The Pessu Ebiowa Family of Warri has formally petitioned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Independent National Electoral Commission over what they describe as false claims by the Ereku/Ogisi family regarding ancestral land rights in the oil-rich Niger Delta community.
The dispute centers on a letter dated April 22, 2025, written by Chief Rita Lori Ogbebor on behalf of the Ereku/Ogisi Family of Odion Town to President Tinubu, asserting ownership claims over vast areas traditionally held by the Pessu Family for centuries.
In her controversial letter, Ogbebor claimed that Warri was originally called “Odion” and was founded by her ancestor, Ogisi, effectively reducing established families in Warri, including the prominent Pessu Family, to mere “tenants” on what she described as their ancestral lands.
The Pessu Family has vehemently rejected these assertions in their formal complaint to the President and INEC, describing Ogbebor’s claims as “tissues of lies” and historically inaccurate statements that threaten community peace.
“The Pessu Family of Warri is not, has never been, and will never be a tenant in Warri,” the family stated in their petition, calling such suggestions “a taboo and wickedness of the highest order.”
To support their position as legitimate landowners, the Pessu Family presented substantial historical and legal evidence tracing their roots to Chief Pessu Ebiowa, whom they describe as “a direct male descendant of Aborigines of Okotomu-Irigbo, one of the five aborigine communities in the area now known as Warri Kingdom.”
The family cited historical records from British Consul General Sir Macdonald’s 1891 visit to Warri, when Chief Pessu Ebiowa of Pessu Town and Chief Ogbe of Ugbuwangue were documented as prominent Itsekiri Chiefs, as recorded in scholarly works including Obaro Ikime’s “Merchant Prince of the Niger.”
Central to their argument is evidence from a 1922 colonial court case, “Denedo, William Mire vs. Dore Numa,” involving land lease disputes in Warri Township. In that case, Chief Pessu testified as a witness, stating: “I belong to Pessu of Warri. I am Jekri (Itsekiri)… Pessu Town is a portion of the land in dispute. The Olu is overlord over our land.”
The presiding judge, Hon. J.F.C. Webber, made what the family considers a crucial finding: “Chief Pessu a witness for the plaintiff is an Itsekiri man but not descended from the Olu Itsekiri. His land is in the land in dispute.”
This judicial recognition, the family argues, definitively established Chief Pessu as a landowner rather than a tenant, directly contradicting Ogbebor’s current claims.
The Pessu Family detailed their extensive land holdings, which include present-day Pessu Town, Pessu Waterside, Pessu Lane, Pessu Market, Pessu Market Road, Pessu Layout, and Pessu Garage, among other developed areas that have been continuously occupied for generations.
“All these areas which have been fully developed, from time immemorial till date, were leased out by the Pessu Family without any challenge or encumbrance from anybody whatsoever,” the family stated.
The petition also accuses Chief Rita Lori Ogbebor and her family of conducting a harassment campaign against legitimate Pessu Family tenants following the circulation of her letter to the President.
According to the complaint, the Ogbebor family has been “going about harassing our tenants, especially with this letter that they are the owners of Warri and that this fact is known to the Presidency.”
The Pessu Family noted that throughout documented colonial-era land disputes, “Chief Rita Lori Ogbebor’s forefathers Ogisi and Ereku whom she said owned the whole Warri were nowhere to be found” in legal proceedings or as witnesses in various cases.
The family suggests that Ogbebor may be “trying to take undue advantage of the tension regarding the delineation to grab land that does not belong to her family,” referring to ongoing INEC ward delineation exercises in Warri South.
In their petition to President Tinubu, the Pessu Family requested complete disregard of claims that they are tenants, investigation of the false claims and alleged harassment, public clarification that the government does not endorse unsubstantiated ownership claims, and protection from continued intimidation.
Community leaders in Warri have called for calm and peaceful resolution of the dispute, with traditional rulers reportedly working to prevent escalation during the sensitive period of electoral boundary review.
The controversy highlights ongoing challenges in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region, where competing land claims often intersect with ethnic tensions and political competition in oil-producing areas like Warri.
Legal experts note that colonial-era court records, such as those cited by the Pessu Family, often carry significant weight in contemporary Nigerian land dispute cases, where customary ownership systems predate modern legal frameworks.
The INEC ward delineation exercise continues despite the controversy, with electoral officials emphasizing that boundary reviews are based on population and administrative considerations rather than land ownership disputes.
