“Any attempt by persons or groups to create a Kingdom within the Benin Kingdom, is not only illegal, it is sacrilegious, treacherous, anti-people and a deliberate invitation of the wrath of God and our ancestors to self; Benins/Edos must rise up in unison to resist this bad blood in the name of Ijaw nation.”
These words of warning were issued today, Tuesday by the Benin youths under the umbrella of Benin Fundamental Movement to the Ijaw Freedom Fighters who were said to have threatened the traditional institution of Benin kingdom.
In a press statement issued in Benin today, Tuesday, the Benin Fundamental Movement stressed that the fact that the Benin people are hospitable and receptive and will continue to accommodate the Ijaws particularly as the tenant in the Benin Kingdom should not be taken as weakness.
The convener of the group, Comrade Edosa Idada, regretted what he called ‘hurried and illegal creation of the Olodiama Kingdom with a coronation of a Pere,’ the 21-day ultimatum slammed on the Oba of Benin and the Edo State Government, the threat to lay siege on the Palace of the Omo n’Oba and the Edo State Government house, adding that these were steps that should be considered to be signs of confrontation.
Saying that such steps are condemnable and an assault on the Benin Kingdom, the Benin youths wanted Ijaw people that have been enjoying the opportunity to occupy an area for work and business now claim ownership of same, to be careful not to go out of their boundaries.
“Ijaws in Benin are customary tenants; they must remain as such or relocate to their land. We wish to send a very strong warning to the Ijaws to desist from this war and the calamitous situation they are about to bring upon themselves; they do not have the monopoly of violence.
“First of all, the Ijaws may have to be reminded of UWAIS J.S.C. writ of summons taken out of the 9th June, 1970 from former Mid-Western State High Court, Benin that affirmed the earlier decision of an Appeal Court Judgment vesting ownership of Gelegele in the Benin Kingdom to the Benins.
“Secondly, by fiat, by heavenly and earthly authority, global and legal recognition, there is only one (1) Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare N’Ogidigan II, he is the supreme Oba of the traditional Benin Kingdom and the head of all traditional rulers in Edo State. [myad]
