The lingering local ruffling of leadership feathers in Alor Community in Idemili South Council Area of Anambra State may have assumed a disturbing dimension, following a petition by a former traditional ruler of the community, Chief McAnthony Okonkwo, who was dethroned by an Anambra High Court few years ago, that led to the arrest of the community’s President General, Chief Emma Ojukwu.
Okonkwo had petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Force Headquarters against the President General, alleging amongst other things, that the PG has not been according him due regard as the traditional ruler of Alor and that the PG has not been extending invitations to him for attendance of key meetings/events in the community in his capacity as its traditional ruler.
Consequently, a team of twelve heavily armed policemen invaded the Lagos residence of Chief Ojukwu.
The police invited the PG to their Alagbon Close office at Obalende, Lagos the next day, Tuesday, July 9th, 2024, along with his kinsmen, who came when they saw the huge police presence..
Narrating the experience, Chief Ojukwu noted that besides the initial shocks of seeing that heavy police presence in his home, “I must say that the police team from IGP Monitoring Unit, Obalende, Lagos, acted professionally all through my discussions with them.
“My wife and family members were incredibly traumatized by the number of policemen who came because at first, they didn’t know who they were.
” I went on Tuesday, July 9th, 2024, I honoured the police invitation as agreed, alongside my kinsmen.
“The Assistant Commissioner of Police, a fine gentleman told us that he was under the directive of the DIG, General Investigations, to bring me to Abuja.
“It was late in the day and not enough seats on any Abuja-bound flights that evening. As a result, I was not allowed to go back home. I was detained overnight at Alagbon, Ikoyi, Lagos.
“Early morning Wednesday, July 10th, 2024, I was taken to Abuja.
“It’s sad that since I came into office as the President-General of Alor People’s Convention, Chief Okonkwo has written several false and malicious petitions against me. He has written petitions to the Divisional Police Officer, Nnobi Police station. He has written petitions to the Anambra State police Command Headquarters; he has also petitioned Police Zonal Headquarters 13 Ukpo; and now, to FCID, General Investigations, Abuja. Okonkwo is a serial petitioner.
“The most worrisome is the direct threat pronounced by his younger brother, when we were at Zone 13 Hq, Ukpo in the Assistant Commissioner’s office, when the young man threatened, saying in vernacular, that is it because somebody hasn’t fallen in Alor, that’s why you people haven’t run away from all this’.
“At the FCID, after hearing me explain each and every allegation in his petition, backed up with documentation to the satisfaction of the interrogating police officers, the Police discovered that the whole allegations against me were clearly false and baseless. I was then allowed to go home and to return when they need me.”
Ojukwu, who insisted that he is for peace in Alor, called on all Alor citizens who felt aggrieved or unhappy to come to a round table to discuss all grievances to find lasting peace consistent with Alor Constitution, and value system.
“We don’t have to set a bad precedence in for the younger ones. To do this, we don’t need the involvement of the police or any security agent or outsiders to do it for us. It is only Alor people that can do it themselves”, Chief Ojukwu stressed.
Ojukwu further revealed that the police team after hearing from him, set an August date when to invite Okonkwo.
“The Police expressed dismay that going by the content of documents I tendered, Okonkwo has no genuine reason to quarrel with me for not according him any special recognition.
“This is because, the Chief law Officer of Anambra State, that is the Attorney General/Commissioner for Justice in a letter dated August 22, 2023 to the community through their representative stated, ‘Finally, it’s the opinion of the Honourable Attorney General/Commissioner for Justice that since the motion for stay of execution had been dismissed, he should not parade himself as the Igwe of Alor or perform any function in the name of Igwe of Alor until the High Court judgement is overruled by the appellate Court.’
“In the interim, he is not the Igwe of Alor.
“Police investigators were not happy that Okonkwo didn’t mention orally or in his petition that he was dethroned and that attempts to secure a stay of execution of the High Court judgment which dethroned him were dismissed,” Ojukwu said.
Meanwhile, repeated calls and text messages to Okonkwo’s phone and visits to his Umuokwu village home in Alor met his absence, for his further comments.
