By Ishaya Ibrahim
Acting News Editor
Before his inauguration in February as Kogi State Deputy Governor, Simon Achuba had been accused of plotting to become the Onu of Iyano, an ambition that led to a clash in April 2015 among the three clans that rotate the traditional stool – Iruh, Aluaja, and Itale.
Aluaja clan was sacked, and several homes were burnt, including that of Rear Admiral Jerry Onubi.
“Achuba wanted to become the Onu of Iyano. That was about four years back. He had helped to install the person who is there so that the person will abdicate the stool and he will take over from him,” a source narrated to TheNiche.
Circumstances changed
However, the death of Abubakar Audu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the November 21, 2015 election, changed Achuba’s situation. He was nominated deputy to Governor Yahaya Bello after James Faleke rejected the position.
On March 5, 2016, almost a year after the violence, some residents who attempted to return to their homes in Aluaja alleged that they were attacked by hoodlums working for Achuba.
John Apeli, one of the returnees, was killed; and another, Omanyo Acholi, was abducted.
Historical rotation
The source alleged that “Achuba wants his own side, which is Iruh, to produce the Onu perpetually. He is interested in the position because it is a stool that is recognsed by the government.
“Instead of him being a peacemaker, he is supporting his own side against the others.
“Aluaja people are saying that the chieftaincy should be rotational, just as the Attah Igala, so that one side should not have it alone.
The source recalled that historically, the stool was rotational.
They said after Achuba served two terms in the Kogi State House of Assembly, amassing influence, power, and wealth, he decided that the stool will no longer be rotational; it will only be occupied by his clan.
“The agreement to rotate the Onu was years back. When it was the turn of the Aluaja people to produce the Onu, the Iruh people, having been manipulated by Achuba, refused to accept an Aluaja person as the Onu of Iyano.
“When they refused to accept an Aluaja person as the Onu, the Aluaja said okay, we will have our own Onu, you have your own Onu, and the other side called Itale will also have their own Onu.
“Achuba was not happy with the arrangement the Aluaja people spearheaded. That was why he decided he would deal with Aluaja people. That was how the problem escalated.”
Influence in high places
The source said the administration of former Governor Ibrahim Wada did nothing about the crisis because Achuba was a prominent member of their party (Peoples Democratic Party, PDP) and a close ally of former Deputy Governor, Yomi Awoniyi.
“He used his closeness with [Awoniyi] to do a lot of harm to our people. He convinced [Awoniyi] that our people were his political enemies and that was why he was not winning election in Iyano ward.
“[Awoniyi] believed him. He did not know that he was telling them lies.
Division, despite common language
“How did the lie come out? When Achuba knew that the APC was going to win the election, he defected to the APC and abandoned his friends in the PDP.
“He is using his influence to unjustly deal with our people. And we are the same people. We speak the same language – Igala.
“Ordinarily, if not for what he is doing, the position he occupies should benefit our people too. But he is not a good person.
“He is only interested in his selfish ambition. He has inordinate ambition. He wants to grab power.”
Efforts to get Achuba’s side of the story were unsuccessful. He did not answer calls to his telephone line or reply a text message.
Also, state police public relations officer (PPRO) did not respond to calls made to his telephone line or reply a text message.
Achuba joined the APC in April 2015, a few days after the presidential poll.
He once served as vice chairman of Ibaji Council and was two term member of the state House of Assembly.
In 2007, he fell out with former Governor Ibrahim Idris and defected to Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). He later moved to the PDP until April last year when he defected to the APC.