Dozens of youths from Governor Peter Mbah’s Owo community in the Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State on Tuesday stormed the streets to protest against alleged land-grabbing and high-handedness of their traditional ruler, Igwe Okeke Arum and former President General of the town, Mr. Okeke Akpu.
In a viral video on Tuesday, the protesting youths chanted solidarity songs and displayed placards bearing different inscriptions including: “Okeke Arum, leave Owo Kingdom alone”, and “Okeke Arum mind Mburu Owo Autonomous Community.”
The protesting youths
The youths also marched around the community to register their annoyance with the traditional ruler, and a former President General of Owo Town Union, Mr Okeke Akpu.
Speaking, the current President General of Owo Town Union, Prince Augustine Nnajieze, said their protest is against alleged atrocities committed by Igwe Godwin Okeke Arum, including turning the Community Neighbourhood Watch into his thugs with which he harasses and intimidates anybody that speaks against his actions.
Nnajieze said, “Okeke Arum is not the Igwe of Owo, but the Igwe of Mburu Owo Autonomous Community, yet he is forcing himself on the entire community. This man has committed so many atrocities in Owo Town, that he has turned the Enugu State Neighbourhood Watch into his security and thugs. He uses the Neighborhood Watch to harass, intimidate and kill anybody who disagrees with him.
“The Owo Community has no traditional ruler, but he wants everybody to come and bow to him. The very moment you don’t accept to bow before him, you become an enemy.
“Igwe Okeke Arum sold land that belongs to Asisi village to the governor, His Excellency, Governor Peter Mbah, and pocketed the money. The land was sold to the governor for N200 million by the agreement of the whole community, but the man started spending the money, by constructing roads and other things without consulting the community.”
“The community does not have a traditional ruler today, because of the man’s many activities. The Asisi village is in crisis because the man has been selling land that belongs to everybody. He sold the land where we have a boundary with Ndiagu. If it were not for him, we don’t have any reason to be dragging land with our brothers in Ndiagu Owo.”
He added, “The former governor of Enugu State, His Excellency, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi once called him to leave Owo Town and mind Mburu Owo Autonomous Community, but he refused. The crisis in Ohani, Ogara, and other clans over the sales of community lands is from him.
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“We are pleading with Governor Peter Mbah to please deliver us from the hand of this man.
“His Excellency should please save us from the terror of this man so that we can select the person that will be our traditional ruler by ourselves,” he pleaded.
Lamenting the alleged high-handedness of Igwe Arum, the Chairman of Ohani Owo Development Association, Emmanuel Egbo, said that the people of Obeagu Ohani Owo (one of the clans that form the Mburu-Owo Autonomous community) were not happy and were unwilling to continue to be part of the Mbulu Owo Autonomous community.
Egbo said Igwe Arum has never deemed it fit to influence development in the area.
He said the people are equally threatened by his divide-and-rule style of leadership.
“What this man is doing is abominable, he is presently bulldozing people’s farmland, appropriating and selling same.”
“I don’t know what he has in mind because he has some cronies among our people. He locked up the community head and we have been on the case for some time now,” he added.
When contacted on telephone, Igwe Okeke Arum said, he doesn’t talk to anybody on the telephone, adding that anybody who wants to know his side of the story should come to his house to interview him.
