Tension mounts in the ancient city of Benin over controversial installation of a certain Osemwengie as the Ogiamien of Utantan Benin Nation, reports Special Correspondent, TITUS OISE
Over the years, the palace of the Oba of Benin and the royal family of the Ogiamien is known to have enjoyed flourishing relationship until now that the revered Benin monarch, Oba Erediauwa, is said to be “indisposed”.
Trouble started when one Richie Arisco Osemwengie proclaimed himself as “His Imperial Majesty, the Ogiamien of Utantan Benin Nation”.
While the Bini were yet to grapple with the open confrontation, Osemwengie went a step further by appointing an Enogie (Duke) in a suburb of Benin City, Edo State capital, as well as conferring chieftaincy titles on some of his cohorts.
Following the confrontation posed by Osemwengie, the Bini took up the gauntlet in a bid to check the alleged excesses of the Ogiamien.
The state government consequently moved in to avert crisis and bloodshed.
A statement by the Secretary to the State government, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, threatened legal action in line with the Traditional Rulers and Chieftaincy law, 1979 which prohibits any person or group to proclaim self as a chief or traditional ruler, a breach of which is a criminal offence.
According to the statement, “Government recognises the right of every citizen to seek the advancement of his family members through legitimate and inoffensive manner, but government cannot watch on as a person or family maligns or assaults other citizens under the pretext that he wants to promote himself or his family.
“Government will take steps to prevent any act which is capable of causing a breach of the peace. Government condemns in totality the abusive language used in the publication (Ogiamien Trumpet)”.
The Ogiamien family had in recent publications in local newspapers – the latest being Ogiamien Trumpet – been laying claim to the traditional stool of the revered Benin monarch, claiming they were the original traditional rulers of the kingdom and that they and their families cannot pay obeisance or kneel before the Benin monarch.
Meanwhile, Chief Osamede Adun, the Aiyobahan of Benin Kingdom, in an interview, described the action of the Ogiamiens as a taboo and an abomination, as nobody has the right and powers to challenge the authority of the Oba of Benin.
Adun, a prominent palace chief, declared that the Ogiamien family has no blue blood (princely lineage) and therefore “its palace is non-existent and cannot stand, as it is a mere cave”.
He added: “The Ogiamien family was perished in 19 AD by our forefathers. He (Ogiamien) is not a chief; he is a slave. He is not a prince. People who can bear prince in Benin are the children of Oba of Benin. Today, I call on all Edo people; it’s an abomination and a taboo to the Benin people for anybody to challenge the authority of the Oba.
“He (Ogiamien) is challenging the authority of the Benin, not only the Oba. Our Obaship is not for sale and our Oba is an authority. After God, it’s the Oba. If you look at the history of Benin kingdom, there is only one Oba. The Ogiamien family wants to cause war in the kingdom.”
According to him, anybody who aligns with the Ogiamien family is an enemy of Benin kingdom.
TheNiche learnt that in apparent bid to douse the rising tension, Edo State Government, through the office of the Attorney-General, hurriedly arraigned Osemwengie in a Magistrate Court in Benin. In the course of the suit, the newly-installed Ogiamien was remanded in prison custody till September 29, 2015, when hearing was expected to commence.
Shortly after Osemwengie was remanded in prison, the Benin Traditional Council (BTC) issued a statement that was endorsed by a number of prominent palace chiefs, including Chief Sam Igbe (Iyase of Benin), Chief David Edebiri (Esogban of Benin), Frank Irabor (Secretary, BTC), among others.
In it, they stressed: “We like to make it categorically clear to the general public that the said Richie Arisco Osemwengie, the publisher of Ogiamien Trumpet, the Ogiamien family and their cohorts are investing in and supporting a course that could lead to self-destruction.”
The chiefs added that because the matter was being taken care of by the law, they would not dwell on it, but to ask all Benin people to be calm, prayerful and law-abiding in the face of the provocation by a section of the Ogiamien family, assuring that the traditional authority in Benin and all the security agencies were watching the antics of the “small clique of rebels within the Ogiamien family”.
On Tuesday, September 29, 2015, when the matter came up, Osemwengie was granted bail with stringent conditions. A serving permanent secretary and a traditional ruler within Edo South Senatorial district were needed before the bail request could be granted.
TheNiche gathered that by last week, the bail conditions had not been met, hence Osemwengie remained in prison custody.
In an ironic twist, one of the chiefs that installed him, Michael Egbobawaye, was curiously killed in an accident recently when a vehicle rammed into his compound. This, many fear, has added further dimension into the royal rumble.