RE: REPLY TO ELEM-KALABARI COUNCIL’S PRESS RELEASE DATED JANUARY 21, 2025
FROM: THE PEOPLE OF DABIRA, COMMUNITY BILLE KINGDOM.
DATE: JANUARY 23, 2025
We, the people of Dabira community, hereby submit this formal reply in response to the Ijaw National Congress (INC) press release issued by the Elem-Kalabari Council of Chiefs on January 23, 2025. In response to the claims made by the Elem-Kalabari community, we provide the following perspectives based on territorial rights, historical ownership, and the law.
- TERRITORIAL CLAIMS AND ENCROACHMENT
We categorically reject the assertion by the Elem-Ama Council that the Bille people’s claims of encroachment are “false alarms.” The ongoing surveying activities in the Cawthorne Channel area, which have been identified as encroaching on Bille lands, are clear legal violations under customary and statutory law.
According to established legal principles governing the ownership and use of land, including the Nigerian Land Use Act (1978), the rights of indigenous communities to their ancestral land are protected. The Bille people have consistently demonstrated that the surveying and construction activities going on in Elem Ama, should not have any connection to Dabira and should be restricted to the Torusarama Piri by the people of Elem-Ama. Any act of encroachment, regardless of the manner in which it is carried out, must be addressed legally, and the claims of Bille regarding encroachment must be taken seriously.
The assertion that the Bille people are simply attempting to “mislead the public” is legally untenable. The INC Bille clan has not only provided oral history but also evidence of longstanding ownership, possession and use of the land in question. Furthermore, we call upon the relevant authorities to conduct an independent and impartial investigation into the claims of land encroachment with the interested parties represented.
- HISTORICAL OWNERSHIP OF TORUSARAMA-PIRI (ELEM AMA)
The Elem-Ama Council’s claim that Torusarama-Piri Island is solely under Kalabari jurisdiction is historically inaccurate. The land in question is Bille ancestral land originally called Lilakiri, due to migration and development purpose, the Kalabari people where received by the Bille of Kingdom which cannot be historically contested by any well meaning citizen among the residents of these communities, and this dispute is documented in various legal records and community engagement even by Kalabari prominent historians.
The legal principle of “continuous occupation” as enshrined in both common law and customary law supports the rights of the Bille community over their ancestral territories on the island. Furthermore, the absence of any clear and documented agreement on the boundaries between the Kalabari and Bille peoples should not be used as a pretext for one community to claim ownership as Bille people does not share boundary with Kalabari, rather with Nembe, Okrika and Bonny, the Kalabari land belongs to the people of Bille Kingdom.
It is imperative that the parties involved in this dispute seek the intervention of legal and traditional arbitration bodies to resolve this ownership issue. The courts, or any alternative dispute resolution mechanism, are the appropriate forum to settle such territorial claims.
- CONCERNS REGARDING LEADERSHIP
The assertion by the Elem-Ama Council of Chiefs that Bille lacks elders who can provide guidance on territorial boundaries is both defamatory and legally unfounded. The foregoing assertion by the Torusarama Piri Council of Chiefs demonstrates crass ignorance of the history of the emergence of the Kalabari people on the cawthorne channel in the Bille Territory, now Elem Ama. This shows that the Elem Ama Council of Chiefs are in want of the true and correct history. Therefore, the kalabari’s having failed to provide the correct history, we generously direct the Torusarama Piri Council of Chiefs to seek counsel with the Nembe, the Ibani(Bonny) Okrika regarding the Bille ownership of Torusarama Piri.
In fact, the Bille community leadership has consistently demonstrated legal and customary competence in managing our territorial boundaries. The Elem-Ama Council’s suggestion to the contrary is not only insulting but an attempt to undermine the legitimate authority and rights of the Bille people.
- LEGAL GROUNDS FOR ALLEGATIONS
The Elem-Ama Council’s claims regarding “unfounded fears” and “baseless accusations” ignore the serious legal nature of the issue. The motivations behind the allegations made by the Bille community are rooted in the preservation of our territorial integrity, which is protected under Nigerian constitutional and customary law.
It is vital to recognize that the allegations are based on legal rights to property and land, which are enforceable under the Nigerian law. The people of Bille Kingdom are not motivated by personal grievances or ethnic rivalry, however, by a legitimate concern over the protection of our ancestral lands. Any claims of “baseless accusations” are attempts to dismiss the serious legal and historical concerns of the Bille people.
- KALABARI KINGDOM LEGACY AND TERRITORIAL SUFFICIENCY
The claim by the Elem-Ama Council that the Kalabari Kingdom is “sufficient” in its territorial needs does not grant the Kingdom or any party thereof, the right to expand at the expense of neighboring communities. The legal principle of territorial integrity is paramount, and no community has the right to annex or expand its territory unlawfully at the expense of others.
The Bille community’s historical ownership of it’s land is protected under the law and international legal norms concerning the rights of indigenous peoples to their ancestral land. The claim of “territorial sufficiency” cannot be used as justification for encroachment on the legal landholdings of Bille.
- COMMITMENT TO PEACE AND LEGAL RESOLUTION
While the Elem-Ama Council expresses a commitment to peace, peace cannot be achieved through the distortion of historical facts or the unlawful appropriation of land. The Bille community remains committed to peaceful resolution through the appropriate legal and traditional channels. However, we will not stand idly by while our land and territorial rights are being violated. Specifically, against the commitment to peace as asserted by the Torusarama Piri, Council of Chiefs, Bille people have witnessed the presence of Cultist and Militants under the command and control of the Amayanabo of TORUSARAMA-PIRI ( Elem Ama), spying the Bille Kingdom wielding arms at an ungodly hours of the day as early as 4:00am. This does not only portend danger for the people of Bille Kingdom, but prevents against the pursuit the means of livelihood of the Bille people, who depend on fishing in and around the creeks of Bille Kingdom
We urge the Torusarama Piri (Elem-Ama) people to refrain from further unlawful actions and engage in peaceful dialogue based on the principles of justice, fairness, and respect for territorial boundaries if need be. The legal course must be followed to address these territorial issues, and we call on the relevant authorities to intervene.
Bille people are determined to protect their ancestral rights, and we remain firm in our position that any encroachment on our land must cease immediately. The presence of the Alhaji Asari and his deadly militia group spotted within the Bille Kingdom territory even at odd hours poses serious threat to the peace loving people of Bille Kingdom.further still, there is sufficient military presence; namely, the Naval House Boat, the 29 Battalion of the Nigerian Army in Bille Town headquarters of the Bille Kingdom, all of which have successfully provided security within and around the Bille kingdom. Therefore, we do not need the Cultist and Militants paraded by the Amayanabo of Torusarama Piri in and around Bille territory We hereby , call upon the Executive Governor of Rivers State, Degema Local Government Chairman and other security agencies to intervene and uphold the law to ensure that justice is done judiciously.
Signed:
Barr. Dakoru, Daniel Dappa
(Secretary).
+2348089408587, +2349132591943
dddappa95@gmail.com
