In this second franchise of his explosive interview with Kristina Reports Correspondent, Clariza Allison, the Chairman of the Konibo-ye-Awanta Tobin House of Finima in Bonny Kingdom, Wariopusenibo Darlington Tobin, the community leader, traditional ethos advocate and opinion leader highlighted why he thinks the Tobin House stands insulted when the Buoye Omuso Brown House makes assertions of superiority over it, digging deep into historical annals to unravel issues surrounding the ownership of Finima land. Check it out!

Now, in that address, he said that late Chief Thomas Beripele Buowari Brown submitted Attoni, Tobin and Adum as sub chieftaincy houses and families.

Is that what he said there. What I read was that Okpe submitted Adum and Attoni as sub houses; meaning Tobin Houses was not yet created in that 1934. That Tobin House was created in 1961. Read that place again. That was what I really saw. He said Chief Beripelebo Brown reigned until 1934 and in one of the meetings he submitted these three houses as sub chieftaincy houses…

I think we all have this Adams Intelligence Report. As far as I am concerned the ones in that report are Adum and Attoni. Beripelebo cannot mention Tobin because he knows that Tobin are his landlords. He knows. The whole of Brown House – all of their leadership, their chiefs knows – that is why none of them ever tried. Let me tell you something that happened, a young man, who today is very prominent in that their House. He wanted to contest an election. He was going for Finima youth chairmanship, and in the course of his campaign, he came to my house and we were gisting, and he said his aunty told him that when we were in old Finima, they will always abuse the Tobin House. They will say, Tobin House, you people should go to Ikpakpayo, go to Ikpakpayo, that’s where you people belong oh. And now today, they are in Ikpakpayo and they have started claiming Ikpakpayo again. He told me, and I said your aunty told you that? He said, yes.

Though, I don’t want to mention their names, but he mentioned their names. Then one of the days when I was addressing the House on issues, I raised this matter, that this is what somebody, so and so person told me. Do you know what happened? After the record of that meeting went out, this young man came to my house crying, that I have put him in trouble. That they are asking him, why must he come and tell me that kind of thing? As I speak to you, they have summoned him and the aunty and they are asking them to pay fine.

The truth is that, like I said, all the leadership of the Brown House knows that Tobin House are their landlords. They assimilated them, they gave them where to stay. At a point, they started applying for lands because they have exhausted the ones they gave them and then they had no option than to start applying. Look, I challenge the Brown House to bring out one document that Tobin House used or applied for land from any of them in the old Finima. They should just bring it out. If they do, we will answer to that Tobin Brown they are looking for. We will answer. But we can bring out more than ten, twenty. At that point, who do you say is the landlord? Who owns the place? Who then owns this place?

Okay because they had Chief Israel Idamieibi Brown, the Attorney General of Rivers State and even after that, there was this judgment, the judgment the won in 1974, was a land outside Finima, jointly owned by them and jumbo house. Jumbo House owning that land with them does not make Jumbo House owner of Bonny. How come they owning that place they are coming to claim the owner of Finima? Then after that in 1982, when it comes to inside Finima, where the LNG is situated, their Chief, Chief Israel Idamieibi Brown presented that judgment and the learned judge said, no; that the lands in question are not the same. This other land is a piece of land between Finima and Bonny but the particular land in this context is a land right in the heart of Finima. And at a point it exceeded individual something and became a House something as per who has the right title to allot that plot of land. Is it the Browns or the Tobin? The judgment said that Tobin House owns Igbewarikiri.

Igbewarikiri is one-third of Finima, including the, the Igbewarikiri means where water is being drawn from including the well, the school, the church, every utility in that community. In fact, including the market. I have a document here when the Tobin House in 1962 abi 1964 moved to the Brown House and gave them two weeks to remove the market stalls they built in that land, that the land belongs to them. Look, the question is, where does the Brown House own? Let’s start with Omoni, their second Chief, Omoni; Omoni was buried right on dupuyo land. They call that place dupuyo because of Omoni. I was a very young boy in old Finima but if you see the Ijumangibo and Isowari lands, it’s just the same piece of land, just a small demarcation. After Isowari was killed, his children entered for Omoni and that was why they brought Omoni to bury him on that land. After Omoni, their third Chief, Abebo was buried on Tobin land at Obriko Nungo, there’s a document to that. After Abebo, their next Chief, John Green Owupele, as well as their main Chief, Buowari was buried on the church premises on Tobin land.

So, what are we talking? Where do they have? Even when a family that is claiming the whole Finima, yet they don’t have where to bury they have to apply to the whole Tobins, write something for them to bury their chiefs? And you are telling me they own the land? They know that we are their landlords and that is why their forebears never challenged us over Finima land.

Recently, a Res Judicata was given in favour of Brown which they claim that it gives them ownership of all Finima land. Now, where does this Res Judicata fit into this analysis you have given?

To start with, I don’t think there is any judgment that mind you the court cannot grant you what you did not ask of it. What the Brown House pleaded for was a land lying between Finima and Bonny. It is clearly stated in that judgment that Shell BP took and made payment. And that case as a case of 1972. So they gave them judgment passively the judge said from the way they are sounding because they brought some fake evidence; and moreso, the major thing there is that they had somebody who was an Attorney General of the State. Believe, you know what Nigerian system is. And recently, the ruling they are talking about has been appealed.

Even after that judgment they claim if at all they own the whole Finima how come the Tobins now won another case? This one is right inside Finima community right where NLNG is situated in 1974. And even their Chief, Chief Israel Idamieibi Brown pleaded this other judgment they are talking about. This 1972 judgment and the judge kept it aside that the two lands are not the same thing. This one is a land between Finima and Bonny. This particular land we are talking is the land right in the centre of Finima called Igbewarikiri; and Igbewarikiri is one third of the entire Finima. You have the church, you have the well, you have the market square – Ekemele, that is what they call it – and other utilities, all owned by the Community. In fact, as I speak with you I have a document here, in 1964 when the Secretary of the House, late Amaopusenibo Joseph A. Tobin wrote to the Brown House on the authority of the Tobin House asking them to remove the market stores they built there, that the land belongs to Tobin. In fact, when I came out in old Finima there was no market and like I said I don’t know where they own. If their second Chief, Omoni was buried on Tobin house land which is the Dupuyo. Dupuyo is for Abam, Abam is the son of Isowari, Isowari is the second son of Awanta; and they took Omoni because they don’t have where to bury their chief. Their third chief, which is Abebo Williams was buried in Obriko Nungo; and this is the document to Obriko Nungo. A woman was even the person that went and stopped them because the other leadership of the house was not there. That was when James Tamunobarasua in 1905 was the head of the house and he was not around; a woman, Atapirigha by name, stopped them from burying Abebo there. They were asked to sign a memorandum of understanding looking for other lands to replace that land because the whole Chiefs of Bonny were in town.

So, where do they own? Their Chief, Buowari himself was buried on the church land. The question is, where do they have? I said the whole of what you see here are all applications by the Browns to the Tobins for land and I still say if the Browns could bring one application or one evidence to show that Tobin House by mistake or by error collected land from them we will accept to answer that Tobin-Brown. Otherwise they should begin to think of how to pack and go to George-Pepple, that’s where they have their rights. That man they are challenging, that’s where they have their right like I said.

Look I forgot to tell you this, look at this evidence; this is from the Ministry of Justice by Chief Israel Idamieibi Brown in 1980 written on the 29th of October to King Opuada Secondus. This was when (Chief) Idamieibi heard that the King visited Finima and went to his maternal home, the Tobin House. Chief Israel Idamieibi was not in town. But when he got the hint he was not happy about it and he was like asking the King if he is trying to remove the Brown House that are his subjects, he is trying to count them out from his subjects; that he came to Finima that he did not visit them, he only visited the Tobins. Are they no longer his subjects and this was the reply of the king. The reply dated 4 November 1980 telling them that if they want him to come to their house they should invite him that he only goes to places he is invited. They went ahead to state that the King did not come with the entourage of the chiefs as tradition demands, that he came on personal ground. So, the question I am asking is that the man they are challenging, their forbearers and former chiefs did not in any way challenge his authority because they know that he owns them, and that is where their right lies in George Pepple; that is where they have right because their owner, the person that bought them, have they paid the two slaves they use to redeem them? They should go give back the two slaves and free themselves. Thank you

The truth about that judgment is that the judgment did not give them ownership of the Finima. The court cannot give you what you did not ask for. They never asked for the ownership of Finima. What they asked for was the court to declare that they are the owner of a piece of land between Finima and Bonny, that Shell BP acquired and they are paying for. The reason for this litigation was because if the payment Shell made. Of course, you know the first payment that was made in 1961 was communally used, they used it to build the school, and buy some electric poles and concretize the well, which was communally used. The second payment, that was when Idamieibi had come on board and started all of that, and that was why the Tobin House went to court. And that was what they prayed for, they never prayed for the entire Finima Community.

Now, on the issue of Res Judicata, to me, of course, we know, I don’t want to talk much on that because we all know the Nigerian judicial system. When a people have been – in fact, they will even brag to tell you – collecting billions upon billions forcefully from the corporate bodies around here, they can get up one morning and do anything they like. But, I have good news for you, that judgment has been – that’s not even a judgment, it’s a ruling – has been appealed. It’s in Appeal Court today. Let’s wait and see the results. Thank you.