Another community in Enugu State may soon be soaked in its own blood, a group warned. For well over a decade, Amankanu Ohofia Oduma in Aninri local government area has been warring over their traditional stool – a tussle that is now coming to a deadly peak.
According to the group, THE INDIVISIBLE UMUOLO FAMILY, it is time for Enugu State Government to come in and settle the lingering conflict as it is getting out of hands.
“We want peace. Our people want peace. Amankanu deserves peace. But there cannot be real peace unless there is, first, FAIRNESS. We are calling on the Enugu State Government, Bar Ndubuisi Peter Mbah, Aninri council chairman Hon. Ugochukwu Nwanjoku, and the general public to come to the rescue of our dear land (Amankanu Ohofia Oduma)
“Our land has been under fire for atleast the past 10 years after we were granted autonomy,” the group said in a statement obtained by the press.
Amankanu Ohofia Oduma, a sister Community to the famed Ndumeze ancient kingdom, is constitutionally grouped into two among the 9 kindreds – Amankanu Ndi Ulo (Group A) and Amankanu Ndi Agu (Group B). For ages, the two brothers had co-existed peacefully until they merged as autonomous community years back. Their constitution provides, among other things, that the kingship should be rotating “in a strict order of seniority.” While Umuolo kindred is the elder, some individuals “has been shamelessly crafty”, since trying to twist “our hands and take what belongs to us,” the statement read.
Insisting that their “birthright is not for sale”, Umuolo kindred said that it is their turn to produce the pioneer king of the autonomous community.
This is yet another instance of such conflicts that are hitting rural communities across Enugu State in recent times.