Ika Igbo-speaking communities in Edo State have voiced concerns over what they describe as decades of political marginalisation and suppression of their cultural identity, accusing successive administrations of excluding them from meaningful participation in governance and development.
Speaking with journalists in Asaba on the issue, community leader Apostle Azuka Okah said the affected communities have experienced years of neglect within the state’s political structure.
“Our people are politically stranded and administratively abandoned,” Okah said, accusing authorities of ignoring repeated appeals for fair representation and improved infrastructure.
The communities also highlighted what they described as persistent underdevelopment in their areas, pointing to poor road networks, inadequately equipped healthcare facilities, underfunded schools, lack of potable water and limited government-backed development projects.
According to them, the gap between the resources generated from their communities and the level of development available in their areas has deepened concerns about possible political exclusion.
“We are treated as outsiders in our ancestral homeland,” a community leader said, adding that their linguistic and cultural identity has often been overlooked in state affairs.
The communities mentioned — Iru, Igbanke, Ogbagie, Igbo-Giri, Owa Ri Uzo, Otobaye, Oghada, Ute-Oha, Eze and Ekpon — said they share strong cultural and linguistic ties with Anioma communities in Delta State and the wider Igbo population in the South-East.
Although the proposed Anioma State has yet to receive constitutional approval, the Ika Igbo communities insisted that exclusion from any eventual arrangement could prolong what they described as decades of administrative neglect.
They argued that remaining within Edo State without stronger guarantees of political inclusion has continued to leave the communities politically vulnerable and economically disadvantaged.
