Edo State belongs to Ijaw people, Binis are strangers from Egypt – IPDI

The Ijaw Peoples Development Initiative, IPDI, Delta State, has declared that Ijaw people had settled in the present-day Edo State before the Bini.

The group, backing their claims with historical facts, said that what was called Edo State today, belonged to the Ijaws.

They claimed that the Binis had come from Egypt after short stay in Sudan and Ile-Ife to occupy the Edo where they met original owners of the land, the Ijaw people.

In a statement by the National president of the group, Austin Ozobo, the IPDI challenged the Edo Forum of Patriots and Bini Solidarity Movement, both of which it said alleged that Bini owned Gelegele, an Ijaw community, with misleading information, to prove their case with historical facts.

The statement reads, “Our attention has been drawn to statements credited to Edo Forum of Patriots and Bini Solidarity Movement, where they alleged that Gelegele, an Ijaw community, belonged to the Bini, citing some distorted and contorted black market court judgments. It is imperative to state that Bini is laying false claim to Gelegelegbene community.

“The community is owned by Ijaw of Gelegele. They are neither Benin visitors nor strangers. History has it that Ijaw first landed in Benin before the arrival of Edo- speaking people from Egypt after a short stay in Sudan and Ile-Ife.The aborigines of that land before the arrival of the Bini are the Ijaw of Olodiama, Egbema, Gbaraun, Okomu, and Furupagha clans in the present-day Ovia North, South-West and Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Areas.”

The group further quoted a renowned Benin traditional historian and member of the royal society of the House of Iwebo, Chief Jecob U. Egharevba of blessed memory, as saying unambiguously in his book, titled, A Short History of Benin (1968), Page 1: “Many, many years ago, the Bini came all the way from Egypt to found a more secure shelter in this part of the world after a short stay in Sudan and Ile-Ife, which the people called Uhe. Tradition says that they met some people who were in the land before their arrival…”

IPDI contended: “This implies that the Ijaw are the original natives of the current Edo State and not the Bini, who are non-natives of Edo state. Ijaw have their kingdoms which are different from Bini Kingdom. No Benin settlement is found among these aforementioned places. Ijaw are older than the Bini in current Edo State, but are being oppressed by the Bini for a very long time.

“Perhaps, another historian, who bore witness to the invasion of Ijawland by the Yoruba new visitors is E. Alademomi Kenyo, who in his book titled The Origin and Title of Yoruba Rulers (N.D) Page 3, stated: ‘Up till time, the Oba (in Benin) and his people were pure Yoruba and did not understand the language of the aborigines, who usually salute themselves and the new people (the Bini) Adoo, Dolo.

Source: http://uncova.com/edo-state-belongs-to-ijaw-people-binis-are-strangers-from-egypt--ipdi

You see why it is not good to be too accommodating.

Yoruba's took the igbo's in and suddenly Lagos became a no man's land.

The itsekiri's took the ijaw's in and suddenly they become the visitors

Now it's Benin and ijaws.