There is nothing like Ikpiera Island - Leaders of Itsekiri Communities tell Oborevwori

Elders and leaders of Itsekiri Communities of Aja Enyisan, Aja Ikpisan, Aja Enetsemi, Aja William Moore, Aja Egbe, Aja Ekpeminaghan/ Dediare, Aja Ukugbawa/ Mami, Aja Iyemidukori, Aja Afejuku and Aja Okuololo in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State, have called on Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, to call peddlers of " inciting falsehood" regarding ownership of Ikpisan to order, saying there's nothing like Ikpiera Island.

Fresh Angle International can report that the Itsekiri leaders, who made the call in Warri, Delta State, Sunday July 26, during a media briefing, said the claim that Urhobos founded and developed a community along the river to Ode - Itsekiri, was fallacious and misleading.

Elder Tony Egbe, who addressed newsmen on behalf of the Itsekiri communities' leaders, stressed that Ikpisan, is not an Urhobo enclave and not a clan or " senior village" in Udu Kingdom.

Below is full text of the press statement:

IKPISAN IS NOT AN URHOBO COMMUNITY 

Gentlemen of the PRESS,our attention has been drawn to the deliberate misinformation by certain Urhobo propagandists peddling lies and deliberate distortions in the social media that inside the homeland of the Itsekiris in the Riverine area, the Urhobos founded and developed a community along the river to Ode Itsekiri which they called Ikpierah. This is fallacious and misleading.

Ten Communities share boundaries in the Idale Island wrongly referred to as Ikpiera Island. They are Aja Enyisan, Aja Ikpisan, Aja Enetsemi,Aja William Moore,Aja Egbe,Aja Ekpeminaghan/ Dediare, Aja Ukugbawa/Mami , Aja Iyemidukori, Aja Afejuku, and Aja Okuololo.

We herby strongly urge the Delta State Governor, Rt Honourable Sherif Oborevwori to call to order, these peddlers of inciting falsehood on ownership.

For the purpose of emphasis, Ikpisan is not an Urhobo community and by extension,not the third Urhobo community in Warri Riverine area as claimed by some Urhobo expansionist.

The fugitives came to seek refuge in a forest hideout on the Island. When the fugitives were discovered and asked how long they had been hibernating in the hideout , their reply was "Ikpiera" meaning "For THREE YEARS". The bewildered strangers had no identity and did not disclose where they were fleeing from. Ikpisan is derived from Ikpiera which became the name of the location of their settlement in the Island.

The Idale Island wrongly called Ikpisan Island was already the Olu's hunting range,brewing camp and arable farmland for spices. Hubbard is quoted to have written in his book that in the reign of Olu Atuwatse 1, which ended in 1643, there was no Sobo or Urhobo anywhere near the Warri territory.

Though some people in Ikpisan may claim to have ancestral link with Urhobos,Ikpisan is not an Urhobo enclave,and not "a clan or senior village in Udu Kingdom." Printing wrapper memorabilia does not establish of ownership.

We therefore warn mischief makers,bloggers fanning embers of incitement and other social media propagandists to apply understanding and caution in making wild claims and uninformed assertions on the ownership of Ikpisan Community in the Idale Island. 

IKPISAN COMMUNITY IS NOT ANOTHER URHOBO COMMUNITY IN WARRI. IKPISAN COMMUNITY IS NOT A PART OF UDU KINGDOM.

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