Nollywood filmmaker and former Managing Director of Daar Communications, Don Pedro Obaseki, has broken his silence following an incident in which he was stripped and dragged to the palace of the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Obaseki, a renowned Nigerian filmmaker, was attacked and stripped on Sunday by youths allegedly loyal to the Benin Traditional Council at Uwa Primary School, where he went to play football.
Speaking in an interview on AIT, the filmmaker, known for pioneering Nollywood projects such as Igodo (1999) and Eziza, stated that the incident occurred at approximately 11:30 a.m.
Mr Obaseki, who also created the television series “Days of Rage”, said he was humiliated during the ordeal despite pleading with his assailants.
Ordeal
He said: “Today at about 11:00AM to 11:30AM, Sunday, the 28th of December, while playing football with my football mates at Uwa Primary School in Benin. Assailants attacked the place, and I was physically abducted, I’m sorry, physically kidnapped, some of them holding guns, some of them are non-thugs, luckily I asked their names, and they hauled me through the streets of Benin, under the guise that they had been sent to come and abduct me by the palace of the Oba of Benin.
“I begged them to show me some form of ID (identity card), of course not, but I was dragged, beaten severely, manhandled, and dragged through Igbisa, and straight up to Agpapava, which is the main thoroughfare in Benin, and up to Ring Road, where I was stripped naked, and taken into the palace of the Oba of Benin, and where I was meant to kneel, in full public, I have never been so humiliated.”
Offence
Mr Obaseki said his alleged offence, which led to him being dragged and stripped naked, was disrespect towards the monarch during a ‘meet-and-greet’ session organised by a former Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki.
He expressed shock at being disgraced and ridiculed after spending 35 to 40 years promoting Benin culture as an entertainer.
“I am traumatised, I am distraught, and I hear that my sin was that I went to London, and in a public statement, I said, Edo Ato Kpee, which means, may Edo people live long and prosper. That I should have said, Oba Ato Kpeee, may the Oba live long and prosper.
“That my saying, may Edo people live long and prosper, is a cardinal saying in Benin. For me, who has helped elevate the culture of the Benin race over the past 35 to 40 years, as the pioneer of the present Nollywood. Edo Ato Kpee, Oba Ato Kpee, because it is cybernetic, there is no king without subjects”, said Mr Obaseki.
Humiliation
He further disclosed that after being dragged to the palace and stripped naked, he was later taken to the police station.
He added, “I am who I am, because of my nativity, my Beninness, I have served my culture, I don’t know what to say, today I have been, in fact, I was later released, I was actually also taken to a police station, where the commissioner of police proved his mettle, came within two hours, he came to see me three times, before he ordered my release.
“You know, from the police station at Oba Market Road. And from the countenance of the chiefs I met at the palace, it was clear that they did not send these people on these messages, so this elemental brigadage has to stop.”
The incident drew widespread condemnation, including from prominent lawyer Rockson Igelige, who described it as degrading and called for a thorough investigation.
Mr Igelige said the alleged ambush, abduction, stripping, molestation, harassment, verbal abuse, death threats and forceful dragging of Mr Obaseki to the Oba of Benin’s Palace was barbaric, criminal and wholly unacceptable under the rule of law.
As of press time, neither the police nor the Oba of Benin palace has commented on the matter.
