Armed hoodlums have caused quite a stir in a Delta State community after they stormed a royal palace to make away with valuables.
File photo: Gunmen
According to a Vanguard report, tension has heightened at Idumuje-Ugboko, Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State, following the killing of an indigene of the community by yet-to-be identified assailants.
The decomposing body of the deceased was dumped on the street of the town as hoodlums invaded the palace of the Obi of the kingdom, HRM Albert Nwokolo III, carting away valuable historical monuments.
Though the cause of the hostilities could not be ascertained at press time, community sources said it was not unconnected with the kingship tussle that has tore the community apart.
Two sons of the late king, Obi Albert, from different mothers, had been at loggerheads over who should succeed their father as the traditional ruler of the kingdom.
It was gathered that the hoodlums had also vandalised a car and attempted to set the residence of the Iyase of the Kingdom, Chris Ogwu, ablaze after they had beaten him and members of his household.
The assailants also chased students and teachers of the Mixed Secondary School in the community out of the school premises, while in search of their opponents.
While Nonso, the eldest son, maintained that seniority favoured him as successor, his younger brother, Uche, is insisting that the custom and tradition of the land, which prescribed that the mother of the heir to the throne must be an indigene of the kingdom, must be followed.