NEW NIGERIAN

January 31, 2008

IGBINEDION STRIPPED OF BENIN TITLE
...declared oba’s enemy

From RALPH OKHIRIA, Benin

WITH the fall from grace of ex-Governor Lucky Igbinedion of Edo State, and subsequent arraignment in court for corruption and sundry offence, his father, Gabriel Igbinedion, has also lost his high chief status in the Benin Traditional Council (BTC).

The council announced yesterday that the elder Igbinedion has been stripped of the title of the Esama of Benin Kingdom, and declared an enemy.

BTC took the decision after a meeting of the palace chiefs held at the palace of the Oba of Benin and has forbidden the former Esama from using all privileges attached to the title.

Igbinedion who was declared Oghion Oba meaning “enemy of the oba” is being sanctioned for his alleged disrespect to the Benin monarch.

He was accused of “unrelenting efforts” aimed at desecrating the revered Benin traditional institution, especially his alleged malignant habit of impersonation, often presenting himself as the oba of Benin.

Igbinedion was further accused of illegal use of the Uguakpata cap, awarding the royal Ikele beads to his visitors and not attending any of the palace functions, amongst many other alleged offences.

Meanwhile, the BTC has constituted a panel comprising palace chiefs to revisit the cases of the five palace chiefs that were earlier suspended for attending a paralleled function organised by the erstwhile Esama, when they were supposed to attend the “Ugie-Ewere” programme at the oba’s palace.