How Thugs Stripped Nigerian Filmmaker, Don Pedro Obaseki, Forced him to Crawl to Oba of Benin Palace

Nigerian popular filmmaker and lecturer, Dr. Don Pedro Obaseki, was on Sunday unlawfully assaulted, publicly humiliated, and degraded by a group of thugs in Benin City, Edo State.

BIGPEN NIGERIA (https://bigpenngr.com) reports the incident occurred on Sunday while Obaseki was on his regular football exercise at Uwa Primary School.

The attackers, claiming Obaseki is an “Oghionoba,” ambushed, kidnapped, stripped, molested, and harassed him, forcing him to kneel and crawl within the Palace of the Oba of Benin premises.

The thugs claiming to be acting on behalf of the Benin Traditional Council had seized, stripped, and assaulted Obaseki, accusing him of being an “Oghionoba”, a term translated as an enemy of the Oba of Benin, Ewuare II.

Pedro Obaseki was dragged to the Benin Kingdom Palace by a group of Benin youths over claims of recent activities and remarks they described as disrespectful to the Oba.

Sources said the incident followed Pedro Obaseki’s recent attendance at a meet-and-greet event in London organised in honour of his cousin, former Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki, who they also labelled “Oghionoba.”

In a viral video, the actor was stripped to his boxers, forced to kneel, and crawl within the palace premises.

Advertisement

He was subsequently taken before individuals dressed in white attire and adorned with beads, believed to be palace chiefs or officials, who escorted him into the palace while the mob remained outside.

In the footage, two chiefs adorned in white with royal insignia approached the youths and called for calm. They told the youths that the Bini kingdom was in holy week and that the Oba was a man of peace and appealed to them to let Obaseki stand up and followed them to the palace.

Before leading Obaseki to the palace, the youths made him to pledge his loyalty to the king.