Igbos in Ashanti Region oppose installation of chief

The 1,000-member strong Igbo community in the Ashanti Region has opposed a planned installation of an Igbo chief of the region by a group residing in Accra.

According to them, someone in Accra who described himself as ‘Eze Ndi Igbo’ of Ghana (the King of Igbos in Ghana) and his agents were preparing feverishly to install an Igbo chief in the Ashanti Region, which is against the tradition of the Igbo people.

They explained that the Igbos in the  Ashanti Region were committed to peace and would, therefore, not allow anyone or group of people to create confusion in the region.

A statement issued by the Igbo community in Ashanti Region, after a meeting in Kumasi, said, by their tradition, the installation of heads of Igbo communities in the 10 regions of the country is done at the regional level and not by anyone residing outside a particular region.

The statement signed by Mr John Chukwu Korie, the President of the Igbo community in Ashanti Region, and others, welcomed the position taken by the various Igbo communities in the remaining nine regions of Ghana not to pay homage to any Igbo King of Ghana because such an office or royalty did not exist.

The statement said the Igbo community in the Ashanti Region was duly registered for the welfare of its members and would not hesitate to hand over to the appropriate security agents  illegal chiefs or their agents who will disturb the peace of the Igbos in the Ashanti Region.

‘For the moment, the Igbos in Ashanti Region have no chief and as well are not supporting any ‘Eze’ and assume there is no ‘Eze Ndi Igbo’ in Ghana,’ the statement said.

While commending the chiefs and people of the Ashanti Region for their hospitality that had enabled Igbos to live in the region in peace over the years, the statement gave an assurance that nothing would be done to disturb such peace.

It commended the Nigeria High Commissioner in Ghana, Mr Ademola Oluseyi Onafowokan, for his untiring efforts and commitment to peace among Nigerians in Ghana.

By Kwame Asare Boadu/Daily Graphic/Ghana