The Kingdom of Benin split in two 800 years ago, shortly after the founding of the OBAS dynasty in Benin. The dissolution occurred towards the end of the reign of Oba UWAKHUAHEN, the second Oba of the dynasty. Two kingdoms that emerged from the collapse of the Old Kingdom, viz.Volume. The kingdom of Ogisos remained separate, independent entities for the next four hundred years.
The kingdom that broke away from Benin City became known as the Kingdom of UGU and included the territories of ORHIONMWON. The capital of this kingdom and thus a rival of the city of Benin was the city of UMOGHO, now called UMOGHUN UZUAGBOR, which is located not far from the present city of Ugo n’Iyekorhionmwon on the old Ugo-urhemehe-urhonigbe road.
The first Oba of the Oba dynasty, EWEKA the First, was fortunate to have many sons. After the death of one of his sons, Prince UWAKHUAHE, he was crowned the second Oba of Benin by the UZAMA chiefs at Osama’s palace, thereby fulfilling his ancient constitutional duties to the Beninese monarchy since the time of the Ogiso kings. Oba Uwakhuahen had no sons, he only had daughters. The eldest of these daughters was Princess EMADEYO whose mother was a lady from Umogho village in Iyekorhionmwon areas.
Princess Emadeyo gives birth to a son named ELEGBE.The young Elegbe grew up with his grandfather Oba in Osama’s palace. The Oba loved his grandson, and it was widely believed that the young man would succeed his grandfather as he was the first direct male descendant of the king. After the death of Oba Uwakhuahen, Prince Elegbe reclaimed his grandfather’s throne because no uncle could take precedence over him. However, he had several living uncles, brothers of his grandfather. But they were clearly not direct male descendants of the late king. Of these uncles, the most important was Prince EHENMIHEN, one of the younger sons of the two Eweka Is.
The Ihogbe, the official relatives of the Obas, presented the claims of two plaintiffs – a direct male descendant of the late Oba Uwakhuahen on the one hand and the relatives of the Obas from the previous reign on the other – wondering which of them were the two candidates should submit to the leaders of UZAMA for coronation as the next Oba of Benin.
Uzama agreed with the Ihogbe that the common duty of their two bodies, whose importance was to protect and maintain the monarchy, was an uncompromising commitment to the survival of Oronmiya manhood in the lineage of the Obas of Benin.
Ehenmihen acquires Oronmiyan’s manhood. (Now we would call it the Oronmiyan Y chromosome). Although Elegbe was a descendant of Oronmiyan, his masculinity was not that of Elegbe Oronmiyan.
With the ordeal over and the final decision to promote Ehenmihen made, Ihogbe and Uzama turned their attention to the problem of getting Prince Elegbe and his followers safely out of the city so that Ehenmihen could be crowned without riot. It was clear to the leader that any open struggle for the throne in Osama’s palace would tempt the regime of the OGIAMIEN mayor of Benin Urban, IGODOMIGODO, to make determined efforts to suppress the life of Osama’s new Oba regime of
It seemed that an open dispute over the succession to the throne had broken out in Osama.