Former Nigerian Ambassador to Spain Bianca Ojukwu has explained why she slapped the immediate past first lady, Ebele Obiano at the inauguration of the new Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo on Thursday.
The two women had engaged in a quarrel at the ceremony, momentarily disrupting proceedings at the event.
To set the records straight yesterday, Bianca said she slapped Ebele in self-defence after the latter attempted to remove her headgear in public.
Bianca said: “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.
“Surprisingly, she walked towards me and I thought she was coming to greet me. Instead, when she got to where I was seated, she verbally attacked me with her voice raised, taunting me and asking me what I was there to do and using unprintable vile language.
“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 my headline, 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 that 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 pulled away from 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 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.
“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.”
