By Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja
All the ruling Houses and three surviving kingmakers of Igu and Koton-Karfe Kingdom have rejected the deposition of His Royal Highness, Alhaji Abdulrazaq Isah Koto, the Ohimege-Igu, Koton-Karfe.
The monarch was sacked recently by the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello.
The kingmakers described the action as a sacrilege of the Igu traditional institution
The representative of the eight ruling houses and spokesperson Alhaji Kolo Yakubu Ameh at a Press Conference in Abuja on Sunday, argued that the purported coronation of another person as Ohimege will not stand.
They said the deposition of their revered king was politically motivated adding that the coronation and installation of the Ohimege which took place 11 years ago was a cultural tradition not political.
He said, “After 11 years on the throne, you now came out to say that you want to depose the King without a fact. First year, second year, and now ten years after, this is injustice because politics is involved. We have never selected our king by political appointment.”
The Ohimege Igu Alhaji Abdulrazaq Isah Koto who was also the Chairman of the Lokoja/ Kogi Local Government Area Traditional Council was deposed and banished to Rijau Local Government Area of Niger State by Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello on the 8th of January, 2024.
Reading from a text that was signed by the kingmakers, Ameh said,
“We the representatives of all the ruling houses and the three surviving pouts of the 4 kingmakers of Igu, Koton-Karge Kingdom Kogi Local Government Area Of Kogi State wish to state categorically and most unequivocally our total rejection of the purported deposition of Alhaji Abdulrazaq Gambo Sani Isakoto as the Ohimege Igu, Koton-Karfe and Chairman, Lokoja/Kogi Local Government Area traditional council.
According to him, “We have also rejected the purported appointment of an Ohimege during a proclamation on television and social media on January 8, 2024 and since thereafter.
“It’s pertinent to state that out of the three royal fathers that were purportedly deposed and banished it’s only Alh. Abdulrazak Gambo Sani Isakoto was replaced immediately by that proclamation with the speed of light. This smacks of arbitrariness and punitiveness.
“What has happened on this vexed issue is an anathema and a real mockery of our centuries-long and revered kingship institution of the Ohimege Igu, Koton-Karfe, and which if not urgently addressed poses a great and imminent danger to our well-respected and highly acclaimed kingship institution and the peace and tranquillity of our very old kingdom.
“It is therefore imperative to use this medium to intimate the Kogi state government, its agents, and the general public that the capricious proclamation is unacceptable and rejected in its entirety as it relates to our dear kingdom and the revered institution of The Ohimege Igu, Koton-Karfe.
“It should be put on record that desecration of our age-long customs and traditions cannot be allowed to stand.
“At this juncture, we wish to draw the attention of all Nigerians to the willful, calculated, and capricious aberration and desecration of our traditional kingship institution which the Kogi State government has wittingly embarked upon with the unjust purported removal and the hasty appointment of an Ohimege to serve the interest of few political jobbers.
“We therefore certainly consider the abominable deposition of our loving and well-respected Ohimege, Alh. Abdulrazaq Gambo Sani Isakoto is an ugly political vendetta orchestrated by some political lilliputians with bloated images of their perceived personal self-worth.
Bello also deposed His Royal Highness, Sam Bola Ojoa, the Olu Magongo of Magongo whom he banished to Salka, Magama Local Government Area of Niger State.
His Royal Highness, Samuel Adayi Onimisi, the Obobanyi of Emani, was also removed and deposed to Doko, Lavun Local Government Area of Niger State.
In what was believed to be a fallout of the recently held governorship election in the State in which the APC candidate was declared winner, the Governor who felt betrayed by some of the traditional rulers, came up with the decision to depose them as punishment for their alleged partisanship.
