Orogho Dukedom: Stakeholders Seek Intervention Of Benin Monarch, Edo Govt Over Alleged Poor Administration

Concerned indigenes and stakeholders of Orogho Dukedom in Ugu Ward, Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State have called on the Benin Monarch, His Royal Majesty, Ewuare II; the Edo State Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and Orhionmwon Local Government Council to call to order, the Enogie of the Dukedom, Prince Patrick Osayende Akenzua, over what they described as an unpopular system of administration.

At a press conference in Benin City on Thursday, spokesperson for the group, Mr Osahon Imaru, with Dr Israel Igbe said that since the Enogie’s ascension to the throne in 2010, indigenes across the seven communities in the Dukedom had raised several concerns about the administration of the Dukedom.

He listed the concerns to include the introduction of representations in each of the communities, with one Charles Eghaghe allegedly functioning as the “Enogie’s representative or Sub-Enogie.”

Osahon listed the communities as Orogho, Uwuo, Obagie Nunuamen, Iwebo, Ugbogun, Obanakhoro and Ekigbe.

According to him, the representative had allegedly taken advantage of his position to oppress people in the Dukedom.

He also alleged that the failure of the Enogie to personally participate in certain important traditional activities, including the annual Igue and Ekaba festivals, had created a vacuum in the Dukedom.

Osahon further alleged the misappropriation of $38.5 million, which he said ought to have been disbursed among ancestral landowners and the Dukedom communities through which NEWCROSS Petroleum’s pipeline passed.

He also raised concerns over the alleged disposal of a large parcel of land in the Savannah area to Ere-Egwa Farm without the knowledge or consent of the then Odionwere of Orogho Community or the wider communities within the Dukedom.

According to him, the land was subsequently recovered following the intervention of well-meaning indigenes of the Orogho communities.

“The stakeholders maintain that these matters are not merely allegations made without basis. Relevant documents are in our possession and are available for verification by the appropriate authorities,” he said.

Osahon said the group had explored all internal conflict-resolution mechanisms before deciding to seek the intervention of the Palace of the Oba of Benin.

He, however, regretted that their correspondence on the matter had allegedly been prevented from reaching the monarch.

This, he said prompted the concerned indigenes and stakeholders to make the matter public in a bid to seek assistance in entrenching a workable, inclusive and accountable system of administration within the communities in Orogho Dukedom.

“It should not become a system in which members of the communities feel excluded from decisions concerning their ancestral land, resources, revenue and collective future,” he said, calling for an inclusive administrative system in the Dukedom.

Calls by our correspondent to Charles Eghaghe’s phone number to seek his reaction to the allegations were not answered.