By Lucky Isibor
The leadership and stakeholders of Orogho Dukedom, Ugu Ward in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State have dismissed allegations of poor administration, financial impropriety and marginalisation levelled against the Enogie of Orogho Dukedom, His Royal Highness Prince Patrick Osayende Akenzua, describing the claims as unfounded and part of an attempt by a group of individuals to undermine the traditional and administrative structures of the community.
The community’s response followed a recent press conference in Benin City in which Osahon Imaru, alongside Dr Israel Igbe and others, called for the intervention of the Oba of Benin, the Edo State Government and other authorities over what they described as an unpopular system of administration in Orogho Dukedom.
But the Orogho community, through its Secretary, Ikponwosa Osayomore, fourth-ranked elder Godwin Aguebor and youth representative Vincent Aiyeki, rejected the allegations, insisting that Imaru and his associates had no mandate to speak for the community.
Osayomore said Orogho had an established leadership structure and a constitution jointly developed by members of the community, including Imaru and Stanley Osewenkhae.
According to him, the immediate grievance of the group arose from their failure to secure nomination into the Orogho Community Council of Representatives through their respective quarters.
“No doubt, Osamu Imaru, Stanley Osewenkhae, they are indigenes of Orogho community, but they don’t have the mandate,” Osayomore said.
“They don’t have it, because every community has a leadership structure for the purpose of internal administration. Without it, there will be crisis and anarchy. And Orogho community is not different.”
He said the constitution signed by the individuals concerned provides the framework for nomination into the Orogho Community Council of Representatives.
Osayomore alleged that Imaru and his associates became critical of the community’s administration after their respective quarter declined to nominate them into the council.
“What is their grievance? Their grievance is that the community, vis-a-vis their own quarter, because Orogho has several quarters, rejected their inclusion into the Council of Representatives during the last nomination window,” he said.
The community secretary also disputed the allegation that the Enogie had created a system of sub-Enigie or representatives who were allegedly oppressing residents.
On the allegation concerning oil-related funds, Osayomore challenged Imaru and his associates to provide details of the alleged money, its source, its intended purpose and evidence of alleged misappropriation.
He also questioned why, if the allegations involved financial misconduct, the relevant law-enforcement agencies had not established wrongdoing.
Osayomore further accused Imaru of seeking to use the controversy to discredit the Enogie and undermine his position.
He said the Enogie, being a traditional representative of the Oba of Benin in Orogho, should not be subjected to what he described as attempts to weaken the traditional institution.
The community secretary also made counter-allegations concerning Imaru’s previous stewardship of community resources and development initiatives. Those claims could not independently be verified from the materials made available for this report, and Imaru was not quoted responding to them.
Aguebor, described as the fourth in the hierarchy of elders of Orogho Dukedom, also dismissed the claim that the Enogie had been absent from important traditional activities.
“Our Enogie comes to this community all the time, he participates in all our community festivals, including Igue and Ekaba,” he said.
He also rejected the allegation of misappropriation of funds allegedly received from oil companies, describing the accusation as unsubstantiated.
Aguebor challenged the accusers to identify the company allegedly responsible for the money, state the amount involved and identify those alleged to have received or shared the funds.
“If these people can come to tell the whole world who is bringing the money they’re alleging is being misappropriated, how much is the money and who are those who shared the money as being alleged,” he said.
He further disputed the description of Orogho as consisting of seven communities under the alleged sub-Enigie arrangement, saying the structure of the Dukedom was different from the account presented by Imaru’s group.
Aguebor also pointed to what he described as development projects executed by Seplat in the community under its corporate social responsibility initiatives.
According to him, the company provided electricity to the community, constructed and asphalted the Orogho-Umowun N’Okhua Road, constructed staff quarters at the community’s secondary school and built a perimeter fence around the primary school in Orogho.
He appealed to the Edo State Government to intervene over what he described as alleged encroachment by neighbouring communities from Delta State on Orogho land.
Aguebor specifically called for government attention to the status of oil wells in the area, alleging that some wells located in Orogho were being attributed to Delta State.
Aiyeki, an Orogho youth, introduced another dimension to the dispute, alleging that Imaru attempted in 2021 to establish a Community Development Association (CDA) in Orogho despite opposition from residents.
He said members of the community resisted the move because, according to him, the CDA structure had been outlawed by the Oba of Benin.
Aiyeki further alleged that a group of armed men subsequently invaded the community during the dispute and that he, Nosa Ogunsuyi and Saturday Omorogbe were shot.
He alleged that Imaru was arrested following the incident but was subsequently released after what he described as intervention by state actors.
These allegations were not independently established from the information available for this report, and Imaru’s response to the specific allegations was not provided.
Aiyeki also alleged that the dispute was connected to attempts to control community leadership and resources, accusing Imaru of bringing people from outside Orogho into the disagreement.
He specifically named Igbe and Emmanuel Edevbie as persons he said were not Orogho indigenes. The newspaper has not independently verified the individuals’ places of origin.
The speakers consistently maintained that Imaru and those who appeared alongside him at the press conference did not represent the Orogho community.
Osayomore said the community had its own recognised leadership arrangements and that any individual speaking publicly on behalf of Orogho should have a mandate from the community’s established structure.
The dispute therefore appears to centre not only on the allegations contained in the original petition but also on competing claims over who has the authority to speak for Orogho and participate in its community leadership structures.
The community stakeholders said the rejection of certain nominations into the Orogho Community Council, opposition to the proposed return of the CDA structure and disagreements over community resources had contributed to the current dispute.
They alleged that the campaign against the Enogie was intended to pressure the traditional institution and create a leadership crisis in Orogho.
The allegations and counter-allegations remain disputed. While Imaru’s group said documents supporting its claims were available for verification by relevant authorities, the Orogho community has challenged the accusers to produce evidence supporting the financial and administrative allegations.
The community also appealed to the Edo State Government to intervene in the alleged boundary and oil-well issues involving neighbouring communities in Delta State, saying the matter required urgent attention to protect Orogho’s land and economic interests.