The chieftaincy tussle bedeviling Isienu Amofu in Nkerefi Community in Nkanu East local government area of Enugu State at the weekend took a new twist following a purported election fixed by the ministry of Chieftaincy Affairs to elect a new traditional ruler for the community.
The aggrieved members of the community made up of five villages namely lsi-Uga, Umuogbi, Umunam, Umuezeochi and Umuokala claimed that some officials in the State Ministry of Chieftaincy and Local Government Affairs connived with some selfish individuals in the community to impose one Christian Ogbonnaya Agwu without recourse to their constitution which clearly stipulates how a traditional ruler should be elected in the community.
The community has been without a traditional for ruler over nine years following the murder of their former traditional ruler, the late Royal Highness, Peter Onuoha, in 2013.
Since the murder of the monarch, there has been a leadership vacuum in the community, as the people struggled over the years to come to terms with the manner their monarch was killed.
But attempt to impose Chief Agu as the new monarch was vehemently resisted by the natives who insisted that laid down procedures must be followed.
The aggrieved natives who had gathered at the community meeting square as early as 8am in their numbers, stood their ground that the election must not take place until the right thing, including conduct of a congress, was done in line with their 2024 constitution.
Speaking with journalists, one of the community leaders, Chief Chukwu Matthew Onyeabor accused some leaders of the community of conniving with some officials of the ministry to impose an unpopular king on them.
He alleged that all the aspirants that indicated interest to vie for the election were deliberately schemed out by the community town union led by Ndubuisi Abi whom he accused of working for Agwu to retain his position.
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