Veteran filmmaker and author Dr. Don Pedro Obaseki, was on Sunday, rough-handled by youths in Benin City, the Edo State capital for allegedly speaking against the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II.
Don Pedro, a cousin of former Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki, was assaulted while he was playing football at Uwa Primary School, Benin city.
The youths who descended on him, stripped him naked and dragged him to the Oba of Benin’s palace, accusing him of being an “Oghion Oba” (enemy of the Oba).
Insiders said Don Pedro’s ordeal stemmed from remarks he made in a speech at a diaspora event where he defended his family’s historical legacy against longstanding accusations of betrayal during the 1897 British invasion of the Benin Kingdom.
In the speech, he was reported to have referenced the movie “Invasion 1897” and challenged narratives portraying his ancestor, Agho Obaseki, as a collaborator with the British. He argued that historical Obas (kings) gave positions and daughters in marriage to the Obasekis, implying that any Oba who surrounded himself with supposed “enemies and betrayers” like the Obasekis must have been a “bad king.”
He also praised Godwin Obaseki as a superior leader and appeared to promote altering traditional Benin salutations, shifting from “Oba ghato kpere” (long live the Oba) to “Edo ya ghato kpere” (long live Edo), which was seen as diminishing the Oba’s authority.
