Don’t circumvent Ekiokpagha Treaty, family warns Benin Traditional Council

BENIN—THE Ogiamien family of Utantan, Benin, Edo State has warned the Benin Traditional Council, BTC, that any attempt to circumvent the Ekiokpagha treaty between the family and the Oba during the coronation rites of a new monarch, will bring an end to the reign of the current dynasty in the kingdom.

Meanwhile, the family has given a 14-day ultimatum to one of the Bini palace chiefs, Chief Osamede Adun, to withdraw the falsehood levelled against it that members of the Ogiamien family, who they said were the Bini aborigines, were slaves/strangers in the kingdom, or face legal action.

The family, in statement by Chief Monday Whewhe, was reacting to a publication in the media, where Chief Adun had said that the Ekiokpagha treaty cannot affect the coronation rites of an Oba as the mock battle between the forces of the Oba and Ogiamien was a mere formality.

However, Chief Whewhe called on Chief Adun to stop making mockery of them, describing his comments on the Ogiamien family as embarrassing, insisting that the family was a descendant of the Ogisos, who had ruled the land for 300 years before the coming of the Eweka dynasty.

He contended that the Ekiokpagha treaty “is the rent a new Oba must pay before being allowed the occupation of Benin Kingdom leased to them by the Ogiamen family.”

Don’t circumvent Ekiokpagha Treaty, family warns Benin Traditional Council