Igala King Attah Ameh Oboni was highly esteemed. Attah Ameh was ordered to take off his cap to greet the Queen of England, as others had done, during a conference in Kaduna that included all of Nigeria’s paramount traditional rulers as well as the queen of England. Even yet, he persisted until they told him to leave the meeting if he didn’t take off his cap. However, Attah was unique—or was he? Attah was not allowed to take off his cap in public. A swarm of bees filled the whole hall where they were residing, originating from Attah Ameh Oboni’s cap, which he took off to welcome the Queen. The amiable Oba of Benin was requested to leave before taking off his cap by Attah Ameh, but the Queen of England and the other rulers there rushed wildly. The conference ended when some people got stung by bees, and the place emptied out.
History claims that the security personnel requested that Attah Ameh Oboni be arrested and handcuffed; nevertheless, the handcuffs were removed from his hands. On the orders of the Northern rulers, he was thereafter locked up in a room and watched over by security guards; however, the guards discovered later that he had fled the confinement. Yes, he said when the security guards were escorting him to a sealed room. Then he told Amanabo not to turn around until the automobile started to feel cool. Even though Amanabo briefly protested that he couldn’t leave Attah there, he eventually gave in and began making the drive from Kaduna back to Idah.
After a while, he noticed Attah Ameh was seated inside the automobile and that there was a pleasant breeze. The incident at the meeting infuriated a number of traditional rulers, the most of whom were from the north, especially because it caused kings to act in a particular way due to bees. This turned into a major transgression, akin to “one sin too many.”
Because Attah Ameh was becoming more difficult to govern and unruly than earlier kings, the queen of England was also not happy, so she and the other northern leaders began looking for a means to remove him from the throne and choose an obedient successor. Ocho is one of the several cultural festivals held in Igala. Before farming begins, on Ocho, Attah Igala celebrates and prays to God for a plentiful harvest, enough rainfall, and success in hunting. The event, known as Ere-ocho, is held in the jungle, and Attah hunts there until he kills a buffalo or another powerful animal. Ocho is held at the Idah community known as Ogo-Efa. He offers the ancestors a little sacrifice utilizing a chicken during the procedure in order to determine whether the land will experience blessings or difficulties following the Ocho. Prior to this, the Igala people’s domestic adversaries, particularly those with ties to the northern leaders, were making great efforts to gather any information—true or false—that would enable them to depose him from the throne.
The adversaries would now turn the blood of the animal offered as a sacrifice at Ocho Ground against him. These two Igala people wrote a petition alleging that Attah Ameh was sacrificing human beings during the Ocho festivals, which they sent to the Queen and several other Northern authorities. Even though the investigations were not yet complete, the decision was made fast that he had to be removed from power since they were searching for any way to remove him.
Furthermore, the Ocho and all other Igala cultural celebrations were outlawed right away. This prohibition held for nearly sixty-three years until Governor Yahaya Bello lifted it in response to the current Attah Igala’s request. The Oba of Benin, who had such a falling out with the British, had already been deposed and exiled from his country before this point. Therefore, Attah Ameh Oboni understood that at that moment, whatever spiritual strategy used could only delay the awful day because his opponents would not give up until they were able to eliminate him. It was established that the blood sample, which was drawn from the Ocho venue and transported to the University of Ibadan for examination, belonged to an animal rather than a human.
Regretfully, Attah Ameh, the beloved King, had already departed before the outcome was announced. However, before he passed away, Attah Ameh made a few statements because he was certain that his enemies particularly those from Igala who penned the petition against him that signaled the start of his intended dethronement—had falsely accused and set him up. According to reports, he declared that “the petitioners or the leader of the gang would be buried three, and that the person who wrote the petition against him would have that hand dried up.” And they were all realized. As the hand dried, the other was buried in the order mentioned: his leg was buried first, his hand came in second, and he was buried third, at different times and in different places.
Furthermore, after being informed of his dethronement at a meeting, he was meant to return to Idah and get ready to abdicate, but he made a halt at another Igala country known as Dekina. That was the location of his suicide. He is purported to have stated, prior to taking his own life, that while the town of Dekina will gain renown, its growth will not match its fame. Additionally, he was cited as saying that since Igala was the source of his tribulation, there will be discord among the Igala people until his own blood (son) as Attah reigns, after which all Igalas—regardless of where they are—shall be reunited.
