Chief Jeremiah Akaava, the Obobanyi of Ohionwa in Ihima, Okehi Local Government of Kogi State, has died at the age of 116.

He is widely reputed to be the oldest monarch in the world.  A statement issued the Ohionwa clan in Lokoja on Saturday said the monarch died in the late hours of Friday. It said the deceased spent 36 years on the throne.

The statement, signed Yusuf Itopa on behalf of the Ohionwa Clan, described the late monarch as a man who stood for peace, unity and progress of Ohionwa, Ebiraland and Kogi and Nigeria as a whole.

The clan expressed its gratitude to men and women of goodwill who appreciated the late Obobanyi’s role as a unifying force in the land and consequently showed love and respect to him while alive. The late monarch has since been buried.