Okehi Clan Stool: Parties Settle Out Of Court

Parties contending in the
stool of Onye-Ishi- Agwuru Okehi Clan in Etche local  government area of Rivers State have settled out of court.
The out of court settlement followed the intervention of the Etche youth council and the office  of the special  adviser to the Etche local government council on  youth and crisis  management.
The youth council through its chairman, Hon Precious Dike had approached the Okehi High Court  where the matter was  pending via a letter dated 8th day of July, 2013 sought the leave of the court to settle the matter out of court which the court graciously  granted them.
The claimant, Chief Eke Ibezim had filed a suit in his personal capacity on suit  Number OHC/76/11 complaining of irregularities in the election of Onye-Ishi-Agwuru Okehi clan which  took place sometime in 2011, where Chief Sylvanus  Egwuatu Ukaegbu was purportedly to have been elected  as the  new Onye-Ishi –Agwuru of Okehi clan.
The defendants in the matter are the Onye-Ishi Etche, Ochie of Etche, HRM E.N.B. Oprum, the Etche Supreme Council of Traditional Rulers and Chiefs and the purported winner of the election of Onye-Ishi-Agwuru Okehi Clan, Chief  Sylvanus Egwuatu Ukaegbu.
Following the leave granted by the court, the parties  held  several meetings and resolved among other things, that the third  defendant,  His  Royal Highness, Sylvanus  Egwuatu Ukaegbu is  the Onye-Ishi Agwuru of Okehi clan and that all his entitlement be accorded to him as the second class chief.
The parties also agreed that 2nd or 3rd  class stool shall be created for Igbodo community as the ancestral home of Etche by the Onye-Ishi Etche Supreme Council which  shall be contested among the  people  and shall be given to the claimant,  Chief Eke Ibezim as the Onye-Ishi-Agwuru of Igbodo clan within six months from the date of the judgment.
The parties further agreed that Chief Ibezim Eke shall be installed as the Ochimba of Umuoga Town, Igbodo, by HRH Eze Sylvanus Egwuatu Ukaegbu with immediate  effect, additional stools of Ngbaraagada  be created at Umuoga community, while the  claimant, Chief Ibezim Eke should attend meetings of the Etche Supreme Council and Okehi clan council of chiefs.
It has also agreed that all pending matters concerning chieftaincy in the community be withdrawn from court, mostly the case of Oclumba of Umuozoche.
Ruling on the recommendation of the out of court settlement, the trial judge, Justice Dappa Ado, while striking out the matter on the basis of the out of court  settlement Monday, urged the parties to be guided by the resolutions reached.