Issele Communities Reaffirm Ownership of Otulu

The Issele Communities comprising Issele-Uku,  Issele-Azagba and Issele-Mkpitime have reaffirmed ownership of Otulu which they said was created as a Farming Camp for strangers who came into the communities and needed land for farming.

Rising from a well structured and attended meeting of the three Communities which held at the Issele-Uku Royal Palace on Tuesday September 28,  2021, the Communities came up with 11-point communique reaffirming that Otulu belongs to the Isseles which was created for administrative convenience as Issele-Uno (Issele-Uku),  Issele-Azagba and Issele-Mkpitime at the time.

Briefing Journalists after the meeting, the Spokesperson for the Isseles, Prince Victor Egbune, said that the Meeting constituted a Committee made up of the Presidents General of the three Communities,  lawyers from the communities, and three other critical stakeholders, to put together and review all the cases in court regarding Otulu land.

Prince Egbune said that the Committee has the responsibility of advising the three Issele Communities on further steps to be taken to challenge any of the trespassers in Otulu.

“We considered and reviewed the cases under litigation in Court, the ones pending and those that judgment has been given that are in our favour.

“At the end, a Committee comprising of the three President Generals (PGs) of the three Communities, lawyers among them in the Communities and three other persons was constituted.

“Their term of reference is to critically gather and analyze facts relevant in pursuant to any form of litigation,” Prince Egbune stated

The Communities in the communiqué, recalled that it was Ubulu-Uku, at a time that challenged the Isseles over ownership of part of Otulu and Ubulu-Okiti by the then Obi Ofulue 1, which the three Communities joined forces and defended up to Supreme Court and won in 1975.

However, the  leadership of the three Issele Communities reiterated their peaceful nature, while warning that trouble makers should not take their peaceful dispositions for granted over unnecessary claims to Otulu.

“We affirmed that the three communities of Issele-uku,Issele-Mkpitime and Issele-Azagba are peaceful and peace loving people and we will continue to remain in peace, even when we will not fold our hands and allow anybody or communities to take what rightly and legally belong to us”