Gelegele (also spelt Gilli-Gilli) is a village located in Ovia North East Local Government Area of

Edo State Edo, commonly known as Edo State, is a state located in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. As of 2006 National population census, the state was ranked as the 24th populated state (3,233,366) in Nigeria, However there was controversy ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. The village is situated on the left flank of the Ovia (Osse) River and it shares boundary with

Ughoton Ughoton (or Gwato) is a town in Nigeria's Edo State. According to Benin oral tradition, the town was reportedly founded as 'Iguekaladerhan' (the land of Ekaladerhan) by Ekaladerhan, the son of Owodo, the last Benin ogiso (monarch). At the tim ...

village. Gelegele is notable for its sea port on the river which was opened by Oba Ewuare the Great prior to the European exploration of the Great

Benin Kingdom The Kingdom of Benin, also known as the Edo Kingdom, or the Benin Empire ( Bini: ') was a kingdom within what is now southern Nigeria. It has no historical relation to the modern republic of Benin, which was known as Dahomey from the 17th c ...

Gelegele seaport

The Gelegele seaport holds an important place in the historic European exploration of Nigeria. During the reign of Oba Eware the Great, the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

became the first European travelers to visit Benin through the Gelegele seaport in 1472 AD. This was followed by subsequent diplomatic and trade relations between the Portuguese and the great Benin Kingdom from 1504 to 1550 AD. In 1963, the Gelegele Seaport became known for its oil producing nature and played host to Philip's Oil Company Limited, a subsidiary of Philip 66 of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

Ownership dispute

In 2021, there were several reports of disputes regarding the ownership of Gelegele Community between the Benin and the Ijaws. In 2019, it was reported that half-clad women and youths of Gelegele community chased away over 50 police officers and construction workers from the riverine community as a result of the Gelegele ownership dispute between the Benin and

Ijaw Ijaw may refer to: *Ijaw people *Ijaw languages The Izon languages (), otherwise known as the Ịjọ languages, are the languages spoken by the Izon people in southern Nigeria. Classification The Ijo languages were traditionally considered a ...

people. The

Supreme Court of Nigeria The Supreme Court of Nigeria (SCN) is the highest court in Nigeria, and is located in the Central District, Abuja, in what is known as the Three Arms Zone, so called due to the proximity of the offices of the Presidential Complex, the National Ass ...

had in 1983 delivered a judgement on the ownership dispute of Gelegele in favour of the Benins.

Industrialisation and Chinese partnership

In 2018, the Edo State Government partnered with a Chinese-based company called

China Harbour Engineering Company China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC) is an engineering contractor and a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), providing infrastructure construction, such as marine engineering, dredging and reclamation, road and ...

to develop and industrialise the Gelegele seaport in

Benin City Benin City is the capital and largest city of Edo State, Edo State, Nigeria. It is the fourth-largest city in Nigeria according to the 2006 census, after Lagos, Kano (city), Kano, and Ibadan, with a population estimate of about 3,500,000 as of ...

References

Populated places in Edo State {{EdoNG-geo-stub