter that they are the owners of Warri and that this fact is known to the Presidency.
We would not have joined issues with her taking into consideration the issue on ground in Warri regarding the delineation exercise in Warri by INEC which has caused so much tension amongst the people in Warri and under whose guise she purports to have written this letter to His Excellency.
However, in order to avert any untold catastrophe that this new found unproved claim of ownership of Pessu lands may cause and also to set the records straight we as a family have decided to write to His Excellency to debunk all the false accounts of Chief Rita Lori Ogbebor regarding ownership of Warri as it relates to the Pessu Family.
First and foremost, we wish to state with all emphasis that the PESSU FAMILY OF WARRI is not, has never and will never be a tenant in Warri. It is a taboo and wickedness of the highest order that anybody will refer to Pessu family as Tenant in Warri, Pessu Town was founded by Chief Pessu Ebiowa a direct male descendant of Aborigines of Okotomu-Irigbo (one of the five Aborine Communities in the Area now known as Warri Kingdom) centuries ago before the advent of the British Colonial Government in Nigeria. It is on record that when the British Consul General Sir Macdonald visited Warri in 1891, Chief Pessu Ebiowa of Pessu Town and Chief Ogbe of Ugbuwangue were amongst the Itsekiri Chiefs he met (see Obaro Ikime Merchant Prince of the Niger Page 69 also J.O.S. Ayomike Selected Essays a mixed Grill page 106).
The property of Pessu family is made up of land and area which stretches between the river (swamp land) and dry land which was originally part of Okotomu land now known as Pessu Town founded by Chief Pessu Ebiowa as freehold owner under the Itsekiri Native Law and Customary practice free from encumbrances but under the overlordship of the Olu and now vested in the Onare-aja (Head of Family) of Pessu Town for himself and in trust for members of the Pessu family.
We wish to state that before the Nana war of 1894 and before Chief Dore Numa came into prominence as paramount Chief, the stream that runs from the Warri river down to behind the Roman Catholic Church that further runs down to Cementry Road that make up Pessu Ward and Bowen Ward is Pessu Town which is also inclusive Pessu Town Sawmill Area 1 and Pessu Town Sawmill Area 2 before the 1908 lease B5.
The area comprises present day Pessu Town, Pessu waterside, Pessu lane, Pessu road, Pessu market, Pessu Market road, Pessu Layout(Ikpara) and Pessu garage to mention a few. All these areas which have been fully developed from time immemorial till date were leased out by the Pessu family without any challenge, or encumbrance from anybody whatsoever. Amongst some of those leases was the lease granted by the Pessu family to Chief Eselemo which Chief Rita Lori Ogbebor referred to amongst others.
The Pessu family did not and cannot seek any permission from the Ereku/Ogisi or the family of Chief Dore to give out any portion of their land to anybody. We challenge Chief Rita Lori to produce any documentary evidence to show that Pessu family is a tenant to her family or sought the consent of her family to give out leases in Pessu Town. We also challenge Chief Rita Lori Ogbebor to produce any documentary evidence to show that the already built up lands in Pessu Town were leased out by her family.
Upon advent of the British Government Chief Pessu Ebiowa noticed some trespass upon part of his dry land by the Government and he complained to Chief Dore Numa who then was the leader of the itsekiris but the complain fell on deaf ears. Chief Pessu was later to know that it was a connivance between Chief Dore Numa and the British Government to give part of Pessu Land to the Government for administrative purposes, which said land covered by the 1908 lease B5 was then renamed as Alders Town by the British without the consent of Chief Pessu the original owner.
In the 1922 case of DENEDO, WILLIAM MOORE VS DORE NUMA which bothers on claiming of all land involved in lease B2 and lease BS in Warri township Chief Pessu who was witness in the said case stated in his evidence as follows: "I belong to Pessu of Warri, I am Jekri (Itsekiri) I do not belong to house of Olu Jekri (Itsekiri). I am descended from the people whom Ginuwa met, I recognize Ginuwa as King. Pessu Town is a portion of the land in dispute. The Olu is overlord over our land. The King must give permission before I can grant lease. I go to Dore if I wish to grant lease. I go to him because he is the man in Town not because he is Olu."
From the evidence above, it is clear that Chief Pessu is a land owner and never a tenant to anybody in Warri. He was never a tenant to Chief Dore but only goes to him for permission not in his personal capacity as the owner of Pessu land or as his tenant but as a representative of the Olu i.e. the man on ground.
To further buttress that Chief Pessu is a land owner from time immemorial and not a tenant in under any guise the Court in the said case per Hon. Justice JFC Webber made a very profound finding when he held as follows: "Dore has dealt with the peoples land for over 30years and there has not been dissentient voice among them. Chief Pessu a witness for the Plaintiff is Jekri (Itsekiri) man but not descended for Olu Itsekiri. HIS LAND IS IN THE LAND IN DISPUTE"
From the above extract of the judgment and findings of the court, it is clear that Chief Pessu is a land owner whose land was part of the land in dispute in the disputed leases of Lease B2 and B5 and ipso facto he was never a tenant to anybody in Warri. He was never a tenant to Chief Dore. Chief Dore only used his position as the leader of Itsekiri and his relationship with the British Government to trespass and confiscate a portion of his land to the British Government i.e. lease 85 which the court find as a fact was part of the land in dispute.
In all of these cases and agitation aforesaid from land owners in Warri against Chief Dore Numa and the British Government, Chief Rita Lori Ogbebor forefathers Ogisi and Ereku whom she said owned the whole Warri were no where to be found. They were never part of these cases either as parties on record or witnesses. No land was taken from them by Chief Dore or the British Government, they did not fight the British Government who was annexing peoples land through Chief Dore Numa at the time. Chief Dore is not a relative of Chief Rita Lori Ogbebor and never gave Chief Rita Lori Ogbebor family any land at anytime whatsoever.
The question then is how come her so called ancestors are now the owners of the entire Warri including Pessu Town. What we see here is a desperate person who is trying to take undue advantage of the tension regarding the delineation to grab land that do not belong to her family.
This unfounded claim apart from being repulsive it is capable of triggering a further crises situation which we know the government is working very hard engaging stakeholders to avert.
We therefore urge Your Excellency to disregard the portion of Chief Rita Lori Ogbebor misinformed and mischievous claim that Pessu Town/Community and Pessu tenants are tenants to her family as they are all tissues of lies that ought and be thrown into the dust bin.
LONG LIVE THE PRESIDENT
LONG LIVE THE FEDERAL OF NIGERIA ???????
YOURS FATPHEULLY
Pa. Hon. (Lawyer) D. S. T. O. PESSU The Olare Aja of PESSU TOWN & The Onukute of OKOTOMU-IRIGBO WARRI KINGDOM.
CC The Senate President. Dist. Sen. Godswill Akpabio
The Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas
The National Security Advisor (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu
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