…as claimant appeals for Oba of Benin’s intervention
Crisis looms in Idokpa village in Uhonmwode Local Government Area of Edo State over succession to the stool of the chief priest (Ohen) of the community, as a self-proclaimed chief priest designate, Prince Osakioya Obasohan, has raised the alarm over plans by unknown persons to deny him accession to the ancestral throne.
Prince Obasohan, who raised the alarm in a chat with our correspondent in Benin City, appealed to the Oba of Benin, His Royal Majesty, Oba Ewuare ll, to intervene to forestall the impending crisis in the village.
He argued that the Ohen Idokpa throne was hereditary, insisting that as the eldest son to the former Ohen, Pa Odia Obasohan (now deceased), who was also the last occupant of the stool, he deserved to succeed his late father as the chief priest of the Okhuaie Nu’Kpogie Shrine.
He argued that the Ohen Idokpa throne was hereditary, insisting that as the eldest son to the former Ohen, Pa Odia Obasohan (now deceased), who was also the last occupant of the stool, he deserved to succeed his late father as the chief priest of the Okhuaie Nu’Kpogie Shrine
He claimed that the Oba of Benin had on February 20, 2018, in his palace, looked into the matter with a view to settling the dispute.
“What the Oba told us on that day in his palace was that he would verify the issue and after the verification he would call us to give a final judgment,” he said.
Obasohan said he had been reliably informed at the Benin monarch’s palace that a certain chief was sent to Ohen Nukoni (Ohen of Evbiekoi) to “verify” who the “rightful person” for the Ohen Idokpa position should be.
But the Ohen Nukoni, who is the head of all chief priests in Benin kingdom, could not be reached. Our correspondent also gathered that the holder of the position is forbidden from speaking on related matters, unless as directed by the revered Benin monarch.
Obasohan said his counsel, Charity Eze Zekeri Esq, had earlier in a letter sent to the Oba of Benin, affirmed his position as the “rightful person” for the disputed stool, and appealed to the monarch to grant his prayers.
An excerpt from the letter dated July 23, 2018 reads, “As God sent son to rule his people, we know you are capable to finish the good work you started without blemish. May God Almighty and our Ancestors continue to give you the strength.
“Our father, we will be most grateful, if Your Royal Majesty approves our “Client,” OSAKIOYA OBASOHAN as the OHEN of IDOKPA IN UHUNMWODE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF EDO STATE. Oba Ghato Kpere, Ise.”
The self-proclaimed chief priest designate said all efforts to ascertain the outcome of the findings since February 20, 2018, when the revered monarch looked into the controversy, had been unsuccessful.
Obasohan, who displayed copies of receipt issued by different courier service operators as evidence of letters he sent to the Oba’s palace about the dissonance in Idokpa, added that he now had to avoid the village, despite that fact that members of his family still reside there.
When our correspondent, who visited the once predominantly agrarian community a week after, learnt that the village had been without an Ohen since 2014, when the former chief priest joined his ancestors.
The head (Odionwere) of the village, Pa Iyekekpolor Omorogbe, declined to speak on the matter. He asked our correspondent to visit the Idokpa town hall for information on the controversy.
“I cannot speak on the matter because I am now a Christian; I now attend church. Please, go and inquire from them at the town hall,” the village head, who spoke in Benin dialect, said.
At the town hall, a member of the community asked our correspondent to come back in the next three days, when elders of the village would be seated and would be willing to speak on the issue.
But on the said day, an elder, who agreed to speak only on condition of anonymity, said, “We cannot say anything on the Ohen Idokpa matter because the Omo’N Oba has already decided on it at the palace.”
When asked what the decision of the Benin monarch on the matter was, he merely said, “Go to the palace and let them tell you with their mouth. We cannot be quoting the
Oba.”
However, at the monarch’s palace in Benin City, the Chief Press Secretary to the Oba, Desmond Agbama, said the Benin Traditional Council would be in a “better position” to speak on the matter, directing our correspondent to the office of the BTC Secretary, Frank Irabor, where an official said that a letter must be written to the office.
But weeks after confirming receipt of our correspondent’s letter, the BTC secretary has yet to respond even after a text message was sent to his mobile phone 14 days
later.
