Rejoinder To The Press Release By The Brown Major House On The 22nd January 2022 -By Fubara Banigo

The attention of Bonny United Front has been drawn to a press release by the Brown Major House 24th January 2022 with the title “Position Statement By The Buoye Omuso Brown Major House On The Incident of The Invasion of Finima with Armed Thugs On The Instruction of The King of Bonny on 22nd January 2022 at Finima”.

While the governing council of the Brown house have an inalienable right to state their grouse concerning the installation of Chief Clement Evans as Se-Alabo by the Bonny Chief’s Council, we equally want to put the records straight on other issues brought forward in the press release.

The statement alleged that the King of Bonny, Edward Asimini William Dappa Pepple III, Perekule XI and some members of his Chiefs’ Council in conjunction with some persons in Finima instigated a breakdown of law and order, causing the destruction of lives and properties in Finima Community. This never happened. What happened was that a duly capped Chief was attacked while returning home to Finima after his installation as Head of the Brown house Opuwari.

The incident occurred about 5:00pm on 22nd January 2022, when Se-Alabo Evan Clement Brown was returning home to Finima, after his official presentation to the Amayanabo-In-Council. The army escorted the convoy to the Buoye Omuso Roundabout Finima and turned back. On approaching Longhouse, there were sounds of gunshots as the crowd that escorted Chief Evans ran for their lives, giving way to armed thugs from Brown house who emerged from their ambush in company of some recognized Kalabari and Ijaw boys. The armed boys went straight to the car and dragged Chief Evans out, brutalized, stabbed and collected his crown and staff before taking to their heels.

The mastermind of the attack rather than own up to their misdeeds are still concerned with dragging the King of Bonny into their campaign of calumny. For the records, the King is a man of peace and will never be found on the wrong side supporting mischief. As the royal father of the Ibani people, traditions and customs vests the King with the power to install Chief’s in his Kingdom. The Bonny Chiefs’ Council is the undisputed and authentic custodian of the custom and culture of Bonny and therefore is in a position to define and implement the tradition of our people. The inglorious actions of a handful of some persons of the Brown Chieftaincy House to install an alien Amadabo in Finima — a stool never heard of in the history of Bonny is not only a deliberate ploy to rewrite history but a terrible attempt to balkanize and cause strive in the peaceful Bonny Kingdom. 

In the case of the Brown Chieftaincy, tradition demands that the Hart House cap the Head of the Brown Opuwari before presenting him to the King. This has been the custom since the time of Omuso to the late Se-Alabo Henry Buowari Brown and this was done with Chief Evans Brown. However this was not the case with the purported installation that was done on the 12th of January 2022 with one Engr. Dagogo Lambert Brown as ‘’Chief and Head of Bouye Omuso Brown Chieftaincy House and Amadabo of Finima’’ did not follow the tradition and remains a farce.

For the avoidance of doubt and to clarify history, there is no Chieftaincy House in Bonny Kingdom known as ‘’Bouye Omuso Brown Chieftaincy House’’. Such a house does not exist. The true and authentic name is Brown House. A group of persons therefore cannot create a Chieftaincy House of their own within the Bonny Kingdom and expect it to stand. All existing 34 Chieftaincy Houses which include the Brown House are creations of the Perekule Dynasty. The Brown Chieftaincy House is among the 14 Major Houses of Bonny Kingdom. 

Second, the references to suit PHC/174/72, Alagoa and Fumbo (Page 65) and the book by G. I. Jones, (Trading  States of Oil Rivers, page 129) to buttress Brown ownership to Finima proves that truly non-natives who make up sections of the Brown House are the ones instigating trouble in the community, as they know nothing of the history of the place they claim to come from. For clarity, the mentioned chapter in Jones’ book never talked about the founders of Finima, nor about the Brown House nor the ownership of Finima. So, that claim is mischievous. 

Similarly, the suit brought up was over a parcel of land between Bonny and Finima and owned by the Browns and the Jumbos. The land in the case PHC/174/72 is the land lying between Finima and Bonny which host the NLNG. The Jumbos are not part of the Finima Community and so lost the case. But in 1974, in Suit No. PHC/29/74, when the Browns took the Tobins to court over a parcel of land that is located right at the centre of Finima — the property in question was a vast land owned by the Tobin House which was half the size of Finima. After presenting the judgment over the Jumbos in the suit of 1972, ably led by the Chief of Brown House, Late Se-Alabo Idamieibi Brown who was also a witness in the former case, the trial Judge made it clear that the said land in the 1972 judgment was a parcel of land between Finima and Bonny while the land in this case of 1974 is a land that is right at the centre of Finima. They (Brown House) lost the case to the Tobins as they had no title to present.

For Alagoa and Fombo, their account was written with less regards to verifiable sources and cannot be used as evidence in matters to judge ownership of Finima. Bonny history tells that the founder of Finima was Torukobo, a direct ancestor of Chief S.O Tobin. Torukubo begat Waribo who begat Konibo who begat Awanta. Awanta founded Tobin House and was its first Chief and also a powerful juju priest. For the Brown, their true ancestor was Ukwu who was renamed Buo. Ukwu was a son to Nwulu (Wolu) who was brought from Okrika by Onyeasolam. Onyeasolam himself was invited by Sono, a follower of Torokubo. Ukwu also called Buo begat Buo-Ogbulu, Taria, Ofo, Omuso, and Bibiorubo. Omuso the youngest son was sold into slavery by his eldest brothers. While he was on the slave ship, he saw King Fubara who was visiting the Captain in company of (Adango) Hart. He called out to them and was rescued by the King who handed him over to Hart to care for. The King gave two slaves in exchange for young Omuso.

On the supposition that the Bonny community doesn’t speak Ibani nor understand the meaning of their names and cultures is laughable. It shows desperations by those with nothing to hold on to in their dance of shame. For the umpteenth time, Bonny Kingdom has a dual origin and culture. Our origin tells of two major migrations into the Rio Real. One version tells of an origin from Alagbariya, a great hunter from the Ibo hinterland and another version of a migration from Kolokuma. The spoken Ibo language is unique to us and has been in Bonny since antiquity, same as Ibani-Ijaw. No one knows which group came first nor do we know which language was first spoken. But what we know of ourselves is that we are unique in culture which has made Bonny great from historical times till the present. This greatness stands Bonny tall among tribes in the Niger-Delta. While the majority of our houses and names are Ijaw styled, the main language remains Ibo. This does not relegate Ibani which is spoken in Bonny, nor does it mean Ibo names and houses don’t exist as well.

Finally, his majesty King Perekule XI, will alway stand by the principles as enshrined by the Bonny customs and traditions. Just as his ancestor Perekule I who led the Kingdom into greatness, with his military exploits and reforms that made men equals, King Edward exudes such chivalry knowing that his subjects trust him to chart Bonny into a prosperous and united course. Allegations of despotic leadership from his traducers are mere fabrications to taint our noble father and should be disregarded.

Eng. Fubara Banigo

For Bonny United Front