The Benin Traditional Council (BTC) has berated the State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Mr. Chris Nehikhare, over his comments on a legal suit instituted by some suspended Enigies (Dukes) against HRM, Ewuare II, the Oba of Benin.
Nehikhare’s had among others discribed the litigation as “family dispute among royal family members.”
However, the BTC in a statement issued on Wednesday and endorsed by Chief Norense Ozigbo-Esere and seven others, said: “it is an affront for anyone to suggest that HRM, the Oba of Benin is in dispute with those over whom he reigns, including members of the Royal Family.
The palace chiefs said the Oba reigns over the Benin Kingdom as the spiritual and royal father of the Benin people irrespective of family status, age and office.
They admonished members of the public to be wary of the abominable efforts to undermine the Benin Traditional Institution through deliberate acts and utterances which are calculated to create confusion.
Continuing, the Chiefs also noted with concerns, the reported plan by Governor Godwin Obaseki, to initiate dispute resolution of the suit filed by the embattled dukes against the Benin monarch.
According to them, “the Benin Traditional Institution has a well-established and fully functional process of customary arbitration under the authority of His Royal Majesty, The Oba of Benin.
“This process of customary arbitration is well-known to all Benin traditional chiefs, including the suspended Enigies. Any traditional chief who has any genuine cause to be aggrieved is at liberty to explore this customary arbitration process.
“It is therefore an abomination for any individual to seek to interfere with this age-long and well-established process of customary arbitration.”
