The attention of the Government of Edo State has been drawn to an advertisement at page 22 of the Vanguard Newspaper of Tuesday 14th November, 2017 which purports to “congratulate one Godwin Oguyenbo on his “coronation” as “Pere of Olodiama Kingdom” in Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State.
This egregiously abominable and sacrilegious pronouncement constitutes an unprecedented affront to the long settled culture, traditions and norms of our people.
Government
is of the view that the claim of such a non-existent title in a
non-existent Community under any guise is a clear and pre-meditated
breach of our Laws particularly the Traditional Rulers and Chiefs Law of
Edo State which said Law sets out the list of all recognised
Traditional Rulers and Chiefs in Edo State.
The said Law further makes it a criminal offence for any person to recognise or purport to install any person as a Traditional Ruler except as provided for under the Law and in fact makes it an offence for any unqualified person to present or permit himself to be so addressed.
The Government takes the view that this act is intended to precipitate strife and contestation leading inevitably to the breakdown of Law and Order in our dear State.
In the light of the foregoing, Mr. Governor has issued clear directives to the Law Enforcement and Prosecutorial Agencies as follows: -
(i) To take all steps to immediately abort the proposed or purported “coronation” anywhere within Edo State on the date proposed or on any other date whatsoever.
(ii) Effect the immediate arrest and prosecution of all persons involved in the said “coronation” either as beneficiary, participant or sponsor, to the full extent of all extant Laws.
The Government and people of Edo State have always projected a peaceful and welcoming disposition to all persons living within its boundaries.
The Government will however not tolerate actions and pronouncements which seek to abuse the hospitality which our Land offers.
Let it be clearly noted that this Government will take all necessary steps to preserve our peace, enforce our Laws and defend our revered institutions. All those who intend to test the resolve of Government in this regard should be assured of the certainty that swift and severe sanctions will be the natural consequence of their unlawful acts.
Government calls on all citizens and or residents of the State, while remaining peaceful and Law abiding, to report all actual or potential breaches of the peace to the nearest Law Enforcement Agencies.
Osarodion Ogie, Esq.,
Secretary to the Edo State Government
The said Law further makes it a criminal offence for any person to recognise or purport to install any person as a Traditional Ruler except as provided for under the Law and in fact makes it an offence for any unqualified person to present or permit himself to be so addressed.
The Government takes the view that this act is intended to precipitate strife and contestation leading inevitably to the breakdown of Law and Order in our dear State.
In the light of the foregoing, Mr. Governor has issued clear directives to the Law Enforcement and Prosecutorial Agencies as follows: -
(i) To take all steps to immediately abort the proposed or purported “coronation” anywhere within Edo State on the date proposed or on any other date whatsoever.
(ii) Effect the immediate arrest and prosecution of all persons involved in the said “coronation” either as beneficiary, participant or sponsor, to the full extent of all extant Laws.
The Government and people of Edo State have always projected a peaceful and welcoming disposition to all persons living within its boundaries.
The Government will however not tolerate actions and pronouncements which seek to abuse the hospitality which our Land offers.
Let it be clearly noted that this Government will take all necessary steps to preserve our peace, enforce our Laws and defend our revered institutions. All those who intend to test the resolve of Government in this regard should be assured of the certainty that swift and severe sanctions will be the natural consequence of their unlawful acts.
Government calls on all citizens and or residents of the State, while remaining peaceful and Law abiding, to report all actual or potential breaches of the peace to the nearest Law Enforcement Agencies.
Osarodion Ogie, Esq.,
Secretary to the Edo State Government
IJAW YOUTH COUNCIL (IYC) WORLDWIDE
ReplyDeletePress Release
16th November, 2017
OLODIAMA KING CORONATION: EDO STATE GOVERNMENT IS FUELING CRISIS
The circular issued by the Government of Edo State in condemning the historic coronation of the Pere of Olodiama Kingdom in Ovia North East Local Government Area of the State is provocative. Such statement which is clearly an invitation to anarchy, is not supposed to be coming from a state government whose duty is to secure lives and property. The Edo State Government should not play partisan politics in the land disputes brewing between the Ijaws in the State and the Bini Kingdom.
The Oba of Benin kicked against the coronation of Olodiama King which has nearly resulted in a bloody clash between the Binis and the Ijaws of Edo State. The same thing also led to the embarrassment of our revered first class Kings led by HRM, Oboro Gbaraun II, the Agadagba of Gbaramatu Kingdom on the their way to the Ijaw Kingdom in Edo State whose Royal entourage was illegally and unconstitutionally obstructed by soldiers acting on the instructions of the Bini King.
The ancient Olodiama Kingdom has been in existence for centuries in that part of the Country. This is not their first Kingdom. The Edo State Government in its infamous, childish and ill-conceived circular has not given any reason why it is criminalising the coronation of Olodiama King. Suffice to say that its acting for the whims and caprices of the Bini King who never want to see the existence of Ijaw Kingdoms in the State. Governor Godwin Obaseki should be wary of his actions. His clear partisanship in the age-long land dispute between the Bini Kingdom and the Ijaws in the Edo State is a clear violation of his oath of office. He should remember that he has sworn an oath to protect lives and property in the State.
The Ijaw nation will not fold its arm and allow the Edo State Government led by Godwin Obaseki and the land-grabbing Bini Kingdom to wipe out the Ijaws in the State from planet earth. No law in Nigeria that has forbidden the Ijaws to live and practice their customs in their fatherland. Since their Lands have been criminally balkanised into Edo State, the Government is Constitutionally bound to give them equal treatments. The so-called Chieftaincy law the Government is relying to cover up its ethnic agenda is even at variance with the Government's circular. What a show of gross ineptitude?
How can a law bar traditional institutions from installing King that has chosen by the people? Is it Obaseki or the Bini King that is empowered by the said law to chose who is supposed to be king in any Kingdom in Edo State? We believe that Governor Obaseki knows the implication of what is doing. If he likes let him lead the battle to the Olodiama Kingdom, the Ijaw nation will not cede an inch of our Lands to the Bini Kingdom. The lands occupied by the Ijaws in Edo State is where God has placed them and they cannot leave their Lands for any trespassers even if it means to killing all of them.
IYC hereby call on President Mohammadu Buhari to immediately prevail on Godwin Obaseki before the whole thing leads to ethnic crisis. The Edo State Government vide its condemnation of the coronation of Olodiama King in the State as contained in the said vexatious circular signed by the Secretary to the State Government has created tension in the area. Should there be any breakdown of law and order, Governor Obaseki and its ethnic chauvinists in the State Government be held responsible.
Signed:
Oweilaemi Pereotubo, Esq.
President, IYC Worldwide
Osazee Amas-Edobor,OUR STANCE IS FINAL,AND THAT WE SHALL KEEP TO.
ReplyDeleteANY ATTEMPTED ATTEMPT BY THE GOVERNMENT OF EDO STATE OR ANYBODY WON'T BE TAKEN LIKELY BY US.IKORO AND OTHER RIVERINE COMMUNITIES ARE IJAW COMMUNITIES.WE LIVE IN THESE PLACES AND WE HAVE CROWNED OUR PERE. SO,ANY OTHER TITLE LIKE OKAO,ENOGIE,ODIONWERE OR OBA IS NOT KNOWN TO US.
The Oba of Benin is the Oba of the Binis, not the Oba of the Ijaws in olodiama and the entire Ijaws in edo state, so he cannot have over-lordship over Ijaw communal lands. Unlike the Enogies of the Edo-speaking peoples and the Obi of Agbor, the Peres and Agadagbas of the Ijaw communities never receive their sceptres of office from the Oba of Benin or the Edo state Govt.The office of the Pere and Agadagba pre-dated the office of the enogies and okaros.before the late Oba of Benin assumed office in 1979, the Ijaws in Ovia had their Kings - the Pere of Olodiama.Pere of Olodiama. Mid-Western State of Nigeria Gazette, No. 56, Vol. 10 dated 10th October 1973, N.S.L.N. 62 of 1973, the Constitution (Suspension and Modification) Decree, 1966, Iyekuselu District Council (Appointment of Chieftaincy Committee) Order, 1973 gave a legal backing to the Pere of Olodiama with his seat at Ikoro, in Olodiama Clan.
#ProjectEdo
ReplyDelete*Obaseki warns Ijaws not to take Edo Govt.’s tolerance for granted*
The Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has called on Ijaws of Edo State, not to take the State Government’s tolerance for granted.
Obaseki who made the call in commemoration of the International Day for Tolerance, marked on November 16, each year, said the state government’s commitment to a free society where people can express themselves freely, must not be taken as grounds for violating the law.
“We are creating a culture that appreciates human diversity in all its colours for a robust pool of ideas that would drive socio-economic development at an unprecedented speed in Edo State,” he said.
“To oppose what is cast in law by acts of illegality such as the purported installation of one Godwin Oguyenbo, as the “Pere of Olodiama Kingdom,” an Ijaw community in Ovia North East Local Council Area of the state, is irresponsible enough” he stressed.
The governor urged the few people behind the plot to beat a retreat in the interest of the majority of Ijaw people of Edo State, who have since expressed their willingness to abide by only laid down laws in the state.
We are proud of our diversity as a state and our peaceful coexistence, but will not tolerate acts of illegality by any group, who for their selfish desires want to rail-road the peace-loving Ijaw people of Edo State into a criminal aspiration.
He added that the state government will continue to protect all law abiding indigenes and friends of the state.
The International Day for Tolerance was set aside by the United Nations in its efforts at strengthening tolerance by fostering mutual understanding among cultures and peoples. “This imperative lies at the core of the United Nations Charter, as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and is more important than ever in this era of rising and violent extremism and widening conflicts that are characterised by a fundamental disregard for human life,” the UN said.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State