Bloodbath Looms As Monarch, Stakeholders Tear Anambra Community Apart

By Chuks Eke

A bloodbath is looming at the Awba-Ofemili community in Anambrarians state’s Akka North Local Government Area, the result of a long-running feud between the area’s traditional ruler, Igwe Ezekwesili Ernest Maduagwuna, and some of his subjects who are stakeholders.

The crisis between the two parties began a few years ago, but it escalated into a climax situation sometime in June of this year, following what stakeholders described as an inconclusive town union election, which they claimed the monarch manipulated in favour of his own candidate, Chinedù Fidelis Mebene, who eventually emerged as the President-General, PG of Awba-Ofemili Development Union, ADU.

The crises are centred on Igwe Maduagwuna, the state Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy, and Town Union Affairs, Hon. Tony-Collins Nwabunwanne, the Chairman of the Awka-North Local Government Transaction Committee, Hon. Thank God Anagor, and the local vigilante operatives in the area on one side and the stakeholders’ retinue on the other.

At this point, stakeholders are pleading for Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s prompt intervention to restore order and prevent further bloodshed in the area.

Specifically, the stakeholders are urging Governor Soludo to depose Igwe Maduagwuna for allegedly causing havoc in the community and, above all, to hold a new town union election to usher in a generally accepted President General, PG of ADU, as they believe the manner in which the incumbent PG, Chinedum Fidelis Mebene, was elected was strictly undemocratic.

Speaking to reporters in Awka, Anambra state capital, shortly after their emergency crucial meeting, Prince Ikechukwu KemKemKem and Cornelius Chijioke Nwakonobi, spokespersons for the Awba-Ofemili stakeholders, claimed that since the incumbent PG, Mebene, was imposed on the community by Igwe Maduagwuna, peace has eluded the previously peaceful community.

KemKemKem and Nwakonobi also claimed that, despite the fact that the June 22, 2024 town union election was inconclusive, Igwe Maduagwuna imposed his stooge in collusion with the Commissioner for Local Government, Town Union, and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Tony-Collins Nwabunwanne, and the Transition Committee Chairman of Awka-North Local Government Area, Hon. Thank God Anagor, with the help of the community’s vigilante officer, whom they simply identified as Polycarp.

Insisting that the imposition was to blame for the ongoing killings, rapes, land grabbing, and burning of houses, among other violent acts, they urged Soludo to intervene by dethroning the Igwe, ordering an election to usher in a democratically elected town union executive, and removing the local vigilante officer, whom they also identified as the Igwe’s stooge.

According to KemKemKem, “I played a major role in the enthronement of Igwe Maduagwuna, but when I discovered that he is a dictator and advised him to end dictatorship, he refused, and I distanced myself from him, and the next thing he did was set fire to my rice farm and equipment.”

“I took out a N21 million loan from Federal Mortgage Bank to purchase farm implements and cultivate a large expanse of rice farm, but when the hoodlums set it ablaze at the instigation of the Igwe, I went into a coma for weeks in the hospital, and as a result, my father died in the process, believing I would die, but God saved me. My family kept the news of my father’s death from me while I was still in a coma so that I would not die in the same way.”

“We want our amiable Governor Soludo to dethrone him and hold an election for PG because the monarch imposed his candidate on us in collaboration with the local Chief Security Officer in the area. “These are the people who now burn down perceived enemies’ homes, steal their goats, sell their lands, and rape women, among other things,” he said.

According to Nwakonobi, “Because I condemned the atrocities committed by the monarch and his cohorts, the monarch listed my name among those he labelled as cultists and reported to the police.” We are not deterred by his antics as we are determined to rescue our people from bondage,” he vowed.

“Scores have been killed, women have been raped, houses have been set on fire, people’s lands have been sold, and animals such as goats and sheep have been forcibly removed from their owners, and this is what we are against. To back up our claims, we will hold a peaceful protest against the atrocities taking place in our community.

“The person we want as our candidate for the post of PG was denied being there and the monarch imposed his candidate on the community. Government should conduct a fresh election for PG seat without delay,” he pleaded

However, in a swift response, Igwe Maduagwuna told reporters over the phone that all of the allegations levelled against him and others were baseless and made-up lies, claiming that the community is peaceful, even as he referred to the stakeholders as the ones who sell people’s lands and rape women, among other things.

His words, “They are the ones who sell the lands, rape women, and commit other atrocities, and some of them have even been asked to refund the money they received from those illegal land deals, which total millions of naira, when the case was brought and decided in my palace.” My previous palace secretary has joined them. Their annoyance stems from the fact that their candidate for the PG election failed, and since then they have caused a crisis in the community.”

“If you do not like the people who were elected, go to court rather than going to a hotel and calling a meeting to say you have removed me as monarch or that you want me removed. In the first place,  they don’t even have the right to call meetings. it is only the PG that can call for meeting. Ikechukwu Kem-Kem-Kem is not a prince because his father was never a king”.

“If you want to remove a monarch, you do not stay in a hotel and do it. There is a constitutional process of removing/dethroning a monarch and they don’t have power to remove me, they are not stakeholders like they claim because they have not done anything to the community. Some of them are not even attending town union meetings, let alone paying their community levies”.

“I have their voices on record, in which Cornelius Chijioke and others call me names, accusing me of selling people’s land, setting buildings on fire, and killing people, among other things. They commit cyber crime I am not their mate, I was once council chairman and deputy chairman”, said the monarch.

Meanwhile, Nwobido Udegbunam, through his legal counsel, Ejiofor Umegbogu, has filed a pre-action notice in court, informing the state government of his intention to sue Hon. Nwabunwanne, the State Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Town Union Affairs.

In the pre-action notice dated August 8, 2024 and brought under Section 11 (2) (b) Proceedings Law of Anambrarians state, Udegbunam xho hails from Enugu-Agu village, Awba-Ofemili and a candidate in the proposed 2024 Town Union Election of Awba-Ofemili for the community, lamented that the election which was scheduled to hold on 22nd June 2024, was truncated by the Transition Committee Chairman of Awka North Local Government Area, Mr ThankGod Anagor and the Traditional Ruler of Awba-Ofemili, HRH Ezekwesili Ernest Maduagwuna.

The plaintiff warned in the notice that he would commence legal actions against Nwabunwanne if after three months of receiving this pre,-action notice he failed to conduct a transparent town union election using the town union constitution.

The plaintiff said he would commence the legal proceedings by going to court to restrain the state government from recognizing Chinedù Fidelis Mebene and others who claimed to have been elected as the president-general and other executive members of ADU on June 22, 2024, because the said election was inconclusive in nature.

Efforts to hear from Hon.Nwabunwanne proved abortive as both calls were put across to him and WhatsApp chats were not responded to within a reasonable time before going to the press.