Report by Daniel Atori
Apprehension in Benue Community Ingle Edumoga Community in Ingle/Okpale ward of Okpokwu local government area of Benue State over the appointment of the next District Head of Edumoga Community.
Stakeholders from the community in a strong worded letter of petition to the Governor of Benue State, Reverend Father Hyacinth Iormem Alia accused the Ad’Okpokwu, His Royal Highness, Chief James Okefe, the Chairman of Okpokwu Council of Chiefs of an orchestrated plan to alter and disregard the existing traditional arrangement of appointing a District Head for Edumoga Community.
The critical stakeholders which comprise of elders and youths from Ingle Edumoga Community are laying claim to the stool, saying that it is their turn to produce the next District Head in line with the tradition and the rotational principles that have guided the appointment of District Head to Edumoga Chiefdom.
The three page petition which was signed on behalf of Ingle Edumoga Community by Chairman, Ingle Community, Mr. Gabriel Ugboyi Ogwuchea, National Matron/Women Leader, Mrs Elizabeth Ochada and the National Youth leader, Engineer Joseph Otobo copied all traditional and political leaders from the area.
They described the ongoing plot to overturn the existing arrangement as a gross injustice, abuse of traditional office, and a deliberate attempt to subvert the established rotation of traditional leadership in the Chiefdom.
Accordingly, the petition read: “we, the undersigned, and on behalf of the good and peace-loving people, elders, youth and other stakeholders of Ingle Edumoga in Ingle/Okpale Ward in Edumoga Chiefdom, Okpokwu Local Government Area, wish to bring to your urgent attention, the ongoing manipulation by Chief Okefe to arbitrarily bypassed our ward and hand the stool to an individual from a completely different ward that had already taken its turn.
“The ascension to the stool of the District Head of Edumoga Chiefdom has historically operated on a well established tradition of rotation and zoning for fairness, equity and justice.
“From available records, other blocks/wards within the Edumoga Chiefdom have duly served their respective terms, and for the purpose of fairness, peace and traditional administrative equity, it is indisputably the turn of Ingle Edumoga to produce the next District Head”.
They warned that anything short of this, will amount to a direct invitation to anarchy which may not be good for the peace and development of Benue State at large and Okpokwu local government in particular.
While appealing to the governor to urgently intervene in the matter, the Ingle Edumoga Community disclosed further that their demand was not a mere isolated one because it was agreed that Ingle Edumoga should produce the next District Head after an expanded meeting of all the Edumoga ward heads.
According to the petition “during a formal meeting held at the palace of the 3rd Class Chief of Edumoga, Chief Ojo Emmanuel Ochechema, all the ward heads of Edumoga met and extensively deliberated on this matter.
“At that meeting, the ward heads unanimously agreed and affirmed that it is indeed the rightful turn of Ingle Edumoga to produce the next District Head”.
The community maintained that this collective decision was made to ensure fairness and uphold the peaceful coexistence of the clans.
While accusing Chief Okefe of trading traditional stool in his domain, the petitioners claimed that they have strong reasons to believe his decision was heavily induced to the detriment of Ingle Edumoga Community.
“We have strong reasons to believe, based on emerging facts within the locality, that this subversion of justice was heavily influenced by compromise and financial inducements involving key traditional authorities, including the palace of the Och’Idoma.
“Traditional institutions are meant to be custodians of truth and peace, not commercial enterprises where leadership slots are sold to the highest bidder at the expense of communal stability”, they added.
They however warned that though the people of Ingle Edumoga are peaceful, law-abiding, and have consistently shown maximum respect to the traditional stool of Ad’Okpokwu and the entire Idoma traditional council, this peaceful disposition should not be mistaken for weakness or cowardice.
“Chief James Okefe’s actions is taking our patience for granted, insulting our collective intelligence, and actively provoking the youths and elders of Ingle Ward”.
They community therefore appealed to the governor to call Chief James Okefe (Ad’Okpokwu) to order immediately and put a halt to any ongoing processes aimed at swearing in or recognizing any individual outside of Ingle Edumoga for this specific District Head position.
They also urged the governor to direct an immediate investigation into the zoning and rotational history of the Edumoga District Head stool to verify their irrefutable claim that it is the turn of Ingle Ward.
“Mandate the traditional council to strictly adhere to the rule of equity by ensuring that the next District Head of Edumoga is chosen exclusively from qualified candidates presented by the people of Ingle Edumoga”, they added.
