Bianca Ojukwu, the widow of late Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, has stated that she slapped Ebele Obiano, the immediate past Anambra First Lady, on March 17 in Awka, Anambra state.
Recall that two women got into a public brawl, causing the inauguration of Charles Soludo as the sixth governor of Anambra state to be momentarily halted.
Mrs Ojukwu said she slapped Mrs Obiano in self-defence after the former Governor’s wife attempted to remove her headgear in public.
According to the former ambassador to Spain, she ignored multiple inappropriate verbal and physical assaults from the former first lady, whom she said were inebriated.
Her words: “As the inaugural ceremonies for Prof Charles Soludo and his deputy began, and all guests were seated, the Former First Lady of Anambra State, Mrs Ebele Obiano, was noticeably absent. She then arrived some one-and-a-half hours later while the ceremony was on. I didn’t pay any particular attention to her arrival.
“She asked if I had come to celebrate their last day in office. But I ignored her completely. Then, she kept aggressively putting her hands on my shoulders and shouting. While I ignored her verbal onslaught, as advised by those sitting around me, I requested twice that she refrained from touching me with her hands.”
“She proceeded to do so yet again and went further to grab at my headtie, which she attempted unsuccessfully to remove.
“This very act is considered a sacrilege to a titled matriarch such as myself in Igbo culture. “It was at this point I stood up to defend myself and gave her a dirty slap to stop her from attacking me. As she made it towards me, I then pulled away her wig. She held on to her wig with her two hands and tried to take the wig away from me.
“The former APGA chairman, Umeh (Chief Victor Umeh), told her to leave me and told engaged APGA members that had gathered at the spot to lead her away, which they did and took her to the seat next to her husband Chief Willie Obiano who sat through the entire episode completely speechless.
“What struck me through the whole episode was the fact that she was clearly intoxicated. I was stunned by the stench of whisky in her breath at such an early hour of the day. How could a first lady be so drunk and proceed to turn up in that state at an Inauguration ceremony that began at 9 am?
“It is unfortunate that she threw all caution to the wind and imported this kind of melodrama to a state ceremony. This was highly embarrassing to the Governor, who left the venue almost immediately, taking her along with him.
“Luckily, this did not disrupt the proceedings, and I stayed back to witness the ceremony to the end after which we were treated to a sumptuous reception at the Government House,” she concluded.
