BY ENDURANCE IKANONE
A fresh dispute has emerged between leaders of the Sapele Okpe Community and Abigborodo Community over the naming and ownership of the proposed Abigborodo Oil Field located in Petroleum Prospecting License (PPL) 220, with both sides presenting competing historical, legal and administrative claims.
Leaders of the Sapele Okpe Community have rejected the use of the name “Abigborodo Oil Field,” insisting that the land in question lies within Sapele Okpe territory and not Abigborodo. In a detailed statement, Okpe leaders described claims linking the oil field to Abigborodo as historically inaccurate and legally untenable, warning that misidentifying host communities could undermine due process in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) exercise.
The Okpe position followed a submission by the Alema of Warri Kingdom, Chief Emmanuel Oritsejolomi Uduaghan to the Federal Ministry of Environment, in which he urged the ministry to disregard protests by the Udogun Okpe, the apex traditional authority of the Okpe Kingdom, over the EIA public display for PPL 220.
Speaking for the Sapele Okpe Community, several leaders cited archival records, colonial correspondence and a 2020 White Paper issued by the Delta State Government after a judicial panel of enquiry.
They argued that the panel’s findings clearly placed the communities of Gbekoko and Otonyatsere within Sapele Local Government Area and recognised them as part of Okpe interests, not Abigborodo.
According to the Okpe leaders, colonial era claims by Itsekiri authorities over the area were examined and rejected as far back as 1932 during the process of constituting the Okpe/Urhobo Forest Reserve.
They further maintained that administration of the reserve was vested in Okpe native authorities, and that subsequent petitions seeking to establish Abigborodo ownership over the disputed communities were investigated and dismissed by colonial officials.
