We Must All Return To Our Benin Origin and Reclaim Edo Sovereign
11 octuber 2014
OBA AKENZUA OF GREAT BENIN KINGDOM.Benin-Delta was a Sovereign Nation before the occupation of the country by the British,Oba Akenzua also said,The divide and rule policy of the British Government had done much harm to the national solidarity of Benin-Delta Province in the past but as God now wants things to be what they were before the advent of the British Government, that is, the Yoruba State for the Yorubas and Benin-Delta State for the BENDELITES, that is, the inhabitants of the Benin-Delta Province, steps should now be taken without further delay or fear to move the British Government to repair the damage they have done by restoring the national status of Benin-Delta Province before they transfer power back to the Nigerians from whom they
have taken iit
British Invasion Of Benin Kingdom During Igue Festival Is A violation Of Edo peoples’ Customary Law, Religious Freedom,Territorial Sovereign And International Laws. The British invasion of Benin in 1897 was a total violation of the people’s customary laws, traditional laws, freedom of religion and territorial sovereignty because the British showed no respect for the traditions and customs of Edo people at the peak of the Igue festival. Oba Ovonramwen never rejected the visitor; he refused at that moment and at that period because of the traditional/religious festival. The British violated the culture and sovereignty of the people by trying to justify the invasion of Benin kingdom from two perspectives: the killings of British trade missionaries and unsigned Gallwey treaty between the Oba and the British government in 1892. British military campaign against the Benin kingdom and the eventual deportation of Oba Ovonramwen to exile in Calabar, without first sending a message to the Oba to explain or tender an apology for the killings amounted to a clear violation of the people’s custom, traditions, territorial sovereignty and international norm. The Gallwey Treaty which the British government was compelling the Oba to enforce was not only deceitful but lopsided in favour of the British Government to the detriment of the Benin kingdom and her people's. What befell the kingdom in 1897 was clearly not because the Oba refused to keep his own part and responsibility of the treaty. Rather, it was because the treaty was lopsided to advance the interests of the Imperial Majesty at the detriment of the sovereignty of the Benin kingdom and her religious freedom.
