By Nsan Ndoma-Neji, Calabar
Mbume Clan traditional rulers in Etung Local Government Area of Cross River State, have have called on Governor Bassey Edet Otu to reinstate the suspended paramount ruler of Etung Local Government Area of the state, His Royal Majesty, Ntufam Dr. Emmanuel Oru Ojong.
The call was made by clan heads in the council area after a stakeholders meeting at Bendeghe in Etung Local Government Area on Thursday.
The resolutions reached at the meeting was read by the clan head of Mkpage Nyarinka, Chief Fabian Emmanghe, and his Bendeghe Ekiem counterpart, Ntufam Phillip Ojong Bissong, stated that Mbume people appealed to the state governor to obey the court order and reinstate the monarch, who was suspended by the immediate past administration of the state.
The previous administration, led by Prof. Ben Ayade, had on May 28, 2021 announced the suspension of the embattled paramount ruler, Ntufam Dr. Oru Ojong, over what he it termed as “unwholesome activities,” which threatened the peace and stability of Etung council area.
He had said that he derived the power to suspend Ojong from the Cross River State Traditional Rulers Law No. 30 sub-section 2 (sic) of 2004.
However, the suspended monarch had no option other than to approached the court to challenge his suspension at the Calabar High Court in suit No. HC/96/2022.
Justice Elias Abia of the High Court in Calabar ordered the reinstatement of the royal father in a judgment delivered in Calabar in March 2023.
The aggrieved Mbume people stated that the call for his reinstatement was for peace to reign in the council area.
Village Head of Ayuk Clan Bendeghe Ekiem, Etung Local Government Area, Ntufam Phillip Ojong Bissong, who also spoke for the Mbume people who constitute Bendeghe Ekiem, Abia and Etomi community in the local government said, “You don’t replace a traditional ruler when he is still alive and allow another individual to be parading himself as paramount ruler.
“We can’t have two paramount rulers at a time. Two captains cannot steer same ship.
“After his suspension, he went to court and secured a court judgment, unfortunately the judgment was never executed.
“This is why we are also calling on the chairman of the Cross River State Traditional Ruler Council to join forces with the state government in the reinstatement of Etung paramount ruler.”
The Mbume traditional rulers however averred that they were not waging any war against the Senator Bassey Edet Otu administration, instead they are seeking for avenue to avert an impending crises that looms in the local government area.
Also lending their voices to the issue, Bendeghe Ekiem community youth president, Comrade Takon Asu Mgbe, and that of Abia community, Comrade Ebuta Elvis, urged the state government to without delay reinstate the paramount ruler who cannot be replaced unless he had passed on.
One of the youth leaders of Mbume clan, Tabe Agbor, accused the previous administration of Senator Ayade of being unfair to suspend the monarch.
He said, “The paramount ruler was accused of misappropriating money meant for cocoa landlords communities in a petition, unfortunately, the committee set up by state government to investigate the issue exonorated him of any wrong doing.
“Same administration subsequently got their monies and sent about N36 million to cocoa landlords communities through the smart-gov platform. Why then did the previous administration not reinstate the monarch?”
