PROTEST AT ENUGU SECRETARIAT AS OBEAGU UGWUAJI RESIDENTS DEMAND DETHRONEMENT OF MONARCH OVER LAND ALLEGATIONS

Tensions escalated at the Enugu State Secretariat Complex as residents and community members from Obeagu Ugwuaji Autonomous Community in Enugu South Local Government Area staged a public protest against their traditional ruler, Igwe Christopher Nyia (Ikenga).

​Bearing placards with various inscriptions, the protesters—led by community representatives and town union leaders—marched from the Government House to the State House of Assembly and the Ministry of Chieftaincy Affairs. The aggrieved residents called on Governor Peter Mbah and state authorities to intervene immediately and dethrone the traditional ruler, accusing him of illicit land transactions, administrative high-handedness, and financial impropriety.

​Addressing state officials, the protesters alleged that ancestral land assets intended for community development had been diverted, creating deep factional divisions and instability. While receiving the delegation at the House of Assembly, representatives assured the protesters that legislative oversight mechanisms would be activated to investigate the petitions through formal panel hearings. Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Chieftaincy Affairs, Dr. Charles Egumgbe, appealed for calm, noting that the state government was deeply concerned by the recurring disputes and had initiated an administrative panel of inquiry to resolve the crisis.

​"We are here at the Secretariat to demand justice and the immediate dethronement of the traditional ruler over alleged land grabbing and administrative high-handedness. Our community lands, which should be used for development, have instead become a source of continuous conflict and division."

​Following the Secretariat demonstration, the Enugu State Government subsequently suspended the traditional ruler pending the outcome of the judicial and administrative panel set up to investigate all land grabbing and governance claims.