Community Leaders Accuse  Edo Govt  of  Monarch Imposition

Ayodeji Ake

Three heirs to Ososo throne in Akoko Edo Local Government Area in Edo State have petitioned the state government over its  alleged involvement in affirming a new monarch, ignoring  traditional process. 

In a petition by the three marginalised quarters– Unukhu Ani, Unukhu Egbetua and Unukhu Ikpena, who lamented that it was like a hit from behind when one Prince Dele Obaitan, the immediate past Edo State Commissioner of Tourism and Diaspora Affairs, the eldest son of the deceased royal father, was allegedly summoned to the office of the Commissioner of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in Benin and handed a letter of appointment, to their greatest shock, without regards to due process. 

The petitioners are: Elders Monday Bello, Joseph Olowodun and Lawrence Jowell (suing for and on behalf of Ani Autonomous Community, Ososo); Elders Peter Momoh, Ileri Jerumeh, Emmanuel Alle and Emmanuel Akinseyi (suing for and on behalf of Egbetua Autonomous Community Ososo); and Elders Buoro Ajayi Buoro, Aiyero Alabi and Dominic Ayeni )suing for and on behalf of Ikpena Autonomous Community, Ososo).

According to the petitioners, the quest is for an enduring peace in the scenic small town as some of the feuding factional leaders of the community have vowed to resist the state government’s recent imposition of Mr. Dele Obaitan as the town’s traditional ruler.

Nestled between the rolling Kukuruku chain of hills, Ososo, a few kilometres from Igarra, the headquarters of Akoko Edo Local Government Area, and about 25km to the giant cement factories town of Okpella, Etsako East Local Government Area, the stunningly beautiful town is located at the northern tip of Edo State. It serves as the border community between Edo and Kogi States. 

It was disclosed that the apple of friction among the feuding factions is the vice-like grip of the chieftaincy since 1910 by Okhe, one of the Unukhus (quarters) that make up the four Unukhus of Ososo to the detriment of Anni, Egbetua and Ikpena, the three other quarters.

The coveted kingship stool in the community, with a breathtaking scenery, became vacant last year when the monarch, His Royal Highness, Anslem Obaitan, who ascended the throne in July 1987, passed away in October, 2023. 

In their quest to right the wrong following the demise of the town’s monarch, the elders of the three other shortchanged quarters: Unukhu Anni, the eldest of the four, Unukhu Egbetua, which is next in age and Unukhu Ikpena, the youngest headed to a Benin High Court to challenge the sole right of Unukhu Okhe, the third in age according to the tradition of the community to produce the paramount ruler of the picturesque town.

This, according to community sources is a clear departure from the norm before the pre-colonial period. It is to be noted that this protest against violation of the tradition of the community tradition dates back to the colonial era. 

The elders added that the government’s action was in clear violation of court process as well as without recourse to the traditional chiefs of the other three aggrieved quarters, who are normally vested with the power to recommend, based on the well-known custom that is rotated among the four Unukhus. 

They insisted that the kingship of the tourist haven is based on rotation among the four Unukhus by seniority from the oldest to the youngest of the four.

The petitioners wrote that there is palpable tension in the air in the rocky town, noting that one cannot predict what will happen next, if urgent steps are not taken to arrest the ugly situation by relevant stakeholders.

Continuing, they fumed that the fragile peace the people are currently enjoying is being stretched to breaking point by the questionable appointment of the traditional ruler by the state government while the matter is still subsisting before a competent Court of law in the state. 

Excerpt from the petition reads: “This was done without recourse to the traditional council of Chiefs and Elders of the various Unukhus (quarters) that make up Ososo. This is completely against our tradition and custom. It is an aberration of our custom and tradition.”