The Itsekiri (also called the Isekiri, iJekri, Itsekri, Ishekiri, or Itsekhiri) are an ethnic group who mainly inhabit Nigeria's Niger Delta area.

The area is a key centre of Nigeria's crude oil and natural gas production and petroleum refining and the main town Warri (a multi-ethnic metropolis) forms the industrial and commercial nucleus of the Delta State region.

They are most closely related to the South-Eastern and South-South Yorubaland sub-groups - Ijebu, Akure, Ikale, Ilaje, Ondo and Owo, and also Edo, Urhobo and Ijaw.

Thus modern day Itsekiris may be the only southern Nigerian ethnic group to be almost totally heterogeneous (mixed) in its genetic composition.

[13] The Itsekiri people are an ethnic group with a rich history that dates back almost a thousand years before the founding of the Kingdom of Warri.

According to historical records, Itsekiri were formed by a group of Yoruba tribes who migrated to the Niger delta region.

During this time, Bini migrants who were chasing Olu Ginuwa joined the Yoruba group in the area and founded Okere.

The Itsekiris traditionally lived in a society that was governed by a monarchy (the Olu) and council of chiefs[20] who form the nobility or aristocracy.

Once the dominant form of western Christianity in Itsekiriland for centuries, [citation needed][25] only a minority of Itsekiris are Roman Catholics today whilst the majority are Protestants notably Baptist and Anglican.

[citation needed] There are a number of semi-autonomous Itsekiri communities such as Ugborodo, koko, Omadino and Obodo whose history predates the 15th-century establishment of the Warri Kingdom.