NewsProbe News from Nigeria and Around the world
Raymond Ozoji, Awka
The protracted leadership tussle in Nanka community of Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State has escalated, with one of the seven villages in the community, Amakor, rejecting the claims by its traditional ruler, Igwe Godwin Ezeilo, that peace has finally returned.
Amakor Njikoka Development Union, an umbrella body for Amakor Village, in a press release, said the claims by the monarch of the community, Ezeilo, that peace had returned was false, and meant to deceive the people of Nanka.
The chairman of Amakor Njikoka Development Union, Mr Obinna Ilo, who signed the release said peace can not come to the community by mere decree, but by doing the right thing.
“It is obvious that in Nanka, some individuals have hijacked the peaceful community and introduced divide and rule kind of disorder that is rocking the boat of the town for years now.
“They suppress accountability and stifle opposition to suite their misadventure. They in place of liberty, instate oppression and suppression, then turn around to paint picture of peace, when there is none.”
The group said Amakor Village has borne the brunt of the evil machinations of the community leadership, adding that they were supposed to produce the traditional prime minister (Onowu) of the community by order of seniority, but a few cabal bypassed her to select a prime minister from a junior village.
The village head however stated that the village believed in Igwe Godwin Ezeilo as the monarch of the community, but disagreed with his use of what they called an alien constitution to administer Nanka.
A week ago, another group, Umuokweghi/Ezeofor Royal family of Enugwu Nanka had rejected Ezeilo as the monarch of the community, referring to him as an impostor. The family had said that the late former monarch of the community, Igwe Gilbert Ofomata, was yet to be accorded his final rite, and that no one could elect a new monarch until that was done.
Nanka community has in years past been associated with violence that led to several deaths, leading to the imposition of curfew in the community.
Amakor Village chairman, Ilo, therefore appealed to the Anambra state government to wade into the crisis in the community before it escalates.
Reacting to the allegations, Nanka Patriotic Union (NPU) led by Igwe Ezeilo had recently stated that peace had returned to the community, stating that only a few people were still opposed to the peaceful atmosphere.
