They made the reaffirmation weekend in an enlarged meeting of the people at the village Oguedion following a recent announcement in one of the broadcast station in Benin, by a group of people who stated otherwise.
According to them, these people are non indigenes, they do not even reside in Ekowe,they are from Ekiadolor, five communities away before gettin to Ekowe , but unfortunately they have turned mischief makers for reasons known to them alone.
“Since year 2003, December 12 , Pa. Agbontaen had been in the saddle as the Odionwere of Ekowe village and there have been no contention of whatever kind ,the people have been living peacefully.
“Hence, it is surprising that these group of people suddenly woke up for the purpose of mischief, decided to misinform, deceive and mislead members of the public,” they added.
Mr. Friday Osayande, the secretary of the village said, “We heard some persons who are not indigenes of Ekowe village, went to give false information in the media saying, Pa. Alfred Aiguanomwan Agbontaen is not the Odionwere of Ekowe.
“To put the record straight, we are here today, to reaffirm that Pa Agbontaen is the Odionwere of Ekowe, he has been the Odionwere since 12th day of December 2003 subject to the great Oba’s approval and there had been no controversy since then.
“I want to therefore urge members of the public to disregard the information from the mischief makers, it is totally false and ill intended to cause disharmony in Ekowe,” he noted
Enobakhare Odaro corroborated the assertions of Osayande, appealing to the Oba, HRM Ewuare II to call the people he termed, ‘trouble makers to order.
Also speaking , Mr. Jude Idemudia pointed out that his father was the Odionwere, but when his father died, Pa Afred Agbontaen became the Odionwere and that is how it has been since and the people of Ekowe have been living peacefully .
He added that when the present Odionwere was installed in 2003, subject to the approval of the Oba, it was the Enogie of Umua that came to install him on that day as directed by the Oba of Benin.
“They have been living in peace, no quarrel, the Odionwere is a father to all in the village, but they were surprised that recently some persons who are from Ekiadolor, five communities away from Ekowe went to announce that the Odionwere is not from Ekowe. We want the people to know that these persons are only out to cause problem and misinform the people.
“We want to use this opportunity to call on our father ,the great Oba Ewuare II and the relevant security agencies to call these persons to order and that they should leave Ekowe alone and face their community , enough is enough , Ekowe is very peaceful and those interested in coming in to help develop the place are always welcome to do so” he added
Meanwhile , efforts to reach the alleged persons for reaction, was not successful as at the time of this report.
