Ibe Pascal Arogorn, Owerri
Amumaraokahia Village in Adakam Amumara Autonomous Community in Ezinihite Mbaise LGA, Imo State has appealed to Imo commissioner of police over Alleged diversion of their revenue by Eze O. B. Nwokocha.
The community alleged that the failure by the traditional ruler of Adakam community His Highness, Eze O. B. Nwokocha to keep to his words and commitment to ensure that the community affairs are managed in a fair, transparent and accountable manner that prevents conflicts by ensuring that the community and not him alone and his few allies benefit from the revenues accruing from sand dredging and other economic activities in Amumaraokahia rivers.
READ THE FULL STATEMENT BELLOW
The Commissioner of Police
Imo State Police Command
Owerri
Dear sir
AVERT A BREWING COMMUNAL CRISIS:
We, the undersigned representatives of members of Amumaraokahia village (home and abroad) in Adakam Amumara Autonomous Community, Ezinihite Mbaise LGA, Imo State write to respectfully bring to your attention and to seek your urgent intervention to the brewing crisis in Amumaraokahia village in Adakam Amumara Community, in Ezinihitte Mbaise LGA, Imo State.
The source of this impending crisis is the failure by the traditional ruler of Adakam community His Highness, Eze O. B. Nwokocha to keep to his words and commitment to ensure that the community affairs are managed in a fair, transparent and accountable manner that prevents conflicts by ensuring that the community and not him alone and his few allies benefit from the revenues accruing from sand dredging and other economic activities in Amumaraokahia rivers.
Currently, in total breach of mutual agreement between the traditional ruler and delegates of the village, and driven by his own greed, the traditional ruler is using some renegade and violent youths in the village (some of whom are feared members of IPOB) to work against the collective interest of the community. This is creating disaffection, tension and threats of resistance by the youth of the village which is likely to lead to a breakdown of law and order.
We respectfully request the CP to call the traditional ruler to order and ensure that the brigands he has employed and deployed to harass and intimidate the members of the restive Community are put in the leash. These brigands include but not limited to the following
- Joshua Nwichi
- Chibuenyi Nwachukwu
- Ginika Nwogu, an IPOB member and
- Chukwudi Chijioke aka Toniga an IPOB member.
The traditional ruler uses these compromised members of the riverine village in addition to others who are not from the village to impose dredging contractors to carry out sand excavation in the village rivers. These contactors pay heavy fees to him through these agents. He sidelines the legitimate committee set up by the village which suffers alone the impact of dredging and related activities in the rivers.
He uses his appointed renegade and violent youths to extort registration fees from the contractors as well as stations the same youths to be collecting daily tolls from tipper truck drivers who go to carry and supply sand from the rivers everyday. He pockets the whole revenues, a clear act of corruption (embezzlement) contrary to expectations that the revenues would be used for community development. He does not account to the village or the community which he claims he is collecting the revenues for their development.
Although the traditional ruler hails from a different village, Obibi, he unilaterally gave licence to two of his kinsmen namely, Chibuenyi Nwachukwu and Chigozie Ibekwe as investors who are suspected to be working for him as fronts, carrying out dredging activities in the rivers belonging to Amumaraokahia village and making returns to him. He also instructed them not to answer to any invitation by Amumaraokahia village Committee to register with them.
His agents go about telling the aggrieved villagers that the traditional ruler owns the community and can run it anyway he chooses and nobody can question his authority.
The Chairman of the Lagos branch of Amumaraokahia Progressive Union, Mr. Okechukwu Nwanguma, led a peace delegation to the traditional ruler in his palace sometime in July 2021. He received the delegation and after extensive discussion, it was agreed by all sides that the revenues should be collected and managed by the villages bearing the rivers which will then makes contribution to the larger community and the palace.
At that meeting, he also mandated the Chairman of the Lagos branch of the village Union to produce a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to guide and regulate dredging activities in the rivers.
After wide consultation with several individuals and groups in the village, home and abroad, Mr. Nwanguma came up with a MoU which was accepted by the village and submitted to the traditional ruler sometime in August 2021.
More than 5 months later, the traditional ruler is yet to acknowledge receipt of the MoU. He has since then, neither responded to messages nor answered phone calls by Mr. Nwanguma.
Convinced that he is determined to continue to exploit and oppress our people by collecting revenues and pocketing them, Mr. Nwanguma was mandated to call 2 of his cabinet members and complain to them about the conduct of the traditional ruler which is breeding discontent and threatening to disrupt peace and order in the village. They were also requested to implore him to listen to the demands of the village, fulfill his undertaken commitment by responding to and acting in compliance with the provisions of the MoU and avert the impending crisis. But nothing has changed for the better in spite of these peaceful gestures.
There have been some clashes in the rivers between touts working for the traditional ruler and the village youth doing business in the rivers, leading to serous injuries. The situation is likely to deteriorate if the appropriate authorities such as the police do not urgently intervene.
It is important to note that the MoU also allocates reasonable money to the palace from the total monthly revenue from activities in the rivers. But the traditional ruler prefers to continue to dominate and take the whole benefit from dredging activities in the rivers.
This petition is prompted by recent resolutions taken by both the youths of Amumaraokahia and the entire village Council after their meetings, to the effect that they will no longer tolerate the continued exclusion of their village from participating in decision making about the activities in their river and deprivation of the benefits from their God-given resources.
The rivers bring both revenue and environmental damage. But while the traditional ruler alone is coveting and enjoying the benefits (the huge revenues), the village alone, and especially families living closer to the rivers are suffering the devastating impact of sand dredging as well as the destructive impacts on the roads by tipper truck drivers who operate everyday to and from the river to carry and supply sand.
Why will the traditional ruler ask for a MoU and then refuse to work with the terms and conditions as contained in the MoU?
Why will the traditional ruler decide and insist in not allowing the committee set up by the river-bearing village to be in charge of dredging activities in their own village rivers but prefers to set up a parallel and illegal Committee made up of people of questionable character who are not members of the village along with some members of the village who are sabotaging the interest of their own village?
APPEAL :
We appeal to the commissioner of police, imo State to kindly and urgently intervene and call the traditional ruler and his cohort to order and prevent the breakdown of law and order in our community.
We also appeal to the CP to order the traditional ruler and his allies to stop forthwith any further activities in the rivers pending the resolution of this dispute in the overall interest of the village.
Please, accept the assurances of our highest esteem as we look forward to your urgent attention to this appeal.
Yours faithfully,
For the village home and abroad meeting :
- NJOKU DAVID, President General Amumaraokahia Development Union (Home & Abroad)
- OSUAGWU GEORGE, Chairman, Amumaraokahia Dredging Committee
- OGBONNA STANLEY, Chairman, Amumaraokahia Village Council
- IKECHUKWU OGBONNA Chairman, Amumaraokahia Youth Association
- OKECHUKWU NWANGUMA Chairman, Lagos State Branch, Amumaraokahia Progressive Union
- ADOLPHUS ENWEREMADU, Chairman, Amumara Development Union, Onitsha
