The manner of his emergence and the plethora of litigations around it has made it difficult to say whether or not he is a chief as consistent with the traditional leadership system of Bonny Kingdom in Rivers State as the various courts hearing litigations regarding his claim of chieftaincy have put all related issues in abeyance. Nonetheless, Immanuel Tamunoalanengim Chapp-Jumbo has trudged on in his quest to assert himself as the chief and head of Jumbo Major House of Bonny Kingdom.  Checks by Kristina Reports indicate concerted moves by his kinsmen to prove otherwise as many believe this quest by him has further muddled up the cleavages within the biggest chieftaincy house in Bonny Kingdom since the dramatic disappearance of its last Chief, Horace Herbert Oko-Jumbo.

Chapp-Jumbo has a robust antecedent in Media practice having risen through the ranks in the Media environment, specifically, the Rivers State Television (RSTV), where he was a Trainee Announcer in 1986 and later Government House Correspondent and State Master of Ceremonies between 1997 and 2000, News Reporter, News Editor and Documentarian in the News and Current Affairs Department of RSTV between 2000 and 2006; and later as Media Relations Officer to the Amanyanabo and Natural Ruler of Bonny Kingdom from 2006 to when he was called into ministry.  Prior to his foray into the jostle for traditional leadership of the Jumbo Major House of Bonny Kingdom, he was the Senior Pastor of Immanuel Heritage Ministries International, Port Harcourt.

To get clarity to the state of affairs, Kristina Reports’ Publisher, Godswill Jumbo, engaged Chapp-Jumbo in an exclusive interview in Port Harcourt wherein he responded to posers around his claim of chieftaincy. Enjoy the read!    

We have been following the issues and developments around Bonny Kingdom and one of the issues people around Bonny have been trying to put a finger on is the issue around your claim of being the chief of the Jumbo Major House. What does the public need to know about this?

I was installed chief of Major Jumbo House on the 15th of November, 2019. That event was very epochal in nature because to many who saw it, there was the rejoicing that for once, in a very long while the Jumbos’ came together in a very large number; chief makers, youths, women, and chose a chief and properly installed him. All the activities that were supposed to be done were done, including shooting of canon and public processions and everything. So, from that day, I assumed responsibility over the leadership of Jumbo House which before then has been balkanized into different factions and groups. But from that day, when I was so popularly chosen by the people and made a Chief, I took over responsibility and I’ve been doing the best I can with my cabinet to provide leadership and direction for the House. So, it’s not just a claim, it’s not spurious. I was properly elected and installed as Chief of the House and it is public knowledge and we also had publications to make the world know that this has happened.

When you say the Chief makers and the people of Jumbo House came together, does that include the Elders Council of the Jumbo House? Little checks we did around, before a new chief is selected, elected or capped to head a Chieftaincy House, the issues surrounding the demise of the previous Chief has to be sorted out. In this particular circumstance, the issue surrounding Chief Horace’s, the subsisting Chief, whether he was alive or dead, was it sorted out before this circumstance? We also have heard from the grapevine that from your own family, some people hold the view that you do not qualify by birth to be a Chief in Bonny, that both of your parents are not from Bonny. Can we have some clarity on these three areas?

Talking about the members of the Elders Council, the immediate past Chief had a cabinet of elders and these elders were made members of the Elders Council and they had a Vice Chairman because the Chief is the Chairman of the House and the Vice Chairman takes care of it he House in the absence or demise of the Chief. In this case, Amaopusenibo Wilson was the Vice Chairman of the Cabinet of late Chief Horace where I was also a member of the cabinet and after his demise, which was not made known to the House for almost two years, the Elders got together, because every effort to made to get the children let the House know the situation of the Chief didn’t yield any good results; and they saw that at this time because of the confusion, the House had become so factionalized; they had about four fractions in the House. So, these Elders came together, who are also members of the cabinet and Elders Council – some of them have served under two or three Chiefs before me – and they came together and said, No, the House will not be allowed to go on like this without a leader. So, they had to take a step to provide the House with leadership.

If you talk about the issue of the burial or not of Chief Horace, you’ll recall that Chief A.D. William-Jumbo had not yet been buried when Horace was made Chief. Horace was made Chief to stand and bury Chief A.D. William-Jumbo, which he did, and after that, he continued taking care of the House and that was basically to avoid a vacuum of leadership. So, the Elders and Chief makers came together and thought along this same line because when you’ve done something once and it worked, there’s nothing like a good idea that works. So, they went and provided a Chief who will also stand and bury Horace.

Meaning they had ascertained that Chief Horace was dead?

Obviously, when you don’t see your leader for two years and you’ve checked everywhere, you’ve asked the children, ‘Where is he? Bring him, let’s see him’, and, of course, we had ascertained because there was a letter from Horace’s lawyer, where his own lawyer declared that “your now late Chief Horace”.

Which lawyer was that?

That is Barrister Metong 

Barrister Metong wrote to the Elders Council?

Yes, and used the phrase “your now late Chief Horace”. These and other things and owing to the fact that we have not seen the Chief for close to two years; he just vanished into thin space and we have challenged that, that anybody who says he is alive should produce him.

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But did the Elders interface or engage with his immediate family…wife and children?

Of course

And they confirmed that he was dead?

Of course. They called them and spoke to them and some of them, at some point said that ‘Oh, he was outside the country’, while some said he is within but cannot see anybody; at different times, different stories until the information came out that he was demised, and so the elders took that step.

For specificity, we have to be exact, when you say the information came out…how did it come out? Did his family write to the Elders Council or make a public statement? Did you see his corpse or how was it ascertained that actually he was dead?

The family confirmed to some of the Elders.

Can we have the names of these Elders?

When the time comes, we’ll make it known.

And who in the family confirmed to the elders?

When that times comes…

In dealing with such a delicate issue, we have to be exact because this is going to the public and for the fact that we are dealing with the life of somebody and not just anybody, this is the Chief and Head of one of the largest chieftaincy houses in Bonny Kingdom. So, if you are saying Chief Horace is alive or dead, we have to be exact, and you know the implications given the status you are alluding to now. Who in his house – was it his wife or his children and which of his children, and which of the elders was communicated to that Chief Horace is dead?

When the Chairman of the cabinet sought information from the members of the immediate family, he couldn’t get that information from them; to the best of my knowledge but some members of the cabinet, when we approached them and asked questions and some members of his extended family, particularly when we met with one Promise Jumbo (a member of the cabinet), he specifically mentioned to us that the Chief had been demised.

This Promise Jumbo, is it the Promise Jumbo of Orupiri Community?

Yes, he is…he was a member of the cabinet and we were all serving together. In as much as we don’t want to mention names, there were many other persons that gave us the information and even where his body was deposited and everything, but that is an issue for another day. So, we all know and we have also said that if anybody is saying anything differently, for instance, after my installation, some members of the Oko-Jumbo extraction went to court, challenging my installation that the Chief is still alive and that I can’t be installed. When they filed, we simply responded and attached a copy of that letter I told you about from his lawyer. And as I am talking to you till today they have not been able to come back to court with that matter. So, we are still waiting, if anybody says that Horace is still alive, let them produce him.

So, you can categorically say now that Chief Horace is dead?

Yes, I can say so.

This is the first of a 3 part interview. Watch out for the next sizzling episode of this expose.