HRM Clement Ikolo Oghenerukevwe, the traditional ruler of Ewu Kingdom in the Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State, has turned himself in to the police.
Following the March killing of 17 soldiers in the Okuama community, the monarch was declared wanted, Vanguard reports.
The Nigerian Army’s Defence Headquarters claimed that 17 soldiers had been killed, and the monarch, Prof. Ekpekpo Arthur, the president general of Ewu, and six other people were also listed as wanted.
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Despite the report’s lack of detail, it was revealed that the monarch held a press conference prior to turning himself in to the authorities.
“I am very surprised that my name as the monarch of the kingdom will appear in the list of wanted persons,” the traditional said in a statement provided to the briefing.
“I have no hand in the killings, I have no hand in encouraging anybody to kill anybody, it is against my philosophy as a human being and my faith as a Catholic.
It is a grave crime against humanity, and in order to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice, they must look in the right places and conduct in-depth investigations.
“I am not a party to this and like I have said earlier, the state government is aware of the turbulence I have been going through and as I speak, an arrangement was made by the government to invite the opponents recently just before this happenings.
“To invite those who are fighting me in the kingdom to reconcile the differences and allow me to go into the kingdom and start to rule as the monarch of the place.
“I have not being able to set up anything, I have not been able to set up my traditional council, I have done nothing in the kingdom.
“So I barely know anything right now, I have no information, I know nothing Iam only just in the process of set up a structure to enable me rule in the kingdom.”
