Saturday, October 8, 2016 10:46 pm
Jethro Ibileke/Benin
The entire Benin Kingdom was agog on Saturday when the Benin Crown Prince, HRH, Eheneden Erediauwa, took a historic step which marks the final activity leading to his coronation as the new Oba of Benin, with a procession from his Edaiken palace in Uselu.
Dressed in royal white top and a golden wrapper decked a red capn the Edaiken was accompanied by various Palace Chiefs and different traditional groups and societies.
Residents of the City, both old and young, lined almost the entire length of the roads right from Uselu to 5 Junction and Iyaro, to catch a glimpse of the historic event.
Also, commercial activities within the areas were temporarily grounded, as many of the residents were seen dancing in jubilation.
The Crown Prince who began the procession from his Uselu palace at about 3.45 pm, walked the through New Lagos Road to 5 Junction where he performed some rites.
He made a brief stopovers at Ikoha, where the Uselu Chiefs bade him farewell before taking their leave of him for the Benin Chiefs to take over, and also at Iyaro for some traditional rites.
Edaiken arrived at Eko-Ohae at about 6:35, where he is expected to spend three days before leaving for the Usama palace for the coronation rituals to continue on Monday.
There was a heavy presence of security operatoives, comprising of operatives of Nigerian Police, Nigerian Army, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Federal Road Safety Corps, added glamour to the event.
A prominent Benin Chief, the Esogban of Benin Kingdom, Chief David Edebiri, who described the procession as a very historic and important event in the history of Benin Kingdom, said: “This is the first step of the threshold to the throne of Benin. It is very historic, very important.”
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