Ogheneruona Tejiri, Owa
His Majesty Obi, Dr Emmanuel Efeizomor 11, traditional ruler of Owa Kingdom has revoked a century old Ancestral curse placed on a section of the community, “Ogbe — Ohun quarter” in Owa Oyibu, headquarters of Ika North East Local Government Area.
The ceremony was witnessed and supported by the Council of Elders and a large number of the community sons and daughters when the traditional rites of dispelling the age long ancestral curse was performed.
According to historical records , the Ogbe – Ohun quarter, a section of Owa Oyibu, was alleged to have challenged the authorities and powers of the immediate past King of Owa, Obi Efeizomor 1, and coursed the crown to suffer hardship .
Following this development, the king and the entire community of Owa laid a curse on Ogbe — Ohun quarter for denigrating the Crown and bringing the name of their revered king to disrepute .
A spokes man of the Ogbe– Ohun quarter, Mr Samuel Chukwuka Ogboi who recounted the story at a public gathering in the palace lamented that the people of the quarter had suffered untold hardships, great misfortunes and afflictions as a result of the curse.
He stated that the curse had wrecked havoc and negatively impacted on the wellbeing of the people hence they collectively came to the palace to prevail on their king to forgive them and recant the curse .
After listening to their plea, the Owa Monarch, requested for native chalk and prayed and asked God and the ancestors to hearken to the voice of the troubled dissidents and forgive them since they had owned up to their wrong doing and asked for atonement.
While admonishing them to go and sin no more, Dr Emmanuel Efeizomor 11 cautioned that no evil act perpetrated by anybody, would go unpunished.
He said as the traditional ruler and spiritual leader of the entire Owa Kingdom, no weapon fashioned against him would prosper because as he puts it, “Owa Kingdom under his watch had witnessed unprecedented socio economic and infrastructural transformation over the years and I God for His blessings.”
Some members of the Elders Council condemned the action of those who lied against Obi Efeizomor 1 saying that it was sacrilegious and an affront on the then monarch , as the symbol of the Native authority.
The unique ceremony which attracted the young, the old, boys, men and women from Ogbe –Ohun quarter is the first of its kind in recent history.
At the end of the ceremony, the people left the palace fulfilled that having broken the curse, it was now a new dawn in the quest for improved conditions of living amongst them.
