By Young Erhiurhoro
On 11th January, 2026, the highly revered and respected monarch of Evwreni kingdom, HRM, Oghenekevwe Kumane, Eruvwedede 3 celebrated the 26th memorial anniversary of his late father, HRM, Owin Kumane, Eruvwedede 2, the late Ovie of Evwreni kingdom in grand style.
How time flies! It’s now twenty-six good years since this king joined his ancestors. Yes, he joined his ancestors, but not his wish to do so at the time he passed away. He was harshly forced against his wish to join his ancestors as a young king. When he was reluctant to do so, the forces at play at the time dragged him tooth and nail to the land of the dead.
At first, the prospect of death covered him with fear and pains. But he immediately realized that he was a king of the Evwreni people (the land of elephants). This made him to take a bold step of bravery and decided to face the ugly face of death. He made himself as a saviour and he allowed the assailants to sacrificed him right on the throne to allow peace and progress to reign in the kingdom till eternity.
Very importantly, I would love to have attended the royal event in person, but it wasn’t given the widest publicity it deserved. Anyway, the event has come and gone as planned. However, this little piece is just my salute and honour to a man who I could described as the “second Jesus Christ”, who was born in the land of Evwreni in Urhobo instead of Galilee in Jerusalem.
The king we are remembering today is no more with us, but his remarkable legacies will continue to live on. The light he had brought to his people is shining brighter and brighter everyday in the entire kingdom. I think, this is worth celebrating by Evwreni people annually.
Truly, the king did not pass on peacefully. He was slain by aggressive youths. How did it happen? Let me take you back on memory lane a bit. The Ovie was aggressively murdered by these youths on 11th January, 2000. It’s a day to always remember in the history of Evwreni kingdom.
For a king to die in his pool of blood, sent a wave of silent, mourning and tears of blood round the kingdom. Trees were silent and their leaves refused to flip, birds refused to flap their feathers, water turned into blood and darkness was roving in circles until it covered everywhere.
All to mourn the slain king. It’s unimaginable to hear such a heart broken story in Urhobo land. Moments later, the entire kingdom was charged for war- the bittered youths on one side and the Ovie’s loyalists and family members on the other side. The atmosphere was now charged for fear by the hot sun rays. It was really a fierce battle. Houses were in flames, people began to run helter skelter for safety. In the process, many died, while several others were badly wounded. Little children missed their parents and some wandered into rivers and forests. It was a bitter experience!
Unfortunately, the whole issue started with spreading fake news round the kingdom and beyond by some mischief makers that, the Ovie collected over one hundred and twenty-seven million naira from the SPDC. The huge sum of money according to the malicious information was purportedly meant for the siting of some valuable projects in the kingdom.
This fake news was fabricated by those who were determined to dethrone the king because of the claim that, the traditional rulership belonged to them. These set of leaders went ahead to instigate these bad boys to carry out this assault on the king. I hope, we had learnt our lessons in a bitter and harder ways than never expected.
This fake news boiled the hearts of the youths against the king beyond control. They were then moved to the king’s palace at Urevwe Quarters after they held series of meetings. They decided to carry out their genocidal attack on the king and all those they suspected to be partakers of the financial deal. And the king was gruesomely murdered without showing sympathy or remorse.
Can we blame the king’s loyalists that went for a reprisal attack? The answer is “No” because it’s not easy to see blood dripping from a master’s head down his toes without stopping like water gushing out of a river. It’s difficult to see one’s master being beaten by mediocre and you hanged your hands across your chest. This was why the king’s boys rose up to protect the royalty, dignity and sovereignty of their master and the king of the Evwreni people.
At the end, the truth came to limelight and everybody knew the reasons why the king was killed. It was all lies! It was a malicious information purportedly designed to blackmail the person of the king and to rob his integrity with fraud before his subjects. But in all their struggles, yet they still failed to take over the throne as planned.
This was therefore the foundation and benchmark for reconciliation after the bitter years of the turbulent battle. Finally, the war has ended. The ground was now prepared for peaceful reconciliation and sociological harmonization. Therefore, one of the conditions raised by the king’s family for the reconciliation to take roots, was for the king’s heir apparent to be crowned the next king to continue from where his late father stopped and also as compensation to the royal family for losing such a rare and great personality. This was given a widest acceptance by all the concerned stakeholders. This now brought the era of the present king, HRM, Oghenekevwe Kumane, Eruvwedede 3, as the present Ovie of Evwreni kingdom.
Conclusively, the late HRM, Owin Kumane, Eruvwedede 2, the Ovie of Evwreni kingdom without doubt, was a gallant king. A king with prudence and accountability. A king with a sacrificial heart that took the bold step of a saviour. He was a replica of justice and a mathematical balanced equation, representing the four major communities of Unenurhie, Uneni, Okpahwa and Urevwe that made the Evwreni kingdom.
During his reign, he stood on a tripod of fairness, equity and justice to handle many salient issues that would have infringed on the fundamental human rights of the poor and the less privileged in the kingdom, even beyond. He was a king with a large heart and well mentored to accommodate every form of challenge that would come his way. He was highly disciplined to swallow all insults and assaults from his subjects, no matter how offensive they were.
His acts of rulership was built on true monarchy which was centered around wide consultations, public opinions, general decisions and public debates. I hope, the present monarch on the Evwreni royal stool will toe the steps of his late father to accommodate everybody in the kingdom- the poor, the rich, the young, the old and even the incapacitated. Ajuwe! Ajuwe!! Ajuwe!!! Continue to rest in peace, even though you were slain.
Young Erhiurhoro;Kjc, former Secretary-General, Unenurhie community.
