Community flogs Ebonyi social media critic

By OGOCHUKWU ANIOKE, Abakaliki

A social media critic based in Ebonyi state, Oko Chukwu Obeni, on Sunday narrated how he was flogged by traditional ruling council of his community.

This followed a traditional court process by the 2nd tire traditional leaders of his Amasiri community in Afikpo North local government area known as Essa.

The Essa after finding him guilty of disrespecting the community and tarnishing its image allegedly handed him over to the forth tire and traditional security outfit of the community known as Isioru.

The Isioru, it was gathered, proceeded to flog him as punishment in line with traditions of the community.

Midway into the flogging, his elder brother intervened by buying off 18 strokes of the canes with N9,500 in accordance with the tradition of the community.

Obeni was said to have made some posts on his Facebook handle against some leaders of the community, which they considered slanderous and capable of jeopardising existing peace in the area.

The 18 strokes of the cane make it 50 strokes for anybody that goes contrary to the rules and regulations governing the community.

Obeni, who is hospitalised at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital (AE-FUTHA), later apologised to the community over his action.

The incident occurred last Thursday and the video of his  torture went viral on the internet, eliciting outcry.

Narrating his ordeal, Obeni said: “I was called by one Julius Nyerere that I was invited to Essa Chairman’s House. I got to the place and saw Essa Executive seated and all the members of Isioru. They were treating a matter of somebody who fought them, so I waited till they finished the matter.

“They called me out when they finished. They forced me to lie down and face the ground. After, the Essa chairman Omezue Godwin Elekwa asked me to sit up and come closer.

“He asked Amadi Julius Nyerere to brief them about me and he briefed them, telling them that I am posting something against leaders of our community on Facebook,” he said.

But the community justified their action saying the victim desecrated its authority, by insulting leaders and defaming them in his Facebook posts, thereby creating insecurity in the community and portraying it in bad light.

Vice Chairman of the Essa ruling Council in the community, Chief Godffery Oko, said the posts by Obeni were false and threatened the peace of the community.

“The security outfit of this community the Isi-oru handled that situation. The boy was found guilty of defaming people’s character, he was publishing in the internet falsehood against individuals and also try to portray the Essa ruling council in bad light. He was not so maltreated and asked to eat faeces in the way the enemies of the community are portraying it.

“All we are after is the good governance of our community, how to bring back peace; the elusive peace in Amasiri. Before now, the state has known that Amasiri has been a very volatile area in terms of violence, cultism, robbery and all have you.

“And so Amasiri people have been desirous on how to go about peace. So, the community had to introduce the Isi-Oru as the vanguards and security outfit in this community to checkmate this type of mess in the community.

“We are not partisan and anybody who tries to whip in politics in what we are doing here in Amasiri is making a very big mistake because we have our traditional ways of handling issues and we do not do it arbitrarily; somebody must be giving chance to defend himself when he is being accused of committing an offence in the community and that is democratic enough. We always discuss an offence one commits in this community within ourselves and if you are found guilty, we will dish out punishment accordingly. We do not do jungle justice accordingly.

“Anybody who commits an offence must have to face the consequences according to the rules or laws of this community. What we are doing is according to our tradition; the way we handle things to bring about peace not minding whose ox is gored.”

On his part, the Chairman of Isioru, Julius Amadi Nyerere, said the punishment meted to Obeni was age-long, stating: “Some of these punishments are being removed. For example, if it was in the old, the authority of the community in Amasiri which the Essa like this is representing, sometimes it is usually.

“But because of modernisation, these things are changed and you are just giving strokes of canes to reform you to desist from behaving the way you did. The Essa invited the guy to defend himself and he was found guilty and he was punished accordingly”. (The Nation)