Tension in Enugu as Community Is Deserted Following Deadly Violence

For months, Akpakwume/Nze community in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State has lived like a place caught between war and silence. Once a quiet rural settlement, it has become a landscape of fear, gunfire, fleeing villagers, abandoned homes and unburied bodies hidden in bushes. Young people speak in whispers. Elders hide. Those who remain say they sleep with one eye open.

Residents heap the blame on the doorsteps of one Chief Livinus Okolo, a.k.a Zion, whom they said has pushed his personal ambition beyond limits. According to them, what began as a contest over traditional leadership has spiralled into a full-blown crisis, arrests, petitions, shootings and allegations of intimidation.

The community insists that nearly every recent tragedy, arrest, disappearance, attack, police raid, disrupted election and tension in the community began with the actions of one man. And they are now crying out for help.

The Onowu of the community, Chief Ezeanyanwu Marius, spoke with bitterness and exhaustion from the desolate community. He said the community has been crippled since December 2024, when a power struggle over the traditional throne exploded.

Marius said: “On the 23rd of December, 2024, one of our stakeholders, Livinus Okolo, the former Onowu of Akpakume, his tenure expired, he became the Onowu in 2016 when the Igwe was crowned. So, his tenure expired in 2024. Another Onowu, being myself, was elected in November 2024.”

But instead of stepping aside, he said, Zion allegedly struck back: “On 31st December, the former Onowu went and took the staff of office and certificate of recognition of the Igwe. He brought thugs to take them. There was no letter from the government saying the Igwe had been dethroned or demoted. He told our Igwe that he made him Igwe and he would take it from him.”

The community petitioned the Inspector-General of Police. But what followed, the Onowu said, pushed Akpakwume from dispute to disaster.

He recalled that the former Onowu accused the Igwe of selling communal land (96 plots), with claims of coal and oil deposits therein. But, according to Marius, nobody has ever seen such land.

“On the 13th of August, he brought Aguleri security to our community. He quartered them at Ama Afor Civic Centre, which he built for the community. At night, we started hearing gunshots and our youths mobilised and apprehended them.”

The Onowu said the men, when arrested, made shocking confessions. “One of them confessed that it was Uche Ugwu, the Speaker of Enugu State House of Assembly, who sent them. He said Livinus told him that Fulani herdsmen had taken over our community, but when they arrived, they were asked to attack and kill our youths,” the Onowu stated.

The suspects were handed over to the police, and according to him, transferred to the Crack Squad.

From that day, the community said, trouble kept multiplying. The Onowu continued: “We have also had incidents including the killing of cattle by people sent by Livinus. All these were done to unsettle the community.

“We have all gone to prison because of this matter. I have gone to prison. The Igwe has gone to prison. His son has gone to prison. Our community lawyer has gone to prison. The former youth vice chairman has also gone to prison. All these people have been imprisoned because of only this one man.”

The fragile peace finally broke on a night the palace secretary was to be arrested. According to the Onowu, those men sent by Zion stormed the community that night in a bid to pick up the palace official.

“When they came at night to pick him up, the youths said the young man was not a criminal. When they started shooting, there was confusion as our people thought they were the same Aguleri boys that were brought to kill our youths,” he narrated.

According to him, what followed was a military-style siege: “About 15 Hilux vans fully loaded with armed policemen invaded our community. They started shooting sporadically. Some of our people received gunshot wounds. About two are feared dead. One of the bodies, Chimuanya Obodo, is still unburied and there was no vehicle to convey it to the mortuary.

“No one knows exactly how many died that night. Many believe corpses lie in the bushes where villagers fled.

“This man, Zion, insists he will be in charge of everything in this village. He doesn’t allow us have an Onowu. He said we will not have a PG. He said our Igwe will not function. He insists because he has worked with a former governor and because he has made money that he is above every other person. That is the problem.”

The traditional ruler, Ekwueme Nwokolo Odenigbo, spoke softly, like a man holding pain deeper than his voice could carry. He has refused to flee the community even when others did.

He said: “No one is here in this community. But I told God that I will never leave my community. I built this house before I became Igwe. So, I am waiting for the will of God to be done.”

The monarch disclosed that the local government area chairman visited the area. But he was expecting a more decisive and definite action: “I am still waiting for the government to intervene. Akpakwume is now like where there was a civil war. We want government to come to our rescue. We want peace. No one will build a house and bring a bulldozer to bring it down.”

However, the Enugu State Police Command told the story differently. According to them, on November 3, 2025, their officers stormed the community to clamp down on suspected cultists and illegal arms holders. Instead of peaceful arrests, gunfire exploded. The attackers, according to the police public relations officer, Daniel Ndukwe, “ambushed” operatives.

“The operatives swiftly responded with superior firepower, forcing many of the criminal elements to flee with varying degrees of gunshot injuries,” Ndukwe said.

According to him, 13 suspects were arrested; a locally made single-barrel gun was recovered, while some vehicles belonging to the police and civilians were damaged.

Ndukwe said the command would stop at nothing to ensure that all those involved in the attack and other related criminal activities were brought to justice.

In all these, many members of the community insist that the growing tension allegedly induced by Zion drew the police to the area. And as a correlation, the youths reacted out of fear after months of armed invasions.

Regardless, the most painful chapter for many indigenes was what they term the desecration of the throne, the night the monarch’s palace was invaded in December last year.

According to the Igwe, Zion invaded his palace with more than 20 gunmen. Speaking from Enugu, where he said he was receiving treatment from the trauma, Igwe Odenigbo said: “He invaded my palace with over 20 hefty men carrying axes, machetes, guns and sticks. They attacked and took away my staff of office and certificate of oath.

“Livinus told me that Enugu State government had already dethroned me and I have ceased to be the Igwe of Akpakume. I told him that if the government has done that, it is not his job to come here and forcefully take the staff of office and my certificate, which the government gave me.

“He shouted me down and nearly strangled my wife but I told her to keep quiet because of all the heavy men.”

The palace secretary saw the incident as a cultural taboo: “It’s an abomination. Nobody can do to his father what Livinus Okolo did to Igwe Odenigbo on the 23rd of December. He desecrated the palace.

“They went inside Igwe’s bedroom and carted away the staff of office, certificate, two iPhone 15 Pro Max, gold and money brought to him after their church crusade.”

He maintained that the throne was not vacant and cannot be hijacked through violence.

The youth leader, Emmanuel Obodugo, also spoke with fury: “What they did to our Igwe is very bad. We know the youths that followed Livinus Okolo to invade and cart away things from the palace. They are our people. It is a disgrace to the youths of Akpakwume, but they will never go unpunished.”

In a petition to the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, they accused Livinus Okolo, along with alleged collaborators, of conspiracy, intimidation, forgery, impersonation, contempt of court and acts likely to cause breach of peace.

According to them: “Akpakwume had existed in peace until 2009 when the principal suspect began a cruel village political enterprise.”

They alleged he demolished property, forged a power of attorney to sell community land, attempted to withdraw N105 million from an escrow account, and sold licences to timber merchants without accounting to the community.

They further claimed he uses the police to harass indigenes and enlists criminal gangs to terrorise opponents.

“The motive is to subdue the peace-loving people of the community and rip the community off financially and economically.”

Responding to the allegations, Chief Livinus Okolo (Zion) denied any wrongdoing. He accused the traditional ruler of secretly planning to sell communal land, among other allegations.

He said: “The dethroned traditional ruler of Akpakwume and his brother, Matthew Ani, have allegedly hatched a secret plan to sell communal land. In their bid to actualize this ambition, they were said to have adulterated the community’s constitution, removed the Onowu and legitimate cabinet members, and replaced them with some questionable individuals.

“Reports indicate that they subsequently hired miscreants and hoodlums who allegedly attacked members of the community, inflicting severe injuries on several persons. Not satisfied, the attackers reportedly went further to set houses ablaze, destroying properties estimated at over N3 billion.

“As of this moment, the hoodlums are said to still be terrorizing residents of Akpakwume, particularly those who have refused to support their alleged illegal activities.

“I am, therefore, appealing to Dr. Peter Mbah, the governor of Enugu State, to kindly use his good office to intervene and come to the aid of the peace-loving people of Akpakwume, who now live in constant fear. More than 14 families have been rendered homeless by this unfortunate situation.”

Meanwhile, hope flickered recently when the Anglican Archbishop of Enugu Province, Most Rev. Sosthenes Ikechukwu Eze, intervened.

According to a community leader who pleaded not to be named: “He called the Executive Governor of Enugu State and pleaded that he should use his power to bring peace in Akpakwume/Nze community. To the glory of God, a representative of the governor came the same day to the Igwe’s palace.

“We trust God that through his prayers and immediate intervention of the governor, Akpakwume/Nze will have peace and unity again.”

In all honesty, the crisis in Akpakume is no longer about land, elections or royal titles. It has become a fight for survival. Homes are deserted. Many families have fled. Some bodies are yet to be recovered. Others lie unburied.

The Igwe is in his palace but lives like a prisoner. The Onowu says leadership cannot function. The youths say they will not surrender to intimidation. The elderly say the community has never seen this type of darkness.

The fear of Akpakwume community members is that without urgent intervention, their land may never know peace again.