As the suit between the suspended Enigie (dukes) and the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, came up for hearing on Monday before a Benin High Court, security operatives barred some palace chiefs and functionaries from accessing the court premises.
IgbereTV reports that the court witnessed a heavy presence of security personnel made up of operatives of the Edo State Police Command and the Department of State Security, DSS.
IgbereTV recalls that the state government had on Sunday vowed to deploy security personnel to the court premises to forestall any possible attack on judges, lawyers and judicial officers, as well as disruption of the court proceedings by suspected political hoodlums.
Commissioner for Communication and Orientation Chris Nehikhare, who spoke for the state government, urged youths not to allow themselves to be used by politicians to cause crises in the state.
At the resumed hearing of the case on Monday, July 15, security operatives closed one side of the busy Benin-Sapele Road during the court proceeding while the other side was opened for motorists.
The development, however, created gridlock on the ever-busy road.
The presence of security personnel did not, however, prevent members of the Benin Royal family, palace chiefs, priests, and priestesses, as well as royal fans, from thronging the court.
They also defied the heavy downpour to attend the court proceedings in solidarity with the Benin monarch.
Justice Asemota, who took over the case from Justice Peter Akhihiero, said the matter had been adjourned until October 17, 2024, as a result of the forthcoming annual judicial vacation.
Speaking with newsmen shortly after the adjournment, Dr Samson Osagie, one of the counsels to the Oba of Benin, said the case has been assigned to a new judge.
Osagie, who appeared for the royal father along with Prof. Edoba Omoregie and Kingsley Obamogie, said the new presiding judge said the case would start afresh because he was not the judge that previously handled the case.
According to him: “Today, Court 6, which is handling the case, has indicated that a new judge will have to start the case de novo. What that means is that the case has to start afresh because he was not the judge who handled the case previously. That is the position of the law.”
Dr Osagie Obayuwana, counsel to the claimants, the suspended Enigie, described the court procedure as normal.
“There has been a reorganisation of the courts. Judges have been moved. And then, the case was adjourned to October 17, 2024,” he said.
The Enigie of Evbuobanosa, Gregory Akenzua and Edomwonyi Ogiegbaen, Egbaen Siluko Dukedom, instituted the legal suit on behalf of others over their suspension from office by the Oba of Benin
