Just In: Obaseki Draws Fresh Battleline with Oba of Benin, Details Emerge

• Governor Godwin Obaseki-led Edo state government has insisted that there is no going back on the ban on Okaigheles (youth leaders) in the seven local governments under the Benin Kingdom
• This is contradictory to the position of the Oba of Benin's palace that the kingdom has not banned the Okaigheles and that they remained part of the traditional administrative structure
• Earlier, Governor Obaseki said the ban on the Okaigheles was part of his administration's efforts to tackle insecurity in the state

Edo State Government has drawn the battle line with Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II, insisting there will be no going back on the ban on Okaigheles (youth leaders) in Benin Kingdom’s seven local government areas of Edo South.

The Commissioner for Communication and Orientation in Edo, Chris Nehikhare, in a statement, explained the ban on the activities of Okaigheles and cultists was to curb violence in Edo communities.

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Governor Obaseki bans Oba Of Benin's Okaigheles

Obaseki, on June 3, informed over 150 residents of Edo State had been lost to cult-related activities and homicide in less than six months (from January 2024), The Nation reported.

He banned the activities of Okaigheles in the Edo South senatorial district’s seven LGAs: Oredo, Ikpoba-Okha, Egor, Ovia Northeast, Ovia Southwest, Orhionmwon, and Uhunmwonde.

Obaseki, speaking with Government House reporters in Benin after a closed-door meeting with security chiefs in Edo state, disclosed that his ban on Okaigheles was part of renewed efforts to tackle cultism in Edo.

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On Friday, June 7, however, the palace of Oba of Benin maintained that the activities of the youth leaders had not been banned in the Benin kingdom while insisting that the Okaigheles represented a segment of the age-old Benin traditional administrative structure.

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The Obazelu of Benin, Chief Osaro Idah, addressed the protesting Edo South okaigheles, who sought the palace’s intervention.

Idah assured that the palace of the first-class monarch would dialogue with the Edo State Government on the contentious issue and charged the Okaigheles to maintain peace and order in their domains.

But the Edo commissioner's statement reads in part:

“The Edo State Security Council’s data has shown that these two groups, Okaigheles and cultists, pose the most severe threat to the security and stability of the state, resulting in the council's decision to ban the criminal groups.

Source: Legit.ng