Chief priest killed as 300 protest over Awka throne

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. No fewer than 300 youths and women took to the streets of Awka, […]

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.

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, the 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.

“You can see the crowd of protesters in Awka today and many more are on their way. This is as a result of the evil Ndigwe brought down to Awka. Government should come into this matter and call Ndigwe to order.

Reacting, the commissioner for Local Government, Greg Obi and the councillor of Awka town, Paulson Okeke 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.

“We do not know who Austin Ndigwe is and government wishes to warn that it would not take kindly to any act of illegality and impersonation by anyone,” they said.