US embassy cable - 03LAGOS736

UNCLAS LAGOS 000736 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
CAIRO FOR MAXSTADT, TASHKENT FOR BURKHALTER 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC, EPET, ECON, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, PREF, NI 
SUBJECT:  NIGERIA:  WARRI CRISIS - AN ITSEKIRI LEADER'S 
ADVICE FOR THE PRESIDENT 
 
 
1.  Summary: On April 5 EconOff met Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor, 
an Itsekiri leader and a princess of the Warri Kingdom. 
Chief Ogebebor is one of 6 Itsekiri leaders preparing for an 
April 7 meeting with President Obasanjo and their Ijaw and 
Urhobo counterparts.  They will try to resolve the 
continuing ethnic problems in the Niger Delta that have 
resulted in loss of life and property, and closure of 
foreign oil company operations.  End summary. 
 
 
2. On April 5, Chief Ogbebor told EconOff that the meeting 
with the President is a result of her efforts to involve him 
in a meaningful way to halt the hostilities in the Niger 
delta region.  The main issue is land ownership, she said. 
According to Ogbebor, the Olu of Warri is the traditional 
guardian of the lands that comprise the 600-700 year-old 
Kingdom of Warri. The Ijaws, according to Ogbebor, were "sea 
nomads" who sailed along the coast from Ghana to Cameroon 
fishing and selling their catch to Itsekiri women who re- 
sold it in market places. Ogbebor stated that the Ijaws do 
not have a homeland and no one knows from whence they 
originated. 
 
 
3.  Chief Ogbebor said she wants President Obasanjo to ask 
the Ijaws what they want, from whence they came, and what 
proof have they of their origins and attachment to Warri 
land.  She stated that she plans to "remind him" of his 
responsibility to ensure that all Nigerians can safely 
conduct legitimate economic activity and have their rights 
respected.  To this end, she is pleased with the presence of 
the military forces in the Delta since they protect the 
Itsekiris from Ijaw attacks.  Should the results of the 
meeting with the President be unsatisfactory, Ogbebor said 
she will issue a 21-day ultimatum that states that if the 
President does not control the Ijaws, the Itsekiris will 
have no choice but to engage in armed struggle.  In that 
event, the Itsekiris' land will no longer be a part of Delta 
State since they will establish their own state. 
 
 
4.  Ogbebor disclosed that there is nonetheless disagreement 
within the Itsekiri camp.  She and other like-minded 
activists advocate recourse to armed struggle to resolve the 
conflict with the Ijaws.  But The Olu of Warri has failed to 
provide firm direction and his hesitancy to authorize action 
is one of the reasons, she said, why so many Itsekiris have 
been slaughtered. 
 
 
5.  Because continuing violence has forced large numbers of 
Itsekiris to flee their homes, many of them will be unable 
to vote in the upcoming elections.  Ogbebor concluded from 
this that the Ijaws are attempting to control the elections 
through ethnic cleansing.  She requested USG assistance 
(tents, boats, food, clothing and fishing nets) to help the 
displaced Itsekiris return to their homes to vote.  She 
further asked that the USG help establish a Commission for 
the Safety of Minority Rights.  Ogbebor has written to the 
United Nations and plans to go to New York within two weeks 
to seek UN intervention. She will argue, she said, that the 
Ijaws are engaged in genocide against the Itsekiris. 
 
 
6.  Comment:  Chief Ogbebor's plan to have President 
Obasanjo challenge the Ijaws' right to a place in the Niger 
Delta certainly won't advance the peace agenda.  However, 
her interpretation of the Ijaw-Itsekiri conflict reflects 
the fact that many of Nigeria's ethnic problems are rooted 
in squabbles over land rights and the debate about who is 
Nigerian. That said, we suspect that the real issue in this 
instance is not about control of the much-polluted land and 
water in the Delta region, but rather over the much bigger 
question of oil wealth and who benefits from it, an issue in 
which all Nigerians have equity. 
 
 
Hinson-Jones