By Charles Pemu 
The Igba of Warri Kingdom, Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor, has issued a passionate appeal to the Federal Government to intervene in what she described as the systematic encroachment of Itsekiri ancestral lands and waterways by Urhobo and Ijaw groups.
Speaking at a press conference in Lagos on Sunday, the prominent Niger Delta activist alleged that federal policies have inadvertently emboldened non-state actors, resulting in the marginalization of the Itsekiri people in their own homeland.
Chief Lori-Ogbebor accused Urhobo settlers of violating historic tenancy agreements by refusing to pay the symbolic one-pound annual fee and expanding beyond the two plots originally granted to their forebears. “The generosity of our ancestors is being abused,” she lamented.
She further condemned the alleged federal empowerment of Ijaw militia leader Tompolo with gunboats and resources to protect oil infrastructure, claiming this has militarised the Ijaw and undermined the Itsekiri’s access to their traditional seacoast. “We cannot be governed by people outside the framework of lawful authority,” she warned.
Recalling the findings of the colonial-era Willink Commission, which urged protection for ethnic minorities, Lori-Ogbebor argued that the Itsekiri are now facing the exact threats the Commission feared.
Despite these mounting tensions, she reaffirmed her commitment to peaceful resolution through the courts. “We are not calling for war. We are calling for justice. We are not inciting tension. We are appealing for fairness,” she said.
Legal action is reportedly being prepared to challenge what the Itsekiri community sees as the unlawful handover of their coastline to external actors.