Alleged illegal occupation: Chief Priest urges Edo govt, Oba of Benin to intervene

From Tony Osauzo, Benin

The Okao (Chief Priest) of Obanakhoro in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State, Aigbe Ighodaro, has called on the Government and the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, CFR, to call the Enogie of Orogho to order over his alleged illegal occupation of Obanakhoro land as a result of the discovery of oil.

The Okao and the Obanakhoro community, in a passionate plea, urged the government to step into the matter to avoid breakdown of law and order.

Ighodaro in a press statement made available to journalists in Benin City, explained that Orogho-Owuo, Ugbigun, Ekigbe, Obagie and Iwevbo, as well as other camps such as Agosa, Anore, Ocheremu and Elizabeth Camp were directly admonished by Obanakhoro before, during and post years of the colonial masters and were known and addressed as Obanakhoro.

He said this was evident in the then Iyekeorhionmwon District Council in 1955 where Obanakhoro had four (4) wards, Obanakhoro Ward A, B, C and D which encompasses the villages mentioned above.

“Nevertheless, Iwevbo Community and Queen Elizabeth Camp are situate in Obanakhoro Plain. This is evidenced in public land Acquisition ordinance (185) of Government Notice No. 188 of 1951. The legal Notices are along River Ethiope.

“Therefore, the position of Obanakhoro cannot be subsumed or circumvented by the Orogho community, as Obanakhoro remains the feudal lord of the area. Orogho is an impostor community reaping where they never sown and hence became a meddlesome interloper because of the economic resources in the area”, the statement said.

It added that Oba Erediauwa of blessed memory “appointed the Enogie of Orogho to oversee Orogho -Owuo as well as appointed the Okao of Obanakhoro to oversee Obanakhoro and its environs”, explaining that the areas where the multinational oil companies operate which Enogie of Orogho is trying to claim, belongs to the Obanakhoro Community.

“It is absurd, affront and unconstitutional for the Orogho-Owuo community who ceded from Obanakhoro Community in 1988 to lay claim of ownership to it”, the statement stressed.