A idyllic Edo clan violated by its “king”

There is a disturbing palpable, combined with uncertainty in the Agra Community and once an idyllic Uzanu, the traditional heart of the South -South -East clan in the area of ​​the local Etsako government in the state of Edo. This follows the alleged dethroning of Benjamin Ikani by the Kingmakers, the Council of Chiefs and the inhabitants of the village, due to alleged acts ranging from high -handed conduct, violent and sacrilegious to financial indiscretion and other coves.

It is disturbing that Uzanu, a village that once out under the populist administration and oriented towards the development of his partner Adams Oshiomhole and the visionary influence of Prince Clem Agba, a former commissioner and minister of state in immediate time for the budget and national planning, is now invented in trauma. The village had become a strap of eye, transformed through a series of federal projects facilitated by Prince Agba. The creation of the South Clan -est of Uzanu, which elevated Benjamin Ikani to the venerated position of oil, was a miracle of the era of Oshiomhole and a master of Prince Agba.

Benjamin Ikani himself, now that it is said to be metaphorically sitting on a bare ground rather than the an exalted throne of the Ooliola of Uzanu, seems undaunted by the persistent refusal of the people of his leadership. In a telephone conversation with this medium, he courageously stated that he remained king, rejecting the various probability stacked against him. He shake his alleged removal as a simple game of children and labeling those behind it as insignificant players in the traditional governance of Uzanu and his neighboring villages.

Yet his position raised more questions than he answered. When he was asked why these “insignificant” figures were invited for the interviews of reconciliation by honorable Fortunato Exigbe, state commissioner Edo for the local government and the affairs of Chieftancy, did not have a convincing response. In fact, Benjamin Ikani himself recognized that the efforts of reconciliation, launched by Commissioner Exigbe, had failed, as confirmed also by the village heads and the Kingmaker during a press briefing. Why did he attempt reconciliation with the people he deemed irrelevant?

Insiders within the chapter of the Edo State of the All Progressive Congress sentence (APC), in particular those close to a party manager of the Senatorial District of the North Edo, he confided in this journalist who, known as “Sunday”, had often boasted of using his ties with the governor Okpebholo to reintegrate Ikani. His motivation? Policy revenge against an important Uzanu Stalwart APC.

“We thank God according to which the Governor Okpebholo is a man of good judgment who cannot be influenced,” he observed a source. “If Sunny could not stop the recent dethroning of his king in the nearby Kingdom of Wanno di Agenebode, his hometown, how can he then influence the governor to reinstall an unpopular figure in Uzanu?”

In the Guardian newspaper of May 19, 2025, an “open letter to the government of the state of Edo” reiterated that the removal of Benjamin Ikani had the overwhelming support of the Council of Chiefs Uzanu, the Oil-in-Council and the majority of the inhabitants of the village. The publication described in detail the litany of the accusations against Ikani, who were also formally communicated on September 21, 2024 at his real height, anegbette oil and South Uneme Head clan. This real figure was commissioned by the former Obaseki governor to supervise Uzanu’s affairs after the state has revoked the clan status controversial.

The reaffirmation and presentation of Obaseki of an office staff in Ikani on 11 October 2024 only aggravated the situation. That move has circumvented the common decision to remove it and was seen as a subversion of traditional norms. Critics claim that Ikani was an Obaseki imposition, a political move to destabilize the APC support base in Uzanu in favor of the opposition PDP.

The voices of the community insist that the reasons behind the removal of Ikani have never been political. His installation on November 6, 2015 was resisted with a section of the village, which doubted its integrity and suitability. Long before the recent turmoil, he had designed the wrath of elderly, farmers and fishermen.

Already in 2016, the tensions were flared after the oil leaks from stories broken in Distant Iddo, Okpella, influenced the agricultural land and the navigable streets of Uzanu. According to reports, the NNPC officials confirmed that terms of compensation with Ikani were reached, which then discouraged the inhabitants of the village from pursuing the statements, even if their means of subsistence were in ruins.

The signatories of a document that outlines the foundations for the dethronisation of Ikani include the chief Emmanuel Ikeme (Ononu of Uzanu), the chief Ibrahim Omokpua (Ogiega di Uzanu), Capo Peter Ajegba (anogies of Uzanu), Capo Kasimu Kadiri (Osese of Uzanu) Uzanu), Capo Jimo. Shaibu (Ogiewokha of Uzanu), chief Damodu Baja (Ezeomo di Uzanu) and four others.

The accusations against Ikani are many and serious. According to a harmful document of the community, once he ordered his helper, Anthony Ademu and the local vigilants to force a woman, Achilemu Esther, to eat his feces. In 2021, he presumably linked three elderly to the stakes during the night, he whispered and revived them, accusing them of witchcraft in what hit the barbaric process for Orceo. The State Police Commissioner accused the case to the court of the magistrate of Auchi.

According to reports, Ikani made the Sacred “Eben” (scimitar) in the police station of the Uzanu division to curse Joseph Momoh, a youth leader of the community. Further accusations include the invocation of fatal night curses through “Inhimiasu” masked and threaten the garments with a double bar gun. His relationship with the police office of the Uzanu division has also been subjected to control, in particular as regards his alleged protection of vigilants such as Ikpeme Okojie, implicated in attacks and illegal possession of firearms. A petition dated 23 May 2025, by the lawyer Emoschioke Kanoba, urged the police inspector to transfer the case to Benin for impartial investigations.

Ikani’s volatility is well known. In 2015, according to what reported, he attempted to cut the throat of his brother Agbona Ikani with a knife. Agbona still brings the scar. Presumably he attacked his head Kasimu Kadiri on his agricultural land and later took Kadiri’s wife as hers. The accusations of greed and extortion abound, including the unauthorized withdrawal of ₦ 2.2 million from community funds. He is also accused of having sold the agricultural lands and the Pisces of the Uzanu to the neighbors of Igbira in the state of Kogi and to distribute head titles despite a ban on the government on his kingdom.

Perhaps the most alarming is his alleged secret agreement with the shepherds, to whom he sold land for taxes ranging from ₦ 500,000 to ₦ 1,000,000, more cows. According to reports, this has worsened the kidnappings, the destruction of crops and the insecurity in Edo North. It is said that his contempt for the position of the community against the sale of earth and the growing crime are total.

Even Sani Ikani, Benjamin’s younger brother, was in the spotlight. He and a band presumably tried to listen to a television journalist during a peaceful event, trying to silence the government’s efforts to eradicate cultural. Was this reaction a defense of the cult activity or are they really those against whom the inhabitants of the village control?

The Guardian report concluded that Ikani had boycotted a key meeting of the community held on September 21, 2024, where he should have responded to the numerous accusations. He denied receiving any invitation. When asked why he had not convened his meeting to answer, he just shake off the accusations as without foundation.

A video of what was supposed to be a confidential reconciliation meeting has leaked through the Hon Exigbe Office, spread widely on social media, triggering wild celebrations of Ikani’s supporters. Presumably they sang derisive songs aimed at the Lalist of the APC, claiming the victory for the PDP sympathizers who had dishonored the supporters of the APC in their stronghold of Benin City.

A garment that participated in the meeting described him as a hasty and superficial. “We were barely asked to speak. We were simply told to return home and forgive Benjamin Ikani if ​​he sought forgiveness. But that type of superficial peace effort cannot resolve the two judicial cases still hanging on him to the court of the magistrate of Auchi,” he complained about the head.

In the meantime, Ikani denies having planned a controversial turban of new garments in Uzanu and Wanno Clans on June 6, 2025. But the simple voice further intensified the tensions. The leaders of the community, in a press conference, reiterated their position: “Benjamin Ikani is no longer their king”.

So what is the way out of this festive royal cheat?

Sources well positioned within the Edo state government chamber, the commissioner’s office for the local government and the boss’s affairs, security agencies and leadership APC in Benin have suggested that the governor Okpebholo should take decisive actions. They recommend adopting the same skilled approach that successfully resolved the Okuokpellagbe dispute in Okpella. They argue that the root of the Uzanu crisis lies in the unilateral imposition of a monarch by the former governor Obaseki, an error also made to Okpella.

To restore peace and dignity to Uzanu, they propose that the location of oil is open in a fair and transparent race. He lets all qualified people, including Benjamin Ikani, if he wishes, is preparing for the throne through a legitimate process and led by the community.

Only then can Uzanu return to the path of harmony, justice and progress.

■ Mathew Etokhana is a freelance writer.

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