Benin protesters
Edo State Deputy Governor, Mr. Philip Shaibu, has said that the state government will continue to defend and protect the cultural heritage of Benin kingdom.
Shaibu stated this on Tuesday while receiving hundreds of members of Benin Nation Congress (BNC), who were on protest to the Government House, against one Arisco Osemwengie, whom they accused of attempting to carve a separate kingdom from Benin, to be headed by Ogiamen which Osemwengie claimed to be.
The protesters who brandished placards with various inscriptions also carried a mock coffin which they said signified death for the enemies of the Oba of Benin.
Their protest terminated at the Government House, where they were received by Shaibu.
They said the real Ogiamen of Benin kingdom had never been declared dead even though he is supposed to be a palace chief and therefore could not be replaced.
President of BNC, Ayamenkhue Edokpolor, who spoke for the protesters, said the Ogiamen family had since disown Osemwegie.
“The Ogiamien family, led by Pa. Samuel Ogiamien has duly and publicly disown the said Arisco Osemwegie since the year 2015 as an impostor trying to impersonate or criminally take the place of the chieftaincy title of Ogiamien whose current holder is Chief Osarobo Okunoghae and who had been absent from Benin for several years but had not been declared missing or dead by relevant authorities.
“This begs the question that if the holder of the Ogiamien title has not been declared missing or dead, then Arisco Osemwengie and his illusionary adventurers trying to claim a title of Ogiamien must be held accountable for his whereabouts because a title is only vacant by death or by other established proviso.
“The general public must be informed that by the Benin Traditional palace structure – the Ogiamien title is one of the titles belonging to a group called Uzama ni bie which is a junior title in the Palace hierarchy of functionaries,” he said.
Reacting to the protesters, Shaubu, said, “anybody who wants to try to reduce the image and ancestral history that we have in this kingdom, that person is just daring what a human being cannot dare.
“As a government, we are with you, by the grace of God, we will not only protect our Benin kingdom but we will support every means to make a revered kingdom that it has always been. The Oba of Benin is revered all over the world and nobody can reduce that image that we have got in the kingdom.
“Edo State Government will use everything possible to protect our cultural heritage which is represented by the Oba of Benin.
“Mr. Governor and the good people of Edo State will join you to preserve the kingdom and those bad people, we will put them where they belong. Benin kingdom has come to stay, Oba has come to stay and nothing can change it.”
When contacted on phone, Osemwengie declined to comment on the matter, because it is in court.
“That is a matter that is before the Supreme Court and I don’t like commenting on an issue that is before the Supreme Court, so I cannot comment on it,” he said.
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