Representatives of Okoson Community in Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State have rejected claims by some members of the Ekede and Ayama-Ekede communities over the ownership of the community’s land, describing the claims as false, malicious and unsupported by historical and judicial records.
The community’s reaction followed a press statement attributed to Chief Ayauji Gogo Asuk and Chief Ubulom Ifuk Gogo, as well as a joint press conference addressed by members of the Ekede and Ayama Ekede communities in which they reportedly claimed ownership of the disputed Okoson Community land.
Reacting to the claims, a press statement signed by High Chief Unye-Awaji Adaibo and Mr Robert Silas Ngere on behalf of the people of Okoson Community, described the statement by the two communities as false, malicious and unsubstantiated, urging the public to disregard it.
They accused Ekede community of attempting to distort the already established historical facts about the sovereignty of the community land in the area through the press conference.
The statement said the historical existence of Okoson Community cannot be erased or altered by recent claims by the people of Ekede, noting that the community has existed as a distinct settlement within Andoni Local Government Area with recognized communal rights. They equally condemned what they described as ‘war songs,’ being chanted by the Ekede community through their claim that Okoson Community does not exist.
The community representatives claimed that the existence of Okoson as a Community with all communal rights was judiciously stamped by the decision of the High Court in suit number PHC/1729/2007 between Chief Jeremiah Ogbilikan and sixteen others versus Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria and two others of which they said Chief Gad Harry was the second defendant.
They emphasized that till date, the judgement has not been appealed against by the Ekede people.
They stated that Okoson Community is a cemetery where departed loved ones are laid to rest warning that any attempt to forcefully cede part of the land to Green Energy and Lekoil could trigger crisis and heighten tensions in the area.
The statement opined that the Judgement of the supreme Court does not have any nexus or relationship with the ancestral ownership of the Okoson Community land. They vowed that as law-abiding citizens, they will use every legal means against any attempt to forcefully take over their ancestral land.
They added that the daily destruction of their economic trees and exhumation of dead bodies co-sponsored already going on in the area is an invitation to avoidable communal war, warning that meets of the community won’t fold their hands and watch the bones of their forefathers and departed loved ones to be exhumed by any one or group of people.
According to them, the Supreme Court in suit number SC/54/2012 did not make any declaration that Ekede Community was the owner of the Okoson Ancestral Land as Ekede was neither a party in the suit, adding that the suit was purely about the kingship of Ngo.
They however called on the Rivers State Governor Sir Siminalayi Fubara, the State Commissioner of Police and relevant security agencies to caution Green Energy International Limited, Lekoil Nigeria Limited and Chief Gad Harry to desist from further destruction and exhumation of their loved ones already buried in their ancestral land under the guise of diversionary construction.
