… No Division In Orogun Kingdom- Prince Ochuko Okorocha Emoghene
Palpable tension is currently building up in Orogun Kingdom, Ughelli North Local Government Area, Delta State, as Three (3) out of the Five Sub-Clans that made up of the Kingdom has publicly declared breakaway from the Kingdom.
Copy of the Public Notice as Published in UrhoboVoice Newspaper
According to a document of public notice published in UrhoboVoice Newspaper of April 7, 2025, edition, the Three Sub-Clans which has proposed OROGUN-EFE as the name of the new Kingdom, disclosed that the new Kingdom comprises of;
1. Unukpo Sub-clan which is made up of Otorho-Unukpo, Ovara-Unukpo, Orhomuro and Igbuku villages.
2. Ogwa Sub-clan which is made up of Aragba, Ebor and Ozuaka communities and,
3. Emonu Sub-clan made up of Emonu-Orogun and Obiogio communities.
This declaration is coming few weeks to the Orogun Kingdom Festival slated to hold in April 19, 2025 as announced by the Okpara-Uku in Council, HRM Joseph Okorocha Emoghene, Osokpa 1.
Copy of the Public Notice as Published in UrhoboVoice Newspaper
However, the public notice signed by the three (3) Okpara of the three (3) Sub-Clans, their decision was prompted as a result of the conduct of the monarch.
Hear them; “The decision to create a new Kingdom out of the old Orogun Kingdom was arrived at as a result of the conduct and behavior of present Okpara-Uku of the old Orogun Kingdom, HRM, Joesph Okorocha Emoghene, Osokpa 1, who since his coronation on the 21st- 22nd of August 2024 has refused yo rule/act through the Okpara-Uku in Council, which is made up of representatives of five (5) Sub-Clans of Orogun as stipulated in various Edicts/Laws namely; 1. Terms of settlement which was adopted as consent judgment of court in suit No. HCO/19/1985,in the Oleh Judicial Division in the hen Bendel State. 2. The Delta State Traditional Rulers Council & Chiefs Edicts 1998 as amended of 2002. 3. The Global Memorandum of Understanding between the Five (5) semi-autonomous Sub-Clans of Orogun Kingdom in 2024, 4. Declaration of the Customary Law Regulating successions to Traditional Ruler Title in Orogun Kingdom.
“The Okpara-Uku acts arbitrarily as if he is an absolute monarch, whereas, Orogun, is a Co-Federation of Five (5) semi-autonomous independent clans, with each of them having their own Okpara.
“We operate a gerontocratic system of traditional rulership , which is and different from ‘Ovie’ship (Kingship) in other kingdoms.
They noted that; ” The Okpara of Umusu sub-clan, is accorded the position of Okpara-Uku, has abused this position, to the detriment of the remaining Four (4) sub-clan of Unukpo, Emonu, Imodje and Ogwa.”
The notice further added; “We use this medium to notify our sons and daughters and the general public that the first EROSE-EFE festival of our kingdom comes up on the 11th April, 2025. You are all encouraged to attend the festival to watch the display of our rich cultural heritage.”
The three sub-clans are Unukpo-Orogun with Joseph Edafe as Okpara, Emonu-Orogun with Thomas Oberhirhi as Okpara and Ogwa-Orogun with Joseph Igidi as Okpara.
From all indications, if the situation is not urgently handled by concerned authority may snowball into crisis.
Meanwhile, in a conflicting festival date announcements on Quest Radio Station monitored by this medium, the date made available and signed by the Okpara-Uku in Council HRM, Joseph Okorocha Emoghene, Osokpa 1, for the festival is April 19, 2025, while in a separate announcement on same radio station and signed and sponsored by the trio of Jacob Edafe, Okpara of Unukpo-Orogun, Thomas Oberhirhi, Okpara of Emonu-Orogun and Joseph Igidi, Okpara of Ogwa-Orogun as representatives, scheduled their proposed Orogun-Efe Kingdom festival to hold in April 11, 2025.
In a swift reaction by the son of the monarch, Prince Ochuko Okorocha Emoghene, in a telephone chat to confirm the situation in the kingdom, debunked it saying there is nothing like secession, breakaway or division, but however admitted that there are two different announcements regarding to the Orogun kingdom festival.
He assured that whatever differences between those who made that publication will be sorted out, stating that that the festival will still hold as scheduled. He urged the general public to disregard the conflicting announcements and assured that everything is under control.
It remains to be seen how the situation will be resolved and whether the Orogun-Efe kingdom will truly breakaway from Orogun, but the festival will be a better and critical time for the people of Orogun Kingdom to come together and address any underlying issues before it snowballed into full blown clash.
