Awka Royal Tussle: Chief priest dies mysteriosly, over 300 protest

The chieftaincy tussle over the ancient royal throne of Awka town reportedly claimed the life of the Chief Priest of Imo-Awka deity, following alleged spiritual approval of dethroning Obi Gibson Nwosu and crowing of Austin Ndigwe as the monarch of the town, Daily Trust reports.

No fewer than 300 youths and women took to the streets of Awka, the Anambra state capital, protesting the crowning of Ndigwe, contending that Obi Gibson Nwosu remains the king of Awka town.

Confirming the mysterious death of Imo-Awka Chief Priest to reporters in Awka, a member of the Awka ruling cabinet, Chief Benjamin Muorah, described it as an abomination, wondering the rationale behind crowning a new king while the old one was still on the throne.

"The spiritual consequences of illegally crowing Austin Ndigwe the monarch of the town has claimed the life of the towns chief priest.

“What happened in our town is a taboo and an abomination. You cannot crown a new king while the old one is on the throne and the incumbent king has not done anything wrong for that to happen.

“The consequences are grave and highly spiritual and due to the complacency of the conspirators over this abominable act, our chief priest; the chief priest of Imo-Awka deity just died mysteriously.

“This is just the beginning of what would fall out of this crisis and we do not know what would happen next or who would die next as a result of the taboo committed by Austin Ndigwe and his cohorts."

Reacting, the commissioner for Local Government, Greg Obi insisted there was no going back on the position of the state government.

“There cannot be two monarchs in a town Eze Uzu II Obi Gibson Nwosu is the King of Awka town. He has our staff of office and certificate of recognition since twenty one years now.

Culled from Daily Trust