Ogbunka kingship stool tussle: the lies, the facts and the new hope

By Cynthia Igbokwe

Many communities in Anambra state, today, are embroiled in one crisis or the other ranging from land dispute to leadership crisis with the former, being the greatest and most challenging in the 187 communities that make up the state.

These crisis-ridden communities either fight over who becomes the President General or the traditional ruler of their various towns. Hostilities over kingship stool, has no doubt, torn most of the communities apart. Some of the communities in contention of kingship stool in the state include: Awa, Ogbunka, Amanuke, Alor, Abacha, Nawfia, Mkpunando, Aguleri, Eziagulu, Aguluzigbo, Azia and Awka to mention but a few.

While some of the crisis were triggered by the recent suspension and dethronement of some traditional rulers that travelled to Abuja to see President Muhammadu Buhari without permission from the state Governor, Chief Willie Obiano, others can said to be caused by some power hungry individuals who see such tussle as an avenue to settle scores or show off wealth or power.

Ogbunka community in Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra state is one of the communities where sleep was recently murdered over kingship stool of the town. It is one of the agrarian communities in Anambra state. The hitherto peaceful community is blessed with rich human and material resources including iron ore, granite and clay deposits and also has other natural resources and prominently prides itself in agriculture, being one of the food baskets of Anambra state.

Ogbunka which comprised of five villages; Awuka, Isiokpu, Umunebo, Agbana and Akwaoba had before now, engaged in inter-communal war between them and Owelle Ezukala, their neighbouring community over land matters, though, the crisis can be said not to have retarded development in the town as envisaged, given their resourceful nature.

The community is presently enmeshed in internal strife over who becomes the next traditional ruler of the community, twelve years after the demise of their former traditional ruler, HRH Igwe Charles Esiobu (Ezekwesili of Ogbunka).

Igwe C.N. Esiobu who died in August, 2008 was given certificate of recognition in 1976 by the then Military Governor of Anambra state, Col John Atom Kpera.

Article seven (7), section two of the amended constitution of Ogbunka Chieftaincy Matters, 1985 which is in custody of this paper states that “in the event of transition of an incumbent Igwe of Ogbunka, the chairman of the Igwe’s cabinet shall hold office until the selection of a new Igwe and in any case, will not hold the office for more than three months”.

The constitution further states in Article two, subsection (ii) that selection of chief/Igwe in Ogbunka shall not be hereditary but shall rotate from village to village, starting from Awuka-Isiokpu-Agbala-Umunobe-Akwaoba.

The big question now on the lips of many are; who is the chairman and members of Igwe’s cabinet in Ogbunka and were they properly constituted, if properly constituted, is their tenure still valid in the eyes of the law? The Ogbunka constitution on chieftaincy matters was explicit on the above questions as it states that each ward in Ogbunka shall be represented by a respectable person as a red cap chief and they (the red cap chiefs) shall be presented to the igwe to form the cabinet. It went further to state that the cabinet members shall hold office for twelve years (section 4, sub section iii).

This paper gathered that two persons; Chief Chris Iheanacho and Chief Engr. Mathew Ezeabikwa are laying claim to the chairmanship of the Igwe’s cabinet of Ogbunka. Chief Ezeabikwa’s status as the traditional prime minister of Ogbunka was also challenged in court in Suit No. AG/133/2014 by plaintiffs, Obed Ilodigwe, Christian Iheanacho, Ikechukwu Onwudigwe, Clement Okonkwo and Joseph Esiobu.

The plaintiffs asked the court among other things to declare that the defendant’s (Chief Mathew Ezeabikwa) act of parading himself as the chairman of the cabinet of Ogbunka town is illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional and a declaration that the then President General, Hon Obed Ilodigwe be allowed to control the activities of Ogbunka community, especially where the town has no sitting Igwe or traditional prime minister. So on what powers is Ezeabikwa answering Onowu of Ogbunka?.

Based on the foregoing , therefore, while Iheanacho describes Chief Mathew as impostor, Chief Mathew, in defense, however, presented to this paper, a letter signed by one Chief Samuel Okolimba, Palace secretary of Ogbunka, dated September 16, 2019 confirming him (Chief Mathew Ezeabikwa) as the authentic chairman of the igwe’s cabinet and another letter jointly signed by the immediate past chairman of Igwe’s cabinet, Chief L.N Esiobu and secretary of Igwe’s cabinet, Chief G.C. Ozor, dated January 14, 2013 which confirms his appointment as the traditional prime minister (Onowu) of Ogbunka. This is also contrary to what the Ogbunka Community constitutitution revealed wherein it states that it’s only an Igwe that has the powers to appoint an Onowu and nobody else.

The claim of being the chairman of Igwe’s cabinet by Chief Ezeabikwa, however, was also contrary to the Ogbaru High Court Judgment of 16th July 2019 presided over by Justice A.O. Okuma wherein the court ruled that “the defendant (Mr. Mathew Ezeabikwa failed to call any native chief or other person having special knowledge of native law and custom of Ogbunka and also failed to tender any book or manuscript recognized by natives of Ogbunka as legal authority on the native law and custom of Ogbunka people.

The court ruled that no evidence to give credence to the pleading that he was appointed the Vice chairman of Igwe’s cabinet and on the death of the chairman, of the cabinet, in 2013, the chairmanship fell on him under Ogbunka native law and custom.

While this rages, two persons are presently laying claim to the headship of the traditional stool, an action that has aggravated crisis, name calling, accusations and counter accusations; including protests and petitions to the Anambra state Governor, Chief Willie Obiano.
The two key players in the kingship tussle are: a medical doctor, industrialist and philanthropist, Dr. Forster Ezenwa Ihejiofor, and a business mogul, Chief Johnmark Anyaoha.

Recall that the former traditional ruler of the town, Igwe Charles Esiobu joined his ancestors twelve years ago, thereby leaving the throne vacant for any of his progeny and judging from this present imbroglio in the town, one wonders the mood of the progenitors of Ogbunka ancient kingdom over the polarization and crisis rocking the town.

The struggle for supremacy and possible replacement for Igwe Esiobu after his demise led to disputes, chaos and crisis that prompted the emergence of two persons; Dr. Forster Ezenwa Ihejiofor and Chief Johnmark Anyaoha as factional traditional rulers of the town. They are both from Awuka village in Ogbunka and emerged from factional Igwe-in-council of the community.

Information gathered that a factional Ogbunka Igwe-in-Council in a letter to the Anambra state government dated 27th January, 2020 which was signed by Chief Engr. Mathew Ezeabikwa scheduled to hold a traditional ruler election of Ogbunka on February 15th, 2020 at the Igwe’s palace by 12 noon.

On January 28, 2020 the state government received another letter which was signed by another faction of the Igwe-in-Council, Chief Ernest Onyekarusi as chairman, Chief Ephraim Emebo as secretary and Hon. Chief Godson Obi as Owelle of the town scheduling their own election of traditional ruler on the 22nd day of February 2020 at Ogbunka Civic centre by11 am. Copies of these letters were obtained by this paper.
Our investigation further revealed that this is not the first time a parallel activity is initiated in the town by the factional groups.

In 2019, a parallel new Yam festival was held in the town, one was championed by Chief Mathew Ezeabikwa and his supposed Cabinet chiefs while the other was organized by the Ogbunka Development Union (ODU) led by the then President General, Hon. Emmanuel Okoro.

Having studied the two letters of the Ogbunka kingship election by the Anambra state government and to avert crisis as gathered by this paper, the state government through the state Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters in a letter dated February 7th, 2020 which was addressed to the President General of the town and copied to the two parties, cancelled the proposed Igweship election slated for February 15th and 22nd respectively.

The letter which was signed by a senior staff of the ministry, Mr. Henry Nwasike for the Hon. Commissioner, Mr. Greg Obi reads in part: “In view of the two different dates from the two groups, the state government, in order to maintain peace and order has cancelled the election for the new traditional ruler of Ogbunka community.
“The state government will invite the affected stakeholders of Ogbunka to a meeting on a date to be communicated later on a way forward as well as agree on unanimous date and mode of the election”

While Ogbunka town awaits the government proposed new date, news flittered in on December 2nd that new Igwe has emerged and he is Chief Johnmark Anyaoha who is loyal to Chief Mathew Ezeabikwa, the acclaimed chairman, Igwe’s cabinet and the traditional prime minister of the town. This news didn’t go down well with the supporters of Dr. Forster Ezenwa Ihejiofor.

This paper gathered that Chief Johnmark Anyaoha’s declaration was made in the presence of the officials of Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs of Anambra state, security personnel among other stakeholders. It was also gathered that the declaration ceremony of December 2nd, 2020 was witnessed by the Commissioner for Local Government, Town Union and Chieftaincy Affairs, Chief Greg Obi represented at Ogbunka on the said date by Mr. Henry Nwasike.

This exercise was described as a betrayal on the part of the government by some session of the community who claimed that it was an injustice for government to ask them to stay execution on the election process only to attend a declaration of somebody who the community did not choose as their traditional ruler, describing the exercise as a shame and ploy to impose an unpopular person on them. They accused a cabal in Government of Governor Willie Obiano who is bent on foisting Johnmark on the Community as creating the tension.

Few hours after the selection of Chief Johnmark, hundreds of aggrieved persons from Ogbunka Community staged a peaceful protest over what they alleged as self-installation of someone as the traditional ruler of the community.
The peaceful protesters who trooped to the Anambra State Government House, Awka and the state House of Assembly complex, described the act as unacceptable and a misrepresentation of the overall will of the people.

The Commissioner for Local Government, Town Union and Chieftaincy Affairs, Chief Greg Obi who spoke through Mr. Chris Mmadu, told the protesters that government would look into their grievances, as the state government wants absolute peace in the state.

On December 4th, 2020, the members of Amala Ogbunka, title holders, red cap and cabinet chiefs, on their own, nominated Chief Dr. Forster Ihejiofor as their new traditional ruler and on December 5th, 2020, he was installed amidst pomp and ceremony.

Dr. Forster Ihejiofor, in a chat with this reporter expressed optimism that Governor Willie Obiano will do the needful by respecting the will of the people and recognizing him as the traditional ruler of Ogbunka.

According to him, ‘I know that the ascendant of Igweship of a town is the prerogative of the people. There is no crisis in Ogbunka, only that some over ambitious persons want to plug the community into crisis.

“I ‘m happy that God has used me to touch lives in this town; I have contributed in both human capital and infrastructural development, made some financial donations towards socio-economic ventures of the town. I have also been involved in the sponsorship of youth sports and empowerment activities and projected Ogbunka town in the lime light through philanthropic activities. Though, I believe strongly in doing my alms in secret and allowing God to reward me openly,” he said.

This paper however visited Chief Johnmark Anyaoha in his private resident at Awuka village, Ogbunka on the 13th day of January, 2021 but met his absence. A text message was sent to his mobile phone number after calling him severally. He later called back and started questioning our reporter on why he should barge into his house without prio information. He told this reporter that he travelled to Abuja and wasn’t in the mood to speak to the press on any matter but will invite our reporter to his house once he returns from his Abuja trip, a promise he reneged on, one month after.

When our reporter visited Ogbunka community on a different date, the factional chairman, Igwe’s cabinet and an elder statesman, Chief Chris Iheanacho, wondered why few individuals from Ogbunka want to plug the community into crisis. He gives insight into the constitutional provisions of Ogbunka chieftaincy constitution.
“Ogbunka constitution on chieftaincy matters (1985) stated that the eldest family in the eldest village will install Igwe Ogbunka and in line with the dictates of the constitution, the Isiokpu village has the staff of authority (Ofor) of Ogbunka and that was where the HRH Igwe Dr. Forster Ezenwa Ihejiofor emerged and installed to the knowledge of all elders and stakeholders. I have not seen the kind of crowed that trooped out the day he was crowned. He danced from Orie market to his father’s house and to his own personal house. The eldest family in Ogbunka, Umudiala, represented by Chief Felix Ike performed the installation ceremony” he said.

When asked about the emergence of Chief Johnmark Anyaoha, elder Chris said: “We just heard that few individuals gathered in his house and made him igwe. It came as a surprise to us. I don’t even know where he was installed and how he was installed. There was no invitation to any person. We just woke up to hear that Johnmark is now the Igwe Ogbunka but the igwe Ogbunka we know for now is Igwe Dr. Forster Ihejiofor and for peace to reign in Ogbunka, we are begging Governor Willie Obiano to issue certificate of recognition to him.
“Igwe Dr. Forster Ihejiofor single handedly transformed this community. He is a great philanthropist, not only here in Ogbunka but across towns and cities in Anambra state. He single handedly built a multi million naira civic centre for this town, he built a cottage hospital here and another at Atani in Ogbaru council area of Anambra state. He gave scholarship to many, built houses for many youths and widows and sent many abroad for further studies. He has over 200 graduates from this town, gives helping hand to churches irrespective of denominations, he brought skill acquisition centre in Ogbunka for our youths and gives palliatives to indigent Ogbunka people annually, these philanthropy endeared him to our people”.

When this paper sorts the opinion of the emeritus President General of the town, Mr. Ilodigwe Obed, he rather accused, Chief Mathew Ezeabikwa of complexities, saying he is a mischief who gloats where there is crisis.

According to him, “Chief Mathew Ezeabikwa is an expert in instigating crisis. He is the one instigating all these crisis. He claimed to be traditional Prime minister (Onowu) despite having served out his term which is a maximum of twelve years. The Ogbaru court led credence to this too.

“The cause of this crisis is the over ambitious nature of Chief Mathew. He always wants to be in control. In 2013, Ogbunka unanimously agreed that Chief Mathew Ezeabikwa won’t hold any elective or appointive position in Ogbunka through a no confidence vote because of his divisive tendencies and misdemeanor. We crowned Igwe Forster because of the good things he has attracted for our community.

The claim of passing a vote of no confidence on Chief Mathew Ezeabikwa was investigated by this paper and discovered that Ogbunka villages chairmen on January 30th, 2013, truly passed a no confidence vote on Chief Mathew Ezeabikwa for instigating crisis in the town.
The letter which was addressed to the President General and signed by Hon. Emma Okeke (Isiokpu village), Emma Okolo (Awuka), Onyema Jonathan(Umunobe), Gabriel Nwokedi(Agbala) and Anyachor john(Akwuoba) reads in part:
“…We have unanimously resolved and vowed that he will no longer represent the interest of the good people of Ogbunka community in any capacity, be it political or otherwise because he defiles our land. He is a trouble shooter(sic) and power hunter. He dragged his village leadership under Chief Patrick Okpara to police and locked them in the cell at the Police quarters (sic), Awka”

Reacting, when this paper visited Chief Mathew Ezeabikwa in his home town Ogbunka, he dispelled the allegations and claims, saying that Igwe Johnmark was selected according to the chieftaincy constitution of Ogbunka and the Anambra state traditional rulers law.

“Those people saying that are bunch of lawless people. Ogbunka has a constitution and Anambra state has traditional rulers law. Those saying that Igwe Johnmark was selected wrongly are trouble makers. You can find out the truth from the Commissioner for Local government, Town Union and Chieftaincy matters or the Special Adviser to the Governor on Town Union Matters. They are all aware of what we did. So we followed the Anambra state law and the constitution of Ogbunka before declaring Chief Johnmark Anyaoha, the traditional ruler of Ogbunka. His reaction alluded to the allegations that the dispute in Ogbunka is championed by a cabal in Government to the detriment of the Ogbunka people. This allegations have not been dispelled by Government representatives, though the Governor Willie Obiano was unhappy with the crisis in Ogbunka Community.

Chief Ezeabikwa who flanked by Chief Donatus Okoro, Cyprian Ukegbu and Enoch Eze said: “I am the chairman of the Igwe’s cabinet and have to implement the constitution. Engr. S.O Ogujiuba was the traditional prime minister while Chief L.N. Esiobu was the chairman of Igwe’s cabinet. Both of them died in 2011 and 2013 respectively. Their demise made the positions fell on me with letters of authentication to back it up”. The letters were also presented to our reporter on request.
On the expiration of his tenure, he said, “They dragged me to court in 2014 and the litigation lingered till 2019 and court ruled that no person has the right to challenge the continuation of any member of the cabinet. The PG that crowed the second Igwe on the 5th after we declared Johnmark on the second, on which constitution did he rely on?, he queried.

“I am a God fearing man” he continued, “and I respect rule of law because I served in Nigeria police. Part of the court ruling was that the Igwe’s cabinet has the mandate of selecting the traditional ruler in line with the Ogbunka chieftaincy constitution”.
When asked how and why Chief Johnmark was selected for the igweship stool, he said, “Johnmark is knowledgeable in traditional matters and qualified to be the custodian of culture and tradition.

But this position is contrary to what the constitution stated. The constitution said only Igwe that can appoint his Onowu and not Igwe’s cabinet or Palace Secretary and the constitution gave only three months for processes for a replacement of an Igwe to commence after the death of the one on the throne but the late Igwe’s cabinet allowed it to elapse.

Chief Mathew Ezeabikwa further refuted the no confidence vote by Ogbunka village chairmen, claiming that, “It was a fabrication by the then PG, Chief Obed Ilodigwe to malign my personality in court. He presented the purported no confident vote in court but nobody regarded it for lack of merit.

“I am the traditional prime minister of the community which was given to me since 2013 before this igweship tussle. I was the vice chairman of the cabinet since 2007. I don’t say lies because I am a titled chief. I ‘m surprised some elders are sowing this seed of discord, trying to upturn the truth. They know that Igwe Johnmark was just declared and yet to be installed by Njiofor as provided in the constitution. They claimed that cabinet members crowned Dr. Forster which is a big lie as no community has two cabinet members. Everybody cannot be Igwe at the same time. Let them respect the constitution” he emphasized.

He further claimed that they wrote the village that supposed to produce the next Igwe when they started the whole process and the village sent two persons; Dr Forster Ihejiofor and Chief Johnmark Anyaoha and two of them completed forms before the Igwe’s cabinet/screening committee. “They paid N250,000 each. They appeared on 22nd and 25th January, 2020 respectively.

“Dr Forster appeared first and Johnmark appeared second. They were screened before selection process because our constitution did not say election but selection. In the selection, we followed traditional guidelines and their various presentations. Part of the problem of the person the President General and his cohorts crowned (Dr. Forster) was that he failed to make his presentation in Igbo language, how can Igwe break kolanut in English language. The day his purported installation took place, it was one Mr. Casidi that broke Kola nut for him? He doesn’t have the basic orientation to be the Igwe. It is not about money, it is about traditional leadership of a community”.
Other reasons given by Chief Mathew Ezeabikwa for disqualifying Dr. Forster Ihejiofor included: trying to secure the position of Igwe for one Prof. Promise Nwachukwu Okpala and not for himself, inability to speak Igbo fluently, unable to kill cow for his father as custom demands, refusal to be initiated into masquerade deity of the town and his role in destruction of the town’s charms and deities during one of the Christian crusades he sponsored in the town.

Our reporter who investigated these allegations found some of them ridiculous as further probe revealed that none of those claims were contained in the Ogbunka chieftaincy constitution which they claimed to have relied on.

On the issue of somebody breaking kolanut for him on his installation date, this paper reliably gathered that Dr. Forster performed by himself, all the traditional rites expected of him. The video of the installation activities was also obtained by our reporter.

Also speaking, another cabinet member, Chief Donatus Okoro expressed surprise that Dr. Forster Ihejiofor who submitted himself for screening before Chief Mathew Ezeabikwa and other screening committee members is claiming that he (Ezeabikwa) is not the chairman of Igwe’s cabinet and our traditional prime minister. “He filled the nomination form and submitted himself to the Igwe in council/screening committee. He also paid the non refundable sum of N250,000, yet, he claims that chief Ezeabikwa is not Onowu”.

The above claim was also verified as this paper is in custody of the nomination forms of Chief Johnmak and Dr. Forster which proves that the two aspirants recognized the igwe’s cabinet that formed the screening committee.

A staff of the Anambra state ministry of Local Government, Town Union and Chieftaincy Matters, Mr. Henry Nwasike who denied any involvement in the matter said the ministry was only invited to observe the declaration of Johnmark which they did, pointing out that the other camp failed to invite the ministry but noted that Government will not issue any certificate to any of them until the issue is amicably resolved.

Later, this newspaper gathered that Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra state has dismissed the notion by cross section of Ogbunka people that his government has recognized Chief JohnMark Anyaoha as the traditional ruler of Ogbunka against the chioce of the Community.

Obiano reassured Ogbunka people that his government just intervened to restore order, peace and unity, pleading with all parties to remain calm as Government will resolve the Igweship tussle impartially.

Obiano who spoke through the Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy & Community Affairs, Hon Greg Ikechukwu Obi while addressing the community members called on factions in Ogbunka Igweship tussle to remain calm, while his government works out modalities to resolve the crisis and return peace to the community.

In his words: “It is communities that select their traditional ruler after which there is a procedure for recognition of who becomes the traditional ruler. From your complaints, it looked as if the government went to Ogbunka and enthroned one person to become the traditional ruler. It is not true and we don’t do such things. Government has not recognized anybody as the traditional ruler of the community.
” Your complaints looks like there are two contestants but I will tell you that in some communities there are three or more people angling for a traditional stool. When all of them bring petitions to the government, what we do is to study it and even send to the police and DSS to study too. The essence is to discover whether it is in line with the procedure and constitution of the town before the governor will know the right person to recognize as the traditional ruler.

“You must not listen to outside rumours as government has not recognized anybody as traditional ruler of Ogbunka. We will take time to study everything that came from ogbunka after which we decide who to recognize as the rightful traditional ruler of Ogbunka.

“We have received your letter and will put it among the files of Ogbunka for further study. I plead on people of the community to remain calm and wait on the government’.

While it was alleged that Chief Johnmark Anyoha was crowned surreptitiously with the aid of government officials, and cabals in corridors of power ; others said it was done at night by a fraction of people stoking crisis in the community; however, his rivalry, Dr. Forster Ihejiofor who was said to be the preferred candidate by the stakeholders of the town was crowned in the open and he performed all the rites needed by the Ogbunka people.

This is coming as the Ogbunka Youth Association has opened up on the Igweship crisis in their Community, warning those stoking trouble to desist or meet with the wrath of the youths even as they declared support for Igwe Dr Forster Ihejiofor, against his rival, Anyaoha.

In a communique issued at the end of their general emergency meeting held at Ogbunka Civic Centre on Friday 15th January, 2021, the youths declared, “It has become imperative at this point, that we clearly state the facts for all and sundry to know, and also make our position clearly known on issues concerning the traditional throne of Ogbunka ancient Kingdom.”

The communique was signed by youth leaders of the villages in Ogbunka including
Awuka Youth Leader, Okoli Chinedu; Isiokpu Youth Leader, Umeh Nnaemeka; Agbala Youth Leader, Anula Micheal; Umunobe Youth Leader, Anyacho Ignatius and Akwuoba Youth Leader, Ezeabikwa Chidozie.

The youth went further to state that on 5th of December 2020, the traditional leaders of the entire five villages of Ogbunka, the Amala, Titled chiefs, Red cap Chiefs and Kingmakers of Ogbunka, gathered in a general ceremony in the presence of Ogbunka Development Union and the general public, to elect the true King of Ogbunka, HRH Igwe Ohazurume, Chief Dr Forster Ihejiofor, Nka 1 of Ogbunka.

“Today, we the general body of Ogbunka Youth Association, also publicly declare HRH Igwe Dr Forster Ihejiofor, as the duly elected and constitutionally recognized Igwe of Ogbunka kingdom,” the youths said. 

“Our problem is that Mr JohnMark Anyaoha crowned himself “King. That is NEVER done in Igboland! It is an abomination, a travesty, “Nso ala,” the communiqué read.

“He has continued to sow seeds of discord and foment trouble amongst our people with blatant lies, intimidation, blackmail, manipulation and other vices, while still parading himself as a “self-crowned king”. It is ironical to note that Mr JohnMark Anyaoha calls himself “Igwe-elect”. The question everyone should ask him is: Elected by who? The statement read.

To this end, this paper authoritatively reports that Ogbunka kingship tussle which is being promoted by few individuals was as a result of a religious interest between pagans and Christians in the community. While Dr. Forster Ihejiofor represents the interest of Christians, Chief Johnmark Anyaoha, however is being backed by the minority interest who believe that the town’s custom and tradition will be protected and preserved under his watch as the monarch.

These interests can still be protected if Ogbunka stakeholders wade in with a genuine interest of making peace by implementing the recommendations of the Orumba South Local Government Traditional rulers council in a letter dated 28 January, 2013 wherein they recommended that the interest of the Igwe’s cabinet should always be to maintain peace and order in the community.