Following the ongoing speculation that the traditional ruler of Agukwu-Nri, the ancestral home of Igbo, Igwe Onyeso, has died, some people have started parading themselves as regents and crown prince of the town.

To this end, the Oba of Nri and chairman of Nze na Ozo title holders, Chief Emelie Okika, has called on those tagging themselves as regents or crown prince to stop forthwith or be ready to face the wrath of the gods.

He said that because the traditional ruler was still alive, nobody has been selected as new Nri traditional ruler or regent saying that occupant of the traditional ruler's stool is not by selection.

Okika, who spoke in his palace at Nri on Saturday, maintained that the position of regency or crown prince does not exist in the community’s custom and tradition.

He explained that the traditional ruler of the community embarked on a seven years journey and his return is expected in seven years’ time.

His words: “Eze Onyeso embarked on a journey which he said would take him seven years. We are expecting him back in the next seven years. The community has customs and traditions which it treasures so much and it stands as a guide.

“Nobody has been selected as traditional ruler of Nri or a regent. We therefore warn anybody parading himself as Nri regent or crown to desist in their own interest or be ready to face the wrath of the gods.”

According to him, it is the duty of the Nze na Ozo council to announce to the public whenever a monarch had embarked on such a journey and his return.

“Until all necessary customs are observed, anyone who announces himself as king or regent or as a crown prince will face serious spiritual consequences. We don’t need the police to enforce this. It’s a spiritual thing,” he said.

The Oba said it behooves on the community council to hold brief pending the return of the traditional ruler, adding that it was so because of the “irrebuttable presumption that the king of Nri does not die.”

He further noted that before a person is chosen as the king of Nri, the candidate must die so as to undergo some transformation from human to spirit.

According to him, “When the candidate dies, he will be buried in a shallow grave for three days; his body will be buried, but his head will be left outside the grave.

“During that period, he will undergo a transformation; pass through a stage, from human being to spirit, after which he will wake up and his body will be adorned with white chalk (Nzu) and he will shine like a star.

“While the candidate is in the grave, he is being mourned by his family, and the entire village will be in festive mood, eating and dancing every day. After that traditional mourning, when the would-be king wakes up again, he takes a new body and he is now a spirit.

“Our method to determine who would become the king is not through election; it is divine. We would have to perform what we call ‘Afa’ (divination). The gods would have to say who it would be. Whoever the gods appoint for that position cannot refuse it.”

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