A land dispute between the Sapele Okpe community in Sapele Local Government Area and the Abigborodo community in Warri North Local Government Area, Delta State, reportedly escalated into chaos and an alleged shooting, SaharaReporters has learned.
According to SaharaReporters, it was further learned that the clash between the two communities, which resulted in the shooting of a Sapele Okpe resident, Patrick Gageche, took place on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, in Sapele town, representatives of the Sapele Okpe community, including Onoriode Temiagin, Godwin Atose, Austin Arieja, and others, addressed journalists, condemning the incident.
They alleged that the attack was orchestrated by an Abigborodo youth leader, Ephraim Mebradu, acting on instructions from their leadership.
Sapele Okpe community leaders claimed that the shooting of Gageche, who was fishing at the time, was a deliberate attempt to intimidate their people and forcefully seize disputed lands.
The ongoing crisis is attributed to a long-standing ownership conflict over the Otonyasere and Ugbekoko lands.
Sapele Okpe leaders maintain that these lands historically belong to the Okpe Kingdom. They accused a prominent Abigborodo figure, Emmanuel Oritsejolomi Uduaghan, of exacerbating the dispute by allegedly presenting falsified documents and misleading government agencies to support Abigborodo’s territorial claims.
Referencing historical records, the Sapele Okpe community argued that colonial-era land documents, including the Okpe-Sobo Forest Reserve Ordinance of 1933, reaffirm their ownership.
They assert that recent efforts by Abigborodo to claim the land are fraudulent and a deliberate misrepresentation of historical facts.
The community also rejected claims that a judicial panel of inquiry had awarded the disputed land to Abigborodo, describing such assertions as “false and misleading.”
The community insisted that the panel found no credible evidence supporting Abigborodo’s claims and urged the public not to be deceived by “desperate attempts to rewrite history.”
The Sapele Okpe community leaders expressed concerns about what they described as a pattern of harassment and intimidation.
They alleged that since 2019, several of their members have been targeted with criminal charges, including allegations of murder and kidnapping, as part of a broader effort to suppress their resistance.
According to the leaders, rather than using violence as a means of settling disputes, “we call for a legal resolution”.
They said, “Land ownership should be determined in court, not through intimidation or the use of force. We challenge those claiming rights over the disputed territory to present their case legally rather than resorting to aggression.
“We are using this opportunity to as a matter urgency and importance call on federal and state authorities to intervene. We are also demanding that security agencies investigate the attack on our son, Gageche, and take necessary action against those responsible.
“The government must without any delay disband any armed groups operating in the area. We call on our people to remain calm and never to retaliate the shooting of Gageche and the attacks on us.
“We must allow the law to take its course. Violence will only worsen the situation and we would continue to pursue justice through legal and diplomatic means.”
Meanwhile, as the crisis deepened, stakeholders have called on the Delta state government and governor Sheriff Oborevwori to immediately mediate in the dispute and prevent further violence.
They called for a transparent and lasting resolution to the conflict, noting that it has the potential to destabilise the region if left unattended to.
Attempts to contact Emmanuel Oritsejolomi Uduaghan of Abigborodo for comments were unsuccessful as his mobile phone was unreachable. At the time of this report, calls and messages to the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe, went unanswered.
