FULL TEXT OF LETTER TO OBA OF BENIN, BY EDO MARKET WOMEN, SEEKING HIS ROYAL MAJESTY’S INTERVENTION IN THE CRISIS ROCKING MARKET LEADERSHIP IN THE STATE—HARD COPY SUBMITTED TO THE OMO N’OBA AT YESTERDAY’S PROTEST
His Royal Majesty,
Omo n’Oba n’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo,
Ewuare II CFR,
Oba of Benin,
Oba Palace, King’s Square, Benin City,
Wednesday, September 24, 2025.
Our Royal Father,
IYE-EKI: APPEAL TO REVERSE THE INJUSTICE, TABOO FACING OUR MARKETS IN EDO STATE
We draw His Royal Majesty’s kind attention to the injustice and taboo ridiculing our markets in Edo State, where a non-Benin, with no known inclination to the Benin tradition and custom, has been imposed to oversee the management of markets in Benin City and by extension, Edo State.
As His Royal Majesty is aware, the position of Iyeki, is not a political office that is tied to any political Party or administration, Iyeki is a, sacred and traditional position exclusively preserved for a qualified woman of Benin extraction, for which only in the event of death or voluntary resignation, can there be a replacement; today, however, a non-Benin is parading herself as Iyeki, making mockery of our age-long culture and tradition.
One Pastor Josephine, with a non-Benin ancestry, who claims to have the backing of the Edo State government and the support of President Bola Tinubu’s daughter, continue to parade herself as Iyeki in Benin; under her, our markets have become a tool for extortion by thugs loyal to her, our women are faced with all manner of levies, and where they attempt to resist, they are beaten, insulted and their businesses threatened—her illegitimate reign has brought about widespread division and resentments across markets in Benin as market women are now confused as to her sudden claim of Iyeki.
Iyeki is a not a politician, Iyeki does not carry Party card, neither does she campaign or mobilize the markets to campaign for politicians—Iyeki, alongside her officers, as created by the Oba of Benin, are traditional gatekeepers of the markets in Benin City, and by extension, Edo State, who advocate for better market policies, market security, as well as monitor price of commodities to suit current economic realities, and make living easy for market women, and consumers across Edo State.
As His Royal Majesty is aware, Iyeki is not elected, neither is she selected by any kind of public contest or nominated by a superior being, or a politician, the emergence of Iyeki is divine, sacred, spiritual and traditional in line with the Benin tradition and custom, which is further validated and endorsed by the Oba of Benin, this is enabled by the divine providence of the Omo n’Oba being the permanent Head of the Edo Traditional Rulers’ Council—to this end, we ask with profound respect and loyalty to the Palace, from where we all draw inspiration and protection, for the kind and expeditious intervention of the Oba of Benin on this matter.
Every other day the impostor stays as an illegitimate Iyeki is a misnormal in our traditional paraphernalia; under her, markets lack direction and vision, beyond the ridicule her imposition brings on our age-long tradition, the market economy and security has become deeply porus, following the division her stay brings—our market women, majority of whom are traditional Benins, and inherited their trade from their mothers, who themselves are highly traditional, find it a taboo to be dictated to by a non-Benin woman with no traceable ancestry to the Benin ethnic nationality.
Under Pastor Josephine, the market-Palace relationship has deeply eroded; an office exclusively preserved for a traditional Benin woman, who is a natural and spiritual subject of the Oba of Benin, cannot be seen to be effectively managed by a stranger—no woman of Benin extraction can lay claim to Iyeki in Esan land, no Benin woman can lay claim to Iyeki in Edo North, even though the leadership extends to these areas, the traditional headship is always reserved for daughters of the soil.
To this extent, and as daughters of the soil, Your Majesty’s natural, spiritual and loyal subjects, we seek for your fatherly intervention, in the productive resolution of the impasse now ravaging our markets under Pastor Josephine, who has become a thorn in the flesh of market women in Benin, regularly mobilizing thugs to harass Edo market women, who attempt to question her dictatorial tendencies.
Today, Wednesday 24, September, 2025, we march in total submission to the Godly and ancestral divinity of the Oba of Benin, Ewuare II—our father, our light, our path, our protector, the divine creator of the sacred office of Iyeki, in recognition of His Majesty’s divine position as the principal custodian of the custom, values and tradition of the Benin nation, believing that, His Royal Majesty, Omo n’Oba n’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Ewuare II, Oba of Benin, will deploy a pinch off his reservoir of wisdom and foresight, to intervene on the market impasse in Benin City, Edo State, to see to it that the prevailing injustice and taboo in markets in Benin City, and by extension, Edo State, is immediately reversed.
Oba gha t’kpere, ise.`
