Gov Adams Oshomhole
There is growing tension in Agenebode, Etsako East Local Government Council of Edo State following the alleged beating of some women from Weppa, one of the clans that make up Weppa-Wanno. The women were said to have gone to the Agenbode market to perform certain annual rituals.
Against this premise, the people of the area have declared that they are not part of the larger community, as according to them, those suspected to have beaten, harassed and manhandled the women were sent from the palace.
They therefore want the state government to give them an autonomous identity because of the alleged undue interference in the performance of their customary festival by the Okumagbe of Weppa Wanno kingdom, Dr. George Egabor.
THISDAY investigation revealed that the fragile peace in the community occasioned by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Weppa clan who are customarily the chief priests of the kingdom and the palace was said to have been broken last Thursday when the incident happened.
Efforts to contact the spokesperson of the palace, High Chief Pius Ozekhome, were unsuccessful as his line could not be reached but the traditional ruler denied the allegation saying: “All that is balderdash, nobody was attacked. I am not a violent person, I am a man of peace; whoever is doing that is playing to the gallery.”
But narrating the incident, the chief priest of the kingdom, Chief Akhamiokhor Egiebade, said the chief priest normally emerges from the three ruling houses – Agiere, Iviamadi and Otaokwi – and is saddled with the responsibility of fixing a date for the annual festival (Ukpe), according to the customs and traditions of Weppa Wanno.
“August every year is our festival month since we migrated from Benin and after the festival, the women needed to have their own title and after they have taken their titles, there is a final celebration which entails their going to the market.
“They came to Wepppa here to celebrate their title the next date which is Thursday. Then they went to Agenebode market to perform the same ceremony but we heard rumours that the Okumagbe had said that he would send people to attack the women and that they should not come to the market and would not allow them to carry our their ceremony.
“But I told the women to go and do their ceremony and when they got there, they were attacked with heavy weapons; guns were shot and they collected their materials for the ceremony and forcibly removed their beads which they wore. Four of the women were wounded,” he said.
Continuing, he said the “women came back to Weppa with tears. They were alarmed and said what happened that day had never happened before in the community.
“No Okumagbe in the throne has taken such an action. There was crisis before which the Edo State Government through the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Lucky James, came to settle.
"There was an MoU after the settlement and there is a paragraph there that states they should allow me as the chief priest to continue to do my yearly rituals.
“Okumagbe is for administration while the chief priest is the spiritual head of the community just as Ishekure is in Benin Kingdom but he did not abide by the MoU so since then, he has been finding fault in what I do”.
He said the issue had been reported at the Agenebode police station but the people had resolved to become autonomous. “We have made a report to the police. We took a decision yesterday and Weppa has stopped coming to the palace.
“As from yesterday (Saturday), no Weppa man should go to the palace-- both chiefs and ordinary people. We want the government to intervene because they did not follow the previous arrangement we reached.
“We had applied for our clan before, we want to be independent and don’t want to be part of the Weppa Wanno kingdom anymore. He has driven us out and he doesn’t want us,” the chief priest maintained.
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