Traditional ruler of Obosi town in Anambra State, Igwe Chidubem Iweka
II, has suspended Chief Osita Chidoka, who is a former Minister of
Aviation and spokesman of Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign Council,
from the Council of Chiefs.
Iweka announced in a statement during the weekend the suspension of
Chidoka, and two others, Chief Linus Mgbakaogu and Chief Hyacinth Udemba
for their alleged involvement in bringing the corpse of two Obosi
youths killed during the March 9 re-run election to the palace.
The statement signed by Dr Benneth Mozie on behalf of the monarch and
his chiefs in council, said the act was a sacrilege in the tradition of
Obosi kingdom which forbids the king and his council from seeing human
corpse.
The statement reads, “On arriving at the palace, these chiefs in
council instructed that the corpse be off loaded and dumped in the
palace, an insulting and dishonouring act, an abomination of the gravest
magnitude.
“After due consultations and deliberations with all relevant ancient
traditional bodies of Obosi, the Igwe Iweka II in council, hereby
announces the indefinite suspension from his cabinet of the above
mentioned three chiefs.
“This suspension is for their acts of sacrilege against the revered
age-old customs of the people and Obosi ancient kingdom,” he said.
However, Chief Anthony Nwabude, the Traditional Prime Minister of
Obosi (Onowu Obosi), who was at the palace when the suspension was
announced, told journalists that there was no time the content of the
statement was discussed or resolved by the council.
Nwabude, an octogenarian and one of the oldest members of the
council, said he could not sit back and watch a decision he was not part
of foisted on him without talking.
“There was never a meeting where the cabinet met to discuss and come up with the resolution that was read.
“Since the killings, the cabinet has never met to discuss it; so, I am not in support of it,” he said.
In his reaction, Mgbakaogu one of the affected persons, dismissed the
news of his suspension as a kangaroo exercise, saying he remained the
(Atta Obosi).
Mgbakaogu told reporters the monarch could not suspend any member of
the cabinet without convening a general meeting of the council.
He accused him of delving into partisan politics which had made him to mishandle the affairs of Obosi.
“Two Obosi sons were killed because of election and the youths of the
town insisted on taking their corpse to their king in protest of
numerous deaths we have witnessed, and the three of us were there to
witness what happened.
“The Igwe has had running battles with Obosi community and presently
there is a panel of inquiry looking into these issues, we are still
expecting the white paper from Anambra Government.
“I am not surprised at the purported suspension which cannot stand, I
have been in the traditional cabinet for nine years and eight months,
long before he became an Igwe, so I remain Atta Obosi,” he said.