By Emeka Nwaobi
Egbuoma Ancient Kingdom in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo has been thrown into another phase of tension, confusion, theatrics and palapable fear as Ogbuehi family continues to engage in illegalities and absurdities over its false claims of hereditary right to Egbuoma Ezeship throne.
Following the demise of Eze Anogbumba Okorie Ogbuehi,the family made claims to a hereditary Ezeship rights which was promptly refutted by the people of Egbuoma who traced the history of the Ezeship throne to Ehi Royal Dynasty of Umuehi Village and how the throne was borrowed to a grandson of the original ruling house(Ehi Dynasty of Umuehi Village),one Ezeanogharia from Ubahadara during the reign of the seventh king of Ehi Dynasty due to ill health.The said Ezeanogharia (grandson of Ehi Royal Dynasty) who was holding the throne on trust for his maternal Royal relatives(Ehi Royal Dynasty) had a step son from a woman he married after the death of his brother(Okeke Ikoku) and his name was Okorie Okeke Ikoku who later changed his name to Okorie Ogbuehi after becoming the King.
Incidentally, Ezeanogharia died when his own biological son,Mmuoma was too young and could not succeed his father,so his step son, Okorie Okeke Ikoku who later changed to Okorie Ogbuehi as stated earlier took over the throne following the death of his step father, Ezeanogharia.Okorie Ogbuehi actually became the first Eze in the lineage of Ogbuehi family and his first son, the immediate past traditional ruler,Ezeanogbuomba Okorie Ogbuehi was the second.So,one wonders where and how they sourced the Ogbuehi X they have been dubiously brandishing.Okorie Ogbuehi (formerly addressed as Okorie Okeke Ikoku) reigned and died in 1983 and was succeeded by his son,Eze Anogbuomba Okorie Ogbuehi, the immediate past traditional ruler who died in 2021 and whose family members at the moment are falsely laying claim to the throne with distorted and contradictory submissions that are affront to historical facts and Ezeship succession history and tradition of Egbuoma.Apart from fraudulently presenting their family as the authentic Royal lineage,they took further embarrassing steps to claim ascendancy of the throne upto the 10th generation (Ogbuehi X) and outrightly tried to erase the process and circumstances through which the throne got to them.They don’t mention that there were really owners of the throne through whom it circumstantially got to them.
As a people fighting over what does not belong to them, the Ogbuehi family has been engulfed with internal squabble amongst the three claimants to the throne from their family who had separately declared themselves as the Igwe -Elects and underwent official presentations to Oguta Local Government Council and their files are on the desk and placed before the Governor of Imo State.The three contestants from Ogbuehi family are as follows;-Prince Christian Ogbuehi, Prince Denton Ogbuehi and Prince Conrad Bishop Ogbuehi.It is important to state that Ogbuehi family does not have a sole candidate to the throne which they claimed a hereditary right to, and that totally negates their touted and highly exaggerated hereditary claims because a royal family with hereditary right to the Ezeship stool ordinarily should have an established succession protocol existing over a period of time.
On the other hand, the Egbuoma Community, working in concert with the original ruling family,the Ehi Royal Dynasty of Umuehi Royal Village has stoutly refuted and rejected the false and fabricated Ezeship hereditary claims of the Ogbuehi family,insisting that Ezeship doesn’t belong them and as such must leave the family and return to the original owners (Ehi Royal Family).It is on the strength of that unwavering decision that the Ehi Royal Dynasty nominated one of their grandsons (Nwadiala) Nze Chief Sunday Ejesieme as their choice for the vacant Ezeship stool and this has further received the endorsement of Egbuoma Community.
As it stands, Egbuoma Community has four Ezeship contestants who have been presented to Oguta Local Government Council and underwent official Ezeship screening processes at the Imo State Government level and waiting for the final decision of the Executive Governor of Imo State, Distinguished Senator Hope Uzodimma CON GSSRS (Onwa Oyoko) who is constitutionally empowered to select one out of the four claimants to the throne and accord him recognition with a Staff of Office.This is the true position of things and has not changed,so any actions by any of the mentioned contestants without official pronouncement of the Imo State Governor remains ultravire and an illegality!
It is therefore absurd and despicable that one of the contestants among the litany of pretenders to the throne from the Ogbuehi family, Prince Denton Ogbuehi had in a bizarre manner of utter display of desperation, impatience and vaulting ambition gathered a handful of urchins,touts and okada riders in the palace of the immediate past traditional ruler and declared himself the traditional ruler of Egbuoma Community and announced himself as Eze Igwe Ogbuehi Xi.The first son of the immediate past traditional ruler, Prince Eugene Ogbuehi while relinquishing his regency having expired after one year mourning period for the late Monarch,announced Denton as the new king.
This shoddy outing of September 8 2026 has continued to cause ripples, generate tension and reactions from different directions among Stakeholders and members of Egbuoma Community.Of the greatest importance is the rebuttal from the other two Ezeship contestants from Ogbuehi family, Prince Christian Ogbuehi and Prince Bishop Conrad Ogbuehi who questioned the legality of Denton Ogbuehi to declare himself the king when his file alongside that of other contestants are before the Executive Governor for consideration.
