From Obinna Odogwu, Awka
Before 2008, Nkerehi, a town in Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra State hosted a community of brothers and sisters who, in acts and deeds, saw one another as one.
But that filial relationship that they shared has since evaporated following some skirmishes, infightings and rumblings that erupted among them.
Those disputes arose following the change of the community’s name from Nkerehi to Umuchukwu by some leaders of the community, an act that some other leaders rejected, alleging that they weren’t consulted.
Genesis of the crisis
Sometime in 2008, some elders of the community, for some reasons, became uncomfortable with the name of their town. They felt that their name, Nkerehi, was responsible for their misfortunes and underdevelopment as a people and therefore needed to change it.
According to them, Nkerehi is the name of one of their powerful deities and therefore believed that it was responsible for whatever negative conditions they had found themselves in.
The villagers, Saturday Sun gathered, believed that changing their name to something more positive would open their doors of success.
President-General of Umuchukwu, Emeka Adinchezor, narrated that the elders of the community were still trying to figure out how to go about the name change when one of their illustrious sons, Dr Godwin Maduka, visited home.
Maduka is a medical practitioner based in the United States of America (USA). He is the MD/CEO of Las Vegas Pain Institute and Medical Centre in that country.
Adinchezor narrated that the elders visited Maduka in his house to discuss the matter with him as a part of the consultative moves before the town’s name would be changed.
“The elders earnestly told him that they were tired of terrible occurrences at home which they attributed to the name Nkerehi, which is the name of a deity.
“Maduka, out of his sterling exposure and divine inspiration, was quick to offer a relief. He looked at their signboard which bore the inscription Nkerehi with its motto as God’s Own Town intently. He shouted eureka!
“In his cheerful nature and full of energy, Dr. Maduka asked them rhetorically, are you not Umuchukwu, that is, God’s own people, a coinage he got from the original motto of the town?
“Immediately they jubilated and accepted the new name wholeheartedly. But after a while, out of jealousy, a few of them insisted the name of the town should return to status quo. In other words, there were pockets of resistance,” Adinchezor narrated.
The PG explained that a referendum was conducted for the people because of the rejection of the new name by some members of the community.
“A referendum was conducted between Nkerehi and Umuchukwu by the Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters (office) and Umuchukwu won 99.9 per cent with only about 10 people standing for Nkerehi.
“The name Umuchukwu was gazetted after the referendum and a certificate of gazette was given to them by the Anambra State Government. After all said and done, they still headed to court.
“At the Magistrate Court, Umuchukwu won. The matter was referred to the State High Court, Umuchukwu won again. They headed to the Appeal Court and Umuchukwu also won.
“The then Commissioner of Police, Anambra State asked that the name Umuchukwu should subsist but the agitators refused to heed to all lawful entreaties,” Adinchezor stated.
One people, two kings
Following the polarisation of the community, two kings emerged. While Igwe Kenneth Maduka rules over Umuchukwu, Igwe Matthias Chidozie Anyadiegwu, reigns over Nkerehi.
The Nkerehi division on Friday, 24th January, 2020, presented Chief Anyadiegwu who was their Igwe-elect to the Transition Committee Chairman of the local government, Raymond Onyegu, at the council headquarters in Umunze.
The vice chairman of the local government, Mr Ike Nwafor, an engineer, received the Nkerehi people on behalf of his boss, Onyegu, a lawyer, and promised to relay their message to the chairman.
That presentation, it was gathered, was a requirement that must be fulfilled before the governor could issue such a traditional ruler a Certificate of Recognition and other instruments of office if he so wishes.
“Your message has been received and will be relayed to the Chairman accordingly. Other necessary actions that have to do with taking your Igwe-Elect to the governor will be performed by the chairman,” Nwafor had told them.
A restless rain of confusion
Ever since the name of the community was changed, many problems have trailed it. The once peaceful, united people are not only divided but often have one score or the other to settle.
Even little issues that ordinarily should be ignored now take long to settle. They sometimes require the attention of the courts.
At the moment, there is a barrage of cases in the area. One of them concerned Mr Basil Igwike, who is on the side of Nkerehi.
Igwike, a lawyer, told Saturday Sun that he was attacked in the dead of the night by thugs from Umuchukwu side on the 7th of January this year for no reason.
He said that he cheated death that fateful night as his attackers who came with dangerous weapons scaled the fence into his compound, climbed upstairs and gained access into his bedroom after breaking his door.
“They jumped from the gate and they came with their axes and guns; started knocking on my door.
“When my father queried who was knocking, they told him that they wanted to see me. When I sensed danger, I opened the front door that leads to the balcony of my house and flashed my torch. There were a number of boys there. They were shouting that I should come out. They started hitting and pushing the iron door of our house. Eventually, they gained access into our apartment.
“When they entered the sitting room, I realised that there was no other person in front of my house and I had to jump from the balcony of the one storey building to run away for my dear life. That was how I escaped death by the whiskers.
“They went in and took away my wife. Eventually, they vandalised all my vehicles in the compound and destroyed my dining chairs and left with my wife that night. That was the second time they have attempted to kill me,” Igwike narrated.
He said that he only returned home with his family to celebrate Christmas and New Year with his people, attend some community events which included burials before returning to his base not knowing that he had been pencilled down for attack.
He said that his only offence was that he stood with his Nkerehi people. He further narrated that before that fateful night, one of his bereaved kinsmen was equally attacked as he was conveying the remains of his father home for interment.
He explained: “It was on the 6th of January that one of us, Joseph Anwulobi, was burying his late father, Elder Elijah Anwulobi, who was about 102 years old. And also, my cousin, Michael Umejamma, was to be buried on the same day at Ihe village.
“That of Joseph Anwulobi was in my community, Nkerehi. So, that day, I joined every other Nkerehi person to the mortuary to convey the corpse of Elder Anwulobi to his compound.
“Even that day, the miscreants they trained in my community came out as usual to tear the posters we pasted on the vehicles we used to convey the dead person.
“Then, after they did that, we proceeded to bury the dead. Eventually, I went to Ihe village, participated in the burial ceremony of that my cousin, came back and then went to my house to sleep, not knowing that death was knocking on my door.”
Igwike traced the genesis of the problems in the community to the change of the town’s name, which occurred over 20 years ago. He opined that if the promoters of the new name had consulted widely, they would have reached agreement on it peacefully.
“Initially, there was a change of name issue in my community which started since 2007 and orchestrated by Dr Godwin Maduka. He decided to change the name of my town from Nkerehi to Umuchukwu singlehandedly and unilaterally without consulting every stakeholder.
“And I was among those who said no; that proper thing should be done; that if the town’s name should be changed, Godwin should call every stakeholder in a general meeting of Nkerehi Progressive Union and tell us the reason why he wants to change the name of our town. That was the offence I committed,” Igwike stated.
The lawyer said that when he ran away for his life, the young men who stormed his house that night took his wife away, beat her up and tore her clothes while dragging her along with them to a location in the area.
“That night, they held her hostage for about 30 minutes; beat her up. They tried to strip her naked and rape her. If not that she was on her menstrual circle, one of them wanted to rape my wife.
“And they have been threatening fire and brimstone that they would kill me and nothing will happen,” he alleged.
Igwike’s wife, Maureen, said she was roughly handled by the attackers who boasted that nothing would happen.
Maureen, an optometrist, said but for the timely intervention of a former military officer from the community who was passing by when the incident was happening, the worst might have happened.
“They beat me with a rod and sticks, saying they would kill me since my husband escaped. They were hitting me on my chest. They said they must kill me, my children and my husband and that nothing would happen,” Maureen narrated.
A minor allegedly abducted, battered
Within the same period, a 14-year-old boy, Joshua Iheukwumere, was allegedly abducted from his home at night and beaten up. He was also allegedly forced to make a false statement against some leaders of his Nkerehi people.
Joshua told Saturday Sun that he had come out to ease himself at night not knowing that his abductors were lurking around. He alleged that he was taken away, bruised and forced to make a false confession statement that his abductors intended to use against Nkerehi people.
He said that he was forced to confess that some men from Nkerehi gave him some charms to bury somewhere in the compound of the Umuchukwu monarch.
A war with the dead
A community leader in Nkerehi, Joseph Anwulobi, on his part, told Saturday Sun that a convoy escorting his late father home was allegedly attacked by the Umuchukwu people on the way home from the morgue.
Later in the night, according to him, the attackers visited his home and made away with some money which he realised from the funeral rite and also damaged some of his property after beating him up.
Umuchukwu reacts
President-General of Umuchukwu, Adinchezor, in a statement, described the allegations against his people as untrue. He said that Igwike’s claims that he and his wife were attacked by Umuchukwu people were not true.
He also dismissed Joshua’s allegations as false. He said that on the contrary, some people from Nkerehi had sent him to plant some fetish substances in the compound of the monarch, Igwe Maduka, before he was apprehended.
“Let it also be known that the police in Anambra State are now handling this matter. The case is on-going. The CP is in a proper position to give a detailed report about his findings,” the statement partly read.
Also, the traditional ruler of Umuchukwu, Igwe Maduka, told Saturday Sun on phone that the allegations levelled against his people were not true. He said that he had spoken to different journalists on the issue, making it clear to them that his subjects were innocent.
The then Commissioner of Police in the state, John Abang, now an Assistant Inspector General (AIG), had told journalists that he was aware of the matter and that he was making efforts to restore peace in the area.
“As we speak, I have invited both parties to my office. I told them that I couldn’t solve their problem. I am like a fire brigade. I can only quench fire. But they are the people that would know what is causing the fire.
“If they are fighting, I can come and separate them but the solution lies with them and it is very simple if they are ready,” Abang had told newsmen.
When contacted, Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Tochukwu Ikenga, told Saturday Sun that he did not have details of how the matter had been handled so far. He promised to find out and revert later.