Indigenes of Abacha community in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State on Tuesday protested at the Government House in Awka, urging Governor Chukwuma Soludo to intervene in a leadership crisis they fear could trigger violence.
The protesters, numbering in the hundreds, carried placards demanding the governor’s intervention to prevent a breakdown of law and order in the community.
Led by the Traditional Prime Minister of Abacha, Chief Jonas Okafor, the demonstrators accused the community’s monarch of undermining a power-sharing arrangement governing key leadership positions.
Okafor said Abacha comprises two major villages, Akanato and Umudisi, which operate an arrangement for sharing the positions of traditional ruler, traditional prime minister, Onowu and president general.
Under the arrangement, the traditional ruler and Onowu positions are held by the respective villages, while the president general’s position rotates among families that have held the Onowu title.
The protesters, who are from Akanato, alleged that the monarch had violated the arrangement by supporting the emergence of a president general from his own village.
Okafor said tensions were rising among youths in the community, adding that community leaders had been working to prevent them from resorting to violence.
“We are here to beg our governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, to intervene because the crisis in our community may get to a time when it may get out of hand,” he said.
He questioned why the monarch would work against the power-sharing arrangement through which he had benefited.
“We do not like violence to erupt in our community; that is why we embarked on this peaceful protest,” Okafor added.
The Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor, Dr Okechi Egbuna, who received the protesters, commended them for maintaining peace and assured them that Soludo would intervene to ensure an amicable resolution of the dispute.
