•Monarch, village leader wrangle over N25m land deal

From Obinna Odogwu, Ekwulobia

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Tension currently mounts in Ezira community in Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra State. A N20 million land deal, involving the traditional ruler of the town, Igwe Samuel Uche (Ezedioramma II), Chairman of Ubaha village, Jude Umunnakwe, and other concerned stakeholders in the town is threatening the peace of the community.
At the moment, different groups, with some youths loyal to the monarch on one side and the village chairman on another side, frequently clash, as they battle for supremacy. And at the end of each clash, several persons return home with various degrees of injuries.
Some members of the community are accusing the officers of the Divisional Police Headquarters, Umunze, of bias in the tussle.
Daily Sun gathered that trouble started when the monarch quarrelled with the chairman after the duo had sold a parcel of land, belonging to the community to Mr. Godwin Ezeemo, a native of the neighbouring Umuchu community. Ezeemo is the former governorship aspirant in the 2014 governorship race in Anambra State under the Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA). The land was allegedly sold to him for N25 million.
No fewer than 20 persons have been wounded in the impasse, it was learnt. The victims include the Chairman, Non Academic Staff Union (NASU) of the Federal College of Education (Technical), Umunze, Chief Alex Okoli, who was allegedly wounded by thugs and suspected cultists. He said the suspected cultists, who invaded his residence in the dead of the night, also molested his 80-year-old mother, just as the home of his brother, a Catholic priest, was torched by the invaders.
While narrating his ordeal to the reporter, Chief Okoli alleged that a policeman (names withheld by us) injured him in the eyes. He said the door to his house, the roof and electric poles in his compound where some of the victims ran to for protection, were damaged. He also said he lost his HP laptop computer and about 13,000 Euros to the hoodlums.
According to Okoli, others injured in the attack include Nonso Okoli, Livinus Okpala, Emeka Okolimba, Ifeanyi Alaebo, Chidozie Okafor, Chukwuduruo Okoli, Sochima Okafor, Samuel Onwuka, Okey Ibeh, Ekene Okeke, Emeka Dike, Obinna Okoli, Toochukwu Umeh, Ikechukwu Onyema and Ejike Iro.
In a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari, Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris; Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano, and the Commissioner of Police, Anambra State, Mr. Samuel Okaula, dated July 20, 2016, Okoli accused one Jude Umunnakwe from the community of inviting cultists to unleash mayhem in the community, using guns and other dangerous weapons.
“His actions against us were directly connected to the sale of community land, which he masterminded without the consent of the principal members of the community.  He parades himself as if he were above the law, embezzling community funds entrusted to him, as the Chairman of Ubaha village, without rendering account,” Okoli said.
He prayed the Inspector General of Police and others to investigate and arrest the said Jude Umunnakwe and his alleged cohorts over the alleged criminal activities and other civil disturbances, which he said Umunnakwe had been committing in the community.
But Umunnakwe has distanced himself from the allegations, which he claimed were nothing but a tissue of wicked lies.
Okoli, who is also the Palace Secretary of the Ezira Igwe-in-Council, said even as he waited for the authorities to act on his petition, he was shocked when about 100 policemen suddenly stormed his residence at about 11pm on August 11, shooting sporadically, as they searched for him. The police, he said, accused him of possessing illegal firearms.
He said the police also invaded the residence of his brother, a US-based Catholic Priest, Rev. Fr. Dr. Ignatius Okoli, and other houses nearby in search of Umunnakwe’s opponents.
“They broke all doors, ransacked about four buildings in the compound and eventually caught us. They arrested about 13 persons that came to hide in my house that night. They told us that they were instructed by the authorities of the State Police Command to carry out the operation, even as we were later granted bail after the Criminal Investigation Department, Awka, had charged us for unlawful possession of arms, an offence we never committed,” he stated.
In a separate letter, lawyers to Okoli and the others, C. K. Idenyi and Co., said Mr. Umunnakwe should render account of all transactions in the land within seven days as well desist from intimidating, harassing and extorting money from helpless indigenes of Ubaha village, among other warnings.
The Ezira lawyers, in another letter, also warned Mr. Godwin Ezeemo, the buyer of the land, to kindly retrieve the money he paid to Mt. Umunnakwe or face legal actions.
But when contacted, Umunnakwe described the allegations levelled against him as complete hogwash. He described the allegations, as piece of mischief hastily cooked to smear his image. He blamed the entire crisis on the traditional ruler of the town, Igwe Samuel Uche
“We all agreed to sell that parcel of land due to the problem we had and our traditional ruler contacted Chief Godwin Ezeemo, who agreed to buy the land at the tune of N70,000 per plot, which amounted to N25 million in all.”
“When I pressurised him to bring out the money that was paid into his account, he started blackmailing me. He then organised some boys to kill me, and the irate youths attacked my wife and children when I was away and demolished some part of my building.
“Igwe conducted a kangaroo election in my absence to replace me and appointed Alex Okoli, his Palace Secretary, who led some youths to attack me. I reported the incident to the police, who invaded their house by 9pm and when they refused to open the gate, the DPO ordered his men to break the gate after throwing tear gas inside the compound.
“Our Igwe has been after my life. He once masterminded my kidnap and those kidnappers took me to Awgbu. So, he should bring out the money that Mr. Ezeemo paid to him,” he said.
But Igwe Samuel Uche, in a telephone conversation with the reporter, described Jude Umunnakwe as a criminal. “He will soon end up in jail unless he renders account of the lands that he sold. He should render the account to the village that owns the land,” the traditional ruler said.
The Police Public Relations Officer in Anambra State, Nkiru Nwode, said the police did not misuse any firearms during the arrest. He said such accusation was coming from mischief-makers that were hell-bent on tarnishing the image of the police in the state.

Chief AlexCC