-dissolves all committees.
-commends the commitment of Umuekpu stakeholders towards peace.
The Agwa Central Union, ACU, Umuekpu Peace Committee, during the weekend, commenced the first public hearing of the leadership crisis rocking the people of Umuekpu village in Mbano Autonomous Community Agwa in Oguta Local Government Area, Imo State.
The hearing held on Saturday, May 3, 2025, at the Umuekpu Anglican Church was led and presided over by the Vice-Chairman Prince Chidi Nwokocha, the President-General of Mgbala Agwa Autonomous Community, in the company of other members of the committee.
The hearing, which started around 11:45 am with an opening prayer by Supol Christian Akubuko (Rtd.), had some of the prominent members of the village and Agwa clan in general, like Prof. Amanze Unagha, the National Vice President-General of ACU and a member of the committee, and Comr. Johnbosco Chimokwu Obodo, the National Secretary-General of ACU and a secretary of the committee, was in attendance as they prayed to God to grant the house peaceful deliberations.
Prince Chidi Nwokocha, affectionately called “Ezembi,” who represented the Chairman of the ACU Umuekpu Mediation Committee, Mr. Nduka Ozor, who is also the National Treasurer of ACU, thanked the ACU leadership led by Benson Akunya Esq for their quest to see that the Umuekpu leadership crisis is resolved amicably.
Ezembi used the opportunity to appreciate all the people who attended the hearing, particularly the major actors from the warring camps, for their maturity and decorum in stating their views of placing brotherhood over self.
He passionately appealed to the actors and allies to prioritize the peace of Umuekpu and Agwa for unity and development over personal pursuits that are capable of breaching the peace Agwa is enjoying now after the period of a deadly crisis.
Nwokocha stated, “I want to thank everyone for honoring this invitation to talk about peace. Peace is the foundation of development in everything you do. Your commitment to this peaceful talk shows you want the unity and development of Umuekpu and Agwa.
“I also take this chance to appreciate the ÀCU for all their efforts in advancing a positive course in Agwa and constituting this committee headed by Mr. Nduka Ozor, who is unavoidably absent and has asked me to hold brief for him.
“Today, we have come to talk as brothers and friends. To find solutions to the lingering leadership loggerhead in Umuekpu, which is not palatable to the hearing and, if left unattended to, would degenerate and metamorphose into a full-blown crisis, which is not what Agwa needs for now. Umuekpu and Agwa need peace, unity, and development.
“The Agwa Central Union, being the apex body of Agwa, has done so well in bringing up this committee, and we here have to be as impartial an umpire as possible to see that we arrive at a logical conclusion of this hearing, which is not ending today”.
“For us to achieve this, I urge all of us to see the need to make sacrifices for the peace of Agwa. To let go of any past offense meted out against you either by Agwa or Umuekpu people; hence, the burden of leadership is not with tolerance and forgiveness”, he maintained.
According to him, the actors, as they are called out to tell the house their experiences in the saddles, there is a need to encourage them to maintain human respect and to be civil in narrating their stories, as well as to be honest and humble.
This, he said, would help them to manage the hearing professionally and peacefully, while thanking them for listening and promising to be truthful before the committee and the house.
The opening remarks of Prince Chidi Nwokocha were rendered in an atmosphere of the agitated crowd ready to do things in their way, but after the remarks, there was a feeling of calm amongst the parties and a reassurance of a fair hearing.
Furthermore, the Secretary of the Committee, Comr. Johnbosco Chimokwu Obodo sends greetings from the Secretariat of ACU and quickly apologizes to the people of Umuekpu for any inconvenience caused in the previous meetings that could not be held due to unforeseen circumstances.
Obodo emphasized the essence of peace and the strategic importance of Umuekpu in Agwa post-crisis peacebuilding, noting that the peace of Umuekpu is paramount to the Agwa clan.
“Let me add to what the presiding officer of the committee has told us: I want to sincerely thank all of us who have defied all the odds to avail ourselves of this hearing. ACU is for Agwa and is highly committed to the peace and development of Agwa”.
He further informed us that they are there to make peace and not to further polarise the protracted situation, and to help us achieve this peace, we should talk and discuss as brothers.
“This peace committee was properly constituted by the ACU leadership to look into the leadership impasses in Umuekpu people with a view of giving the parent body feedback. What this means is that we have the backing of ACU and Ndi-Agwa at large to honestly and truthfully wield into this crisis after a fair hearing, as we are doing today, tender our report to the leadership of ACU for onward action”
So, based on the understanding and the mandate given to the committee and the people of Umuekpu and Agwa who gathered, he noted, was to know from the actors and their cohorts whether to say yes or no that whatever the outcome of the committee’s reports on the crisis, they are going to accept it in good faith.
Consequent to this question, a voice vote was conducted within the Umuekpu people, and an overwhelming majority affirmed that they would accept the decision of the committee save for a loan voice, Hon. Moses Eze, and a major factor in the crisis.
However, Prince Chidi Nwokocha called the first speaker, Pastor Davison Ekene Onyejiekwe, the immediate chairman of Umuekpu Development Union (UDU) and the lead- narrator.
In his submissions, Onyejiekwe thanked the committee for making the hearing a reality and noted with joy that he has been yearning for that great opportunity to tell the people of Umuekpu and Agwa his side of the story amid the falsehoods peddled against him personally by his opponents.
He denied the accusations of selling Umuekpu land and collecting bribes to the tune of over Eleven million Naira and another Six million Naira.
Onyejiekwe narrated how his- led UDU made tremendous achievements, which included a painstaking search for the land dispute court proceedings and judgment between Umuekpu and Obibi-Ogbaku in Mbaitoli LGA, Imo at the National Archive Enugu State and its retrieval at the Imo State Judiciary.
Pastor Davison Ekene Onyejiekwe gave insight into the dissolution of his executive by Umuekpu stakeholders and the call for a substantive executive, for which he purchased the form for the position of chairman of UDU.
According to the immediate past Chairman, after the delays and postponement by the Eze of Mbano Agwa Autonomous Community HRH Eze S. Onuegbu Udo Mba I of Mba Agwa Autonomous Community, Oguta LGA, Imo State, instead of going into the elections as planned, a radio announcement signed by the former Sole Administrator of Oguta LGA, Hon. Ijeoma Offili, announced Hon. Moses Eze, aka Pawawa, as the interim committee chairman of UDU, a decision that Umuekpu people frowned at, which resulted in a counter announcement affirming that elections should be held.
Onyejiekwe further narrated how, after winning the elections and returning, he was arrested by Moses Eze and the police and was charged in court on spurious and trumped-up charges, but was released after the intervention of Umuekpu stakeholders.
He concluded by stating before the house that all the allegations of largesse and bribery leveled against him were mischief by his sworn enemies who lacked the moral footing to challenge his leadership and who could not stand the level of development and progress going on in Umuekpu under his watch.
Chief Hyacinth Izunwanne, who spoke during this hearing, supported the position of pastor Davison Ekene Onyejiekwe and added another caveat to the narratives.
He claimed that one of the disputed lands belongs to their kindred, which Umuekpu has not been fair to in their plight.
Hon. Moses Eze, on his part, narrated that he does not have any personal issues with Onyejiekwe because he is his younger brother and did not purchase a form for the disputed elections because he has led UDU as a chairman in the past.
He continued to stare at the house, and his point of misunderstanding with Ekene was when Ekene started challenging his government after being announced over the radio as the caretaker chairman of UDU; hence, he arrested him legally and charged him to court.
Pawawa used the time given to him to clarify his position as to why he was counted as a loan voice during voting.
According to him, his reason was based on the fact that some of the Umuekpu leaders, particularly the abroad members who he acknowledged as the major stakeholders in this hearing, are not here; hence, his reason that he will not accept the decision of the committee as finality and therefore ask the committee to see his commitment towards the peace of Umuekpu and Agwa as total.
Eze equally denied the statement made by Onyejiekwe that the charges he leveled against him did not include some of the charges Onyejiekwe narrated.
Eze, in the meantime, promised to make the court statement he wrote himself available to the ACU Peace Committee.
Adding to what Eze said, Mr Sixtus Chimuanya Mmadu, the chief security officer of Onyejiekwe during the lifespan of their government, accused Onyejiekwe of running a one-man show, fraught with high-handedness and secrecy with a few individuals.
Mmadu ‘s account centered on the alleged sale of land by Onyejiekwe after a tip-off by Mr. Highman of Amakohia, who gave him and Mr. Jude Okereke, the immediate past Vice-Chairman of UDU under Onyejiekwe, the sum of ₦200,000 in a bid to lure him.
At the end of the narrations by the parties, leading questions were asked from Prof. Amanze Unagha directed to Onyejiekwe and Hon. Chief Hycenth Izunwanne, a former chairman of UDU; Prince Chidi Nwoko, directed to Onyejiekwe and Mmadu; Obodo Chimokwu, directed to Onyejiekwe; Chief Gadaga Anushiem, directed to Onyejiekwe; Jude Okereke, directed to Eze and Mmadu; Comr. Stanley Amaechi, former secretary of Umuekpu Fact-Finding Committee, directed to Onyejiekwe, Eze, and Mmadu; and the messers, lead narrators, Pastor Davison Ekene Onyejiekwe, Sixtus Chimuanya Mmadu, and Hon. Moses Eze to each other.
All these questions were answered in view of the next hearing day and after the investigation of the committee in view of peace.
The DPO of Agwa Police Division, DSP Emeka, profoundly thanked the people for their patience and composure in stating their stories, the committee who invited him, and the Agwa Central Union for their great leadership.
He implored Umuekpu to see the discussion as a golden opportunity to make peace and advance the course of Umuekpu and the Agwa clan for development; hence, his presence as the DPO will not pay lip service to an act by anyone or individuals elected in breaching the peace of Agwa, even as he will be elated to hear that the crisis is resolved for good.
In appreciation, Prince Chidi Nwokocha thanked everyone for coming. He urged them to maintain restraint until the next hearing date, around the 22nd of May 2025.
He, therefore, announced the dissolution of all committees chaired by any one of the factions pending the conclusion of the ACU Umuekpu Peace Committee and their report.
Other people who attended the hearing were Chief Vitalis Chimezie Ekeh, President-General of Obudi Agwa Autonomous Community; Comr. Uzoma Zimero KC, President-General of Ubah Agwa Autonomous Community; Mr. Obinna Jumbo, ACU Secretary, Owerri branch; Police Sergeant Mmaduabuchi Ugwuegbu; Mr. Chinedu Izunwanne, Vice Chairman of the Umuekpu Fact-Finding Committee; and others.
