There are palpable indications of a looming violent crisis and a total breakdown of law and order in the Adakam Amumara Autonomous Community in Ezinihite Mbaise LGA of Imo State, Nigeria.
This follows the alleged high-handedness of the traditional ruler of the community, Eze O. B. Nwokocha
This was contained in a strong-worded petition written by stakeholders of Amumaraokahia village in Adakam Amumara Autonomous Community in Ezinihitte Mbaise LGA, Imo State, separately to the Imo state Commissioner of Police and the Governor of Imo state, Senator Hope Uzodinma.
The stakeholders led by the President-General Amumaraokahia Development Union (Home & Abroad), Njoku David and five others are worried that the traditional ruler, O. B. Nwokeocha in defiance to wise counsel, has allegedly converted community revenues accruing from sand dredging activities in the riverine Amumaraokahia village to personal use instead of the community development purposes the revenues were meant for.
The stakeholders allege further that the monarch has also deployed the services of known thugs in the persons of Joshua Nwichi, Chibuenyi Nwachukwu, Ginika Nwogu and Chukwudi Chijioke (Toniga), some of who are dreaded IPOB members, to intimidate and suppress opposition to his high-handedness.
Having discarded recent agreement with stakeholders on the management of the dredging revenues, there are indications that members of the community are bent on resisting the diversion of their common wealth to personal use by the monarch while they suffer the environmental damages of sand dredging in their community.
The petition to the Police Commissioner read in part: “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 intervene and speedily rein in the monarch.
“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 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 in the community.”
The community leaders therefore appealed to the commissioner of police, Imo State to urgently intervene and call the traditional ruler Eze O. B. Nwokeocha and his cohorts to order and prevent the breakdown of law and order in the community.
