For close to a decade now, the crisis in Gbokoda Community has defied various solutions in the past, including the ones proffered by Warri Monarch, His Majesty, Ogiame Atuwatse II, and both past and present Chairmen of  Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State.
            The main palaver has been that members of the Community have always been prevented from handling their affairs by members of other communities who are members of the Zion Church, one of the many churches in Gbokoda.
            The allegation is that the Zion Church, which started from Tebu and was later located at Gbokoda because of its central position, was attended mainly by Tebu, Udo, Ajamita and Gbokoda people. Through the joint effort of Mr. Cannan Ajagbawa and Mr. Solomon Esinegbuya, the Olero Joint Venture Company was established and the Zion Church was effectively institutionalised in Gbokoda Community under the firm grip of Cannan Ajagbawa and his group. In fact, Gbokoda Community and Zion Church at a time, started sharing revenues coming into the Community on a 60/40 per cent basis (60% to Gbokoda and 40% to Zion Church).
            This did not go down well with some well-meaning members of the Community, thus the grumbling which sparked off the internal crisis in Gbokoda, a one-time headquarters of Benin River before the creation of local government councils. There were accusations and counter-accusations by various factions.
            This was the situation in the Community until they, on their own took the matter to the Warri Monarch  to resolve. This was sometime in 2002. Specifically, at one of the many peace meetings held at the palace of the Monarch and presided over by him on October 26, 2002, the following resolutions were made and agreed upon by all Gbokoda indigenes in attendance:
1.         That there are several churches in Gbokoda Community which include Baptist, being the first to arrive; Celestial, Catholic, Cherubim and Seraphim (Zion), etc. Their duty is to evangelise the people. They are like any other church in any community where people worship. The churches are not the owners of Gbokoda Community. Gbokoda has been in existence long before their (churches) arrival. In view of the foregoing, it was resolved that Zion Church should not be involved in the running, management and sharing of the Community's money, be it compensation money or any other property/resources belonging to Gbokoda Community.
2.         On the issue of the Olare-Aja of the Community who was reportedly sick, it was resolved that in the meantime, the Community cannot be without an Olare-Aja; as such, Mr. Monday Etsede, who happens to be Chairman of the Community, should act as the Olare-Aja until the issue is finally resolved.
3.         Mrs. Esther Oris Okotie-Eboh is appointed as Head of Gbokoda Community Caretaker Committee, and she is authorised to take binding decisions on behalf of the Community. She is to pick representatives from the four founding families to form a Caretaker Committee.
4.         Mrs. Okotie-Eboh is to brief the Acting-Olare-Aja on the activities of the Committee.
5.         She is to report to the Palace of the Olu of Warri on the affairs of the Committee through Chief E. T. Heymann.
            With this royal verdict, everybody thought that the problem in Gbokoda Community had been resolved. This, however, was not to be, as Mr. Cannan Ajagbawa and his group in the Zion Church, took the matter to court, challenging the authority of the highly revered Warri Monarch to preside over the matter.
However, they lost one of their cases on the locus of the Mount Zion Church, when the court ruled against them. The court maintained that there is one Gbokoda Community and as such, there was no basis for Mount Zion or any other church to share revenues with Gbokoda on 60/40 per cent basis or any other ratio for that matter. This judgment subsists till date.
The second case in court by the Mount Zion Church, which is challenging the powers of the Olu of Warri to put in place a Caretaker Committee headed by Mrs. Esther Oris Okotie-Eboh is till pending in court. In other words, the issue of who is the Olare-Aja and Executive members of Gbokoda Community, is still pending in court and no move has been made to resolve any of the pending issues.
The fact, however, remains that the appointment of Pa Monday Etsede as the Olare-Aja and Mrs. Esther Okotie-Eboh as the Head of Gbokoda Community Caretaker Committee respectively, by His Majesty, Ogiame Atuwatse II, Olu of Warri, still subsist, as the matter is still pending in court.
This, perhaps, explains why the Delta State Government by a letter dated November 19, 2005 with reference No. DTGH/154/58 through the then Commissioner for Special Duties, Inter-Ethnic Relations and Conflict Resolution (Mr. Samuel Macaulay Ovuozuorie), that all contending parties should stay action and maintain the status quo in Gbokoda Community pending the final determination of the cases in court. This ban still subsists.
It was therefore shocking to indigenes of Gbokoda and members of the public when Pa Francis Aledi Etsede and Mr. Besidone Megbuluba announced themselves through a letter to the Governor and the press, as the Olare-Aja and Chairman, Elders Council and Chairman of the 14-man Trust (Executive) of Gbokoda Community, respectively. They also called on the Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, to lift the ban on Gbokoda since, according to them, “peace has returned to the Community.”
However, solicitors to Gbokoda Community, Emiko & Associates, while reacting to the development in a letter addressed to the State Governor, stated that the purported general meeting held on July 21, 2007 (by Pa Francis Aledi Etsede, Besidone Megbuluba & co) was a farce, as no such general meeting was ever held, moreso as no notice of meeting was issued to that effect.
While pointing out that the said notice of general meeting was neither signed, nor dated, the solicitors added that Pa Monday Etsede, who this group claimed called the said general meeting and signed the notice of the meeting, wrote a letter denying printing out the said notice scheduled for July 21, 2007.
The solicitors maintained that no meeting was ever held on July 21, 2007, neither was anybody appointed either as Olare-Aja or members of Executive of Gbokoda Community, adding that the said letter dated July 30, 2007 was made in bad faith and meant to deceive the general public, most especially the Delta State Government in order to enable this group carry out those activities, which the State Government has directed all parties to refrain from pending the determination of the various cases in court.
“The purported act of appointing an Olare-Aja and Executive members of Gbokoda Community, would amount to total disrespect and disregard to the Delta State Government directive and contempt of court, as the subject-matter is still pending before a competent court of law,” the solicitors warned.
They further urged Governor Uduaghan to call members of this group headed by Pa Francis Alede Etsede, to desist from disrupting the existing fragile peace in Gbokoda Community by further ensuring that the State Government directive is complied with.

As this drama unfolds, the question on the lips of many is: Who controls Gbokoda Community? The Olu of Warri-authorised Mrs. Esther Oris Okotie-Eboh-led Caretaker Committee; the Cannan Ajagbawa-led Zion Church faction or the newest of them all, Pa Francis Alede Etsede and Besidone Megbuluba group? For now, all odds (legal and traditional) seem to favour Mrs. Okotie-Eboh and her group.