A group, the Ichekpa OnuIfe kingmakers of Omala Local Government Area (LGA) has called on Gov. Ahmed Ododo to urgently intervene in the selection of the traditional ruler of Bagana to avoid breach of the community peace.
Chief Noah Awodi, spokesperson of the group, made the call in a statement signed in Lokoja.
The group said while the Kogi government had strived to find lasting solutions to the age-long clashes in Bagana, the selection process of who becomes the Onu Bagana was threatening the hard earned peace of the community.
The group rejected the purported nominee to the chieftaincy stool of Bagana by the said committee.
It described the committee’s purported composition and attendant outcomes as “a rape on the powers of traditional institution and an affront to the separation of powers in the state.”
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“This is why we are calling on Gov. Ododo, to swiftly intervene by calling the Council chairman, Edibo Mark-Ameh to order to enable the traditional council to perform their constitutional role.
“The Ichekpa OnuIfe dynasty which is the custodian of Bagana, has been appalled by the degrading role of Omala traditional council by constituting a committee populated by officials of his office and some cronies whose aim is to jettison the peace model of Gov. Ododo, ” the group stated.
The issue of traditional stool, the group said, was not the same with political appointments.
In his response, the Omala Council Chairman, Mr Edibo Mark-Ameh, expressed a surprise over the statement issued by Awodi and the petition written to the Ita-Igala by the Chairman of the LG traditional council.
Mark-Ameh described the committee selection as the best option for the entire people of Bagana and the overall peace of the community.
“The person selected for the stool is from the Ichakpe clan, the first to reside in Bagana according to history, and who has also been endorsed by the Chairman of the traditional council.
“All the same, as the council boss, I will call a meeting of all the people concerned, the Igalas, the Agatus, the Hausas and the Nupes to a round table so that we could all be on the same page on the stool matter.
“Bagana has been enjoying relative peace for some time now because of the effort I put in.
“We don’t want crisis at all, but peace for growth and development of the area, ” he stated
