The Adakam Amumara community in Ezinihitte Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State have staged a protest against their traditional ruler, Eze O.B. Nwokocha.
Residents of Umuokpo, Amumaraokhia, and Okpanku, through their spokesmen in a statement made available to Journalists on Wednesday, decried Eze Nwokocha’s alleged unlawful actions and tyrannical behavior.
The community’s disgruntled members challenged Eze Nwokocha to modify his leadership style in areas such as security, protection of village roads and infrastructure, management of community resources, and respect for the rule of law, among others.
They warned that if the situation does not improve quickly, the residents of the villages will have no choice but to take procedures that may result in his ouster as their traditional ruler or their separation from the Adakam autonomous community.
The statement partly read, “We reject this tyranny and stand firmly with our PG in his legal challenge of Eze Nwokocha’s illegal and unacceptable action.
“In 2021, truckloads of armed security operatives invaded the Adakam community, beat up our youths at Amumaraokahia and Umuokpo rivers, arrested and took some of them away. To date, Eze Nwokocha has not explained who called in the armed security or why this act of desecration was perpetrated upon our people.
“Eze Nwokocha resorts to threats and intimidation when villagers complain about the bad state of their roads. He issued a memo calling Amumaraokahia people “hoodlums” for closing their village road to stop the operations of tipper drivers until attention is paid to their cries for the repair of the damaged road.
“He has attempted to frame his “enemies” up with false criminal allegations with a view to using security agencies to apprehend and put them out of circulation.
“Eze Nwokocha does not heed the counsel of our eminent community members at home and in the Diaspora. He relies on the support of members of his family or village and a few allies from other villages who know of his mismanagement of community resources.”