*Photo: ‘Igwe Ndigbo’ Solomon Ogbonna Eziko*
The Nigerian High Commission in South Africa has issued an advisory to Nigerians living in South Africa to maintain low profile and be mindful of their safety in the wake of the violent protests that erupted in some parts of the country against the installation of an Igwe Ndigbo.
On March 24 , Chief Solomon Ogbonna Eziko was installed as “Igwe Ndigbo” by some of his kinsmen in South Africa.
The ceremony was done with fanfare with the locals in and around KuGompo City, Eastern Cape, and East London first expressing their displeasure over the crowning of a foreigner as king in their domain saying it’s against their traditions. Eastern Cape officials also waded in and warned Eziko and his followers that their action was against local norms and disrespectful to their own traditions.
Matters took a dangerous turn on March 30 when the muffled protests by people of South African extraction against the new Igwe Ndigbo snowballed into violent protests.
And when some ultra nationalistic groups joined the fray , a full blown crisis was stoked.
The locals began to attack some Igbo business owners and within minutes they turned against all foreign nationals and before the Police waded in , things got out of hand.