A land/ kingship tussle has torn apart ex-Rep Ned Nwoko and his kinsmen. The battle is now before the court, writes Okungbowa Aiwerie, Asaba
Idumuje-Ugboko community, Aniocha North Local Government Area in Delta State has murdered sleep. No thanks to a land/kingship tussle between an ex-federal lawmaker Prince Ned Nwoko and Crown Prince Nonso Nwoko.
Several families have been displaced from their homes following attacks. So much bad blood has been generated by the impasse that the women groups have joined the fray with a tit-for-tat invoking of ancestral curses on those loyal to the contending parties.
Walter Eziashi – Ex-President General Idumuje-Ugboko Community, in a statement in Asaba, the Delta State capital, debunked insinuations that Ned Nwoko was interested in becoming the king or is sponsoring any candidate for the kingship position, stressing that the Idumuje-Ugboko royal throne is by qualification and not by sponsorship.
According to him, the issue at stake is the kingship tussle between Crown Prince Nonso Nwoko and Prince Uche Nwoko, adding that tradition prescribes that the first surviving male child ascends the throne.
He said: “By our tradition, it is always the surviving first son that becomes the Obi whose mother must be an indigene. The two contenders are Prince Nonso whose mother is from Ubulu-Uku and Prince Uche whose mother is from Idumuje-Ugboko. If we go down history the first Obi was Obi Nwoko 1, his first son was Prince Omouju, he never ascended the throne because his mother was not an Ugboko woman, but he married an Ugboko woman knowing what he suffered, he married from a village called Ugboufu from the Okoh family and Omousi was their offspring. Omousi was crowned an Obi. Omousi’s first son was Obi Nkeze whose mother was from Atuma in Idumuje-Ugboko. When Obi Nkeze died in 1955, the issue of succession came up, because the actual first son of Obi Nkeze died, it fell on Prince Albert Nwoko and there was a tussle and between 1955 and 1981 Ugboko was governed by a regent, because the mother of the surviving first son was not a native of Ugboko, but from Ugbodu. The man who would have become king, Prof Demas Nwoko declined the position. So the mother of the man interested in the kingship was from Idumuje-Unor and was ineligible, but to resolve the logjam, our elders agreed that Obi Albert rule with a proviso that he must marry an Ugboko woman that would succeed him. And this led to Obi Albert after coronation in 1981 marrying his first wife who was childless, but his second wife gave him a male child called Prince Uche Nwoko who attends Command Secondary school, Ebonyi State.”
He went on: “ There are other contending issues, in our culture if you have a criminal matter hanging on you , if you have challenges of dishonesty especially dishonesty that carries a sentence of not less than two years ,so whatever title you hold you are stripped of it. Let us even agree that there will be a waiver on the kingship tussle, but there has been a case of forgery that has been on since 2015 against Prince Nonso. He was invited by the Delta State Police Command, the DPP says he has a case to answer and was charged to court and the case is ongoing, the prosecution has almost completed its case just for Nonso to open his defence. There is case of stealing, a case of breaking and entry running to two years now and a case of compounding felony to do with the rape of a 15 year old girl in the palace. We are saying that no sane community will allow a man with criminal charges to become their king”.
The Iyase of Idumuje-Ugboko, Chris Ogwu, blamed the crisis on Crown Prince Nonso Nwoko, alleging that several meetings called by elders of the community to resolve issues were turned down by the Crown Prince.
But Crown Prince Nonso Nwoko dismissed the idea that there was a kingship tussle over the throne, stressing that the whole crisis revolves around the issue of land.
His words: “The issue revolves around land. Every other thing you hear about the crisis is because of land. In fact I will summarise it by saying if we were to take all the land he wants and give to him (Ned), the crisis will vanish. More than ten year ago, he (Ned) was given over 30 hectares of land to build a ranch and a dairy factory and in this community there are so many young men, so our fathers in their wisdom gave him land. But he did not have any such intention to build any ranch or dairy farm, instead he converted that expanse of land to his private estate without coming back to the community to ask for a change of use. He was pampered because as a member of the royal family he got advantages that could not be extended to other persons, but let them down badly. The other members of the community are still complaining about his misuse of community land. I know that at a meeting of the Izuani, my uncles were struggling so hard to defend that decision”.
The Crown Prince did not spare the Delta State Police Command headed by Mr. Zanna Ibrahim for having compromised, saying: “The Delta Police Command has been seriously compromised on this matter, it is for this reason we moved the case to the A.I.G’s office in Benin-City. After the burial rites of the late Obi had been perform we were trying to hold an Izuani meeting (community meeting), the next thing was that we were attacked by thugs imported from outside the community and disrupted the meeting with the police standing by and doing nothing, after I implored the police to protect us they refused saying that the atmosphere was charged and that it will not be proper to continue the meeting because it will lead to a break- down of law and order. The Delta Police demanded we give them a 24 hour notice if we want to hold another meeting. To this request, we acceded, but on the day the meeting was to hold despite the presence of the police, local government chairman and others the thugs would not let the meeting hold despite the presence of the police.”
Prince Ned Nwoko, who represented Aniocha/Oshimili, denied his involvement in the crisis, saying that he did not sponsor anybody to cause crisis in the community.
He said: “The town’s meeting was a diversionary effort from the serious allegations over the death of the Obi. The crisis arose because there is a tussle for the kingship after the death of Obi Albert Nwoko three months ago.
“The wives of the late Obi petitioned the Inspector General of Police over the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of the King. The state command’s effort to investigate the matter has been frustrated by Nonso and co who refused all invitations for questioning.
“Instead he resorted to calling a town’s meeting without the Chiefs (who already have a High Court injunction against him and others). The beating of the Chiefs at the meeting was the beginning of the crisis.
“I wasn’t there but the Commissioner of Police in the State and the Assistant Inspector General, Benin will give you details if the kidnappings of the Chiefs and others opposed to Nonso and the subsequent vandalisation of their cars and properties.
“One Okada man (motorcycle operator) named Cyprian was killed in the palace. His boys have been arrested and charged with various offenses.
“The only zoo in Delta is there, we have the fish pond, the poultry, providing jobs for the people. I initially earmarked N2 billion but I ended up spending over N10 billion. I have fully utilized the land given to me for the purpose it was meant for.
“We are fighting a civilised fight in the court over the land issue, and we are civilized enough to wait for the decision if the courts,” he said.
