BUOYE OMUSO (BROWN) MAJOR HOUSE(…Bilafiene Kingifari…)POSITION STATEMENT BY THE BUOYE OMUSO BROWN MAJOR HOUSEON THE INCIDENT OF THE INVASION OF FINIMA WITH ARMED THUGS ON THEINSTRUCTION OF THE KING OF BONNY ON 22ND JANUARY, 2022 AT FINIMA

We, the council of Elders and members of the Buoye OmusoDuawari (Founding and Aboriginal) House of Finima hereby bring to your notice the invasion of our Community by armed agents of the Amanyanabo of Bonny Kingdom, King Edward Asimini William Dappa Pepple III, CON, JP, Perekule XI, (hereinafter referred to as the King of Bonny) to destabilise through violence and cause anarchy in Finima Community.

The King of Bonny and some members of his Chiefs’ Council in conjunction with some mischief makers and miscreants in Finima deliberately decided to engage in absurdity and action which broke down law and order, caused bodily injury and destroyed property in Finima Community.

On the 12th of January 2022, the Council of Warialapu (Family unit heads) and members of Buoye Omuso Brown House of Finima, in accordance with our custom and tradition and in line with the Constitution of the House proclaimed and installed the Chief of the House in the person of Aseme Alabo Engr .Dagogo Lambert Brown at the Palace of the Buoye Omuso Brown House. This exercise was peacefully done( as witnessed by some of the security agencies in Finima) with preponderant support of vast majority of members of the House.

It is very surprising to observe that in the morning of 21st January 2022, at the instruction and direction of the King of Bonny, some Chiefs of the Bonny Chiefs Council, namely Chief Captain Reginald Abbey-Hart, Chief Haniel Jack-Wilson Pepple and Chief (Amb) Claude Wilcox with a bid to destabilise our Community, surreptitiously picked and purportedly installed one Mr. Evans Clement Brown as a Chief in a bid to impose him on us as the Chief of Buoye Omuso Brown House of Finima which is absolutely contrary to all known custom and traditions of our people and all these took place at Captain Hart’s Opuwari (Hart House Palace). These actions have indeed culminated to violence and anarchy in Finima Community.

The King of Bonny in a bid to destabilise our House and create chaos in Finima to enable him control the economy of Finima Community, masterminded through direct instructions to fraudulently install and to forcefully impose the said Mr. Evans Clement Brown, a person of his choice on our people which is grossly averse to our custom and traditions.

At about 5.00 pm of 22nd January, 2022, after the presentation and reception of the purportedly installed Mr. Evans Clement Brown by the King of Bonny, the King armed some youths led by Dagogo Fanyeofori Jumbo alias Opumingi, Emmanuel Fine Country, Isobonye Brown-West, Emmanuel Hart, Michael Manila Pepple, Mackson Tolofari and Michael Alali Pepple with machetes, guns and other dangerous weapons with stern instructions to take the purportedly installed Mr. Evans Clement Brown to the Buoye Omuso Brown House Palace and sit him on the throne of our Ancestors as chief and head of our House. Nothing could be more annoying and provocative than the effrontery exhibited by the King of Bonny and his armed agents.

What the king of Bonny and his agents have just done is a deliberate manipulation and distortion of History of the Finima people and the Buoye Omuso House in particular, aimed at actualising their obnoxious and parochial interest. Since the genesis of the Buoye Omuso Brown House, there had been no time that the Hart House crowns or caps the Head of Buoye Omuso Brown House. The worthy friendly relationship between Brown and Hart Houses stems from when Omuso was rescued from a slave ship by King Fubara. An act done by his jealous brothers. Omuso was handed to Captain Hart for guidance. Omuso was trained as Ship Captain, while in the abode of Captain Hart. He made Ibianga mina (Good relationship) with Captain Hart family members, some of who followed him upon his return back to Finima. This has nothing to do with Omuso Chieftaincy and was vividly clarified in our Finima ownership suit PHC/174/72, as well as A J Alagoa and Fumbo (Page 65) citing Omuso as being first Captain to King Opubo Pepple. We hereby challenge the King of Bonny and the Bonny Chiefs Council to show proofs of valid documents and pictures from Omuso to late Aseme Alabo Yibo Buowari Brown to corroborate their frivolous and untenable claims of the capping or crowning of Buoye Omuso Brown House Chief by Hart House of Bonny.

Buoye Omuso in ibani means Omuso the son of Buo. It is only pardonable for Ibo speaking Ibani Chiefs who struggle to understand even the meaning of the name of their House. How come you acknowledged our nickname – Brown only, without knowing our original Ibani names. This grossly exposes your ignorance and emptiness in our culture and history. You do not have the capacity to do any form of alterations to the name of our House. The Chieftaincy era in Bonny Kingdom commence in the reign of Omuso as the 11^th Clan Head of Finima. It is by this reason we are Buoye Omuso (Brown) Chieftaincy House. It is noteworthy to state here that traditional leadership in Bonny Kingdom precedes Perekule Chieftaincy era. It is well known in Bonny history that before the Perekule dynasty other kings such Awusa (Halliday) and others including Ipuo (one of the ancestors of Buoye Omuso Brown House) have ruled Bonny Kingdom.

For the benefit of doubt, the leadership of the Buoye Omuso Brown House will not allow any external intrusion or interloping in the installation (or as the king and his council of chiefs called it capping) of the head and Chief of the House.

You may be educated, if you so desire of what you termed bogus (ASEME). Aseme in Ibani language means and referred to a prefix title peculiarly referring to elements or members of the aboriginal founding houses of Bonny Kingdom.

Furthermore there was only one chieftaincy house in Finima before 1936 which is the Buoye Omuso Brown House under which such subfamily units namely Adum, Attoni, Akpa, Goni, Cross, Eli, Owupele, Igbiosiagha, Goro, Sughu, Dupuyo, Konibo, Owari, Papanye, Iyariari and Fibibo and they all lived peaceably under one governance. At the visit of the early European explorers, they noticed the overwhelming control and distinguished leadership prowess of Jack Omini Brown and referred to him as the Governor General of Finima. To buttress the fact that the Attoni and Konibo (Tobin) were sub-faimily units under Buoye Omuso Brown House. Please see foot note on page 129 of G.I. Jones, Trading States of Oil Rivers and the affidavit of late Chief Samuel Owunabo Tobin in support of the suit number P/21/549 of 1959.

Further note that what the Bonny Council referred to as ‘‘Macabre dance’’ was actually the display of our true and authentic custom and traditions of the Ibani people in which the Council of Warialapu and preponderance of members of Buoye Omuso Brown (Duawari) House installed and coronated the Aseme Alabo of our House who is in person of Aseme Alabo Engr Dagogo Lambert Brown as the true and authentic head of Buoye Omuso Brown (Duawari) House of

Finima in Bonny Local Government Area. Ironically the farce of the clandestine installation in a secret location, later found out to be the Captain Hart’s Opuwari (Captain Hart Palace), of Evans Clement Brown is the satirical comedy of the macabre dance.

In conclusion we believe that respect begets respect. If the Amanyanabo in Council does not respect and recognise the Council of Warialapu (Family unit heads) of Buoye Omuso Brown House of Finima whose responsibility it is to nominate, proclaim and install the Aseme Alabo of Buoye Omuso Brown (Duawari) House of Finima, how do they expect members of Buoye Omuso Brown House to respect and recognise the tyrannical and despotic leadership of the Amanyanabo of Bonny and his Council of Chiefs.