Anastasia Okechukwu
On Thursday morning, emotions were tensed as more than 100 women protested in Umuezeokoha, Ezza North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, over the killing of their monarch.
His Majesty Eze Igboke Ewa, the chairman of the Ezza Traditional Rulers Council, was shot and killed late Sunday night by unidentified gunmen who were most likely political thugs.
His offence was said to be refusal to support a particular party in the elections.
Speaking on behalf of the women, Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Ogeta, who called for the intervention of the state government and relevant Non-Governmental Organizations, NGOs into the matter, explained that they were not happy over the sudden demise of their king.
She said: “We are mourning the death of our monarch. We are gathered here today to tell the whole world of how our Monarch was murdered.
“We are not happy the way the death of king is being attributed to politics. People should not mock us because our king is dead. We have lost 16 of our stakeholders and we are not happy that our king has been taken away from us.
“They have pursued us in our places of aboard. What have we done wrong?
“The person that killed our king will not go scot-free, whether it is our son or our enemies.
“Ebonyi State Government and NGOs should help us. Our place is not known for killings but for love and peace.
“We, the women of Umuezeokoha have gathered and God must avenge the death of our king. Let his death not be politicized.
“We, the Women and daughters of Umuezeokoha are not happy about this. They should leave us alone.”
One Mrs Eunice Francis Ezaka also called on God to avenge the death of their king and bring the perpetrators to book.
She said , “Our king was a kind man. We love him. It’s a great loss for us and we advice people not make mockery of what happened to us.
“Putting politics into the incident is putting more pains into it. They should not use our Eze’s death for political purpose.”
The women, who were in black attires, cried as they sat on the main road and expressed their sadness over the ugly episode.