Monarch with nine lives

How Obosi monarch, HRM Igwe Chidubem Iweka, survives two assassination attempts

From DOM EKPUNOBI, Onitsha

Should it be said that HRM Igwe Chidubem Iweka is a lucky man raised to power two? Probably so. Igwe Iweka is the traditional ruler of Obosi Kingdom in Anambra State. Twice, attempts have been made to assassinate him. First, it was in January this year, when a murderous gang invaded his palace with lethal weapons. He escaped. A few weeks ago, evil men struck again. Well, it is not certain whether the last brigands were the same as the first.

The latest episode actually happened on May 21, 2013.  On that fateful day, Igwe Iweka was to travel to Abuja and so he was taken to Asaba Airport, where he was to board a plane. That was successfully done. However, as the driver who took the traditional ruler was going back with the Igwe’s police detail in his Toyota Fortuner Jeep, they encountered two gunmen on a motorcycle.

According to the Igwe’s Chief Press secretary, Chief Okwudili, the assassins must have thought that the monarch was in the vehicle and therefore targeted the vehicle on Ugwumba Road. There, they struck, but it was only the Igwe’s security that was hit and wounded.

Chief Okwudili who narrated the incident to the press said: “On Tuesday, the 21st of May, 2013, the traditional ruler of Obosi Kingdom, His Majesty, Igwe Chiduben Iweka, Eze Obosi, had cause to ask his Personal Assistant, Mr. Nnamdi Nkemena to rush him to Asaba Airport in order to fly to Abuja. They travelled to the airport with a policeman in front of His Majesty’s Toyota Fortuner Jeep.

“On their way back, around 10.47am at Ugwumba Road Nkpor, near Obosi, two motorcyclists who possibly must have monitored the vehicle as it was driven out of Obosi and who must have been parading the road in expectation of his arrival, but who definitely did not anticipate that HRM was not in the vehicle at the material time, fired into the vehicle. The bullet pierced through the windscreen but did not cause much harm as it was only the policeman in the vehicle that sustained bullet wound”.

Chief Press Secretary added that, “it was the special grace of God that saved His Majesty’s Personal Assistant and the Policeman”

Another chieftain in the community, Chief Oguegbu, confirmed that the attacked was the second on Igwe Iweka.  On February 27, 2012, he said, a gang struck in “his palace in an unsuccessful mission.” According to him, a similar incident occurred last year when, on the 27th of February 2012, the Palace of His Majesty, Eze Iweka III, was attacked by AK47-welding assassins. In the attack, one of his security men was gunned down.” These attacks, Chief Oguegbu attributed to the Igwe’s relentless fight to rid Obosi of crime and criminal activities. “It is an incontrovertible fact that these incessant attacks on His Majesty Igwe Iweka III, Eze Obosi is not unconnected with his stance in crime fighting,” he said.

“Since his coronation in 2011,” he continued,  “Eze Obosi has been making spirited efforts, in conjunction with law enforcement officers, to rid Obosi of 419ners, drug dealers, kidnappers, armed robbers and other miscreants in this kingdom”

A visit to the palace revealed that security has been beefed up and this is coming after the second attempt on the monarch.