The natives of Edeaniagu of Ishi-Ozalla Community in Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu State look gloomy. The stigma of their coloration as ‘non-natives’, ‘settlers’ and ‘visitors’ in their land unsettles them. Their most recent ordeal is their ostracisation by the larger Ishi-Ozalla community, depriving them the right to contest for the post of the traditional ruler of the community. The children are also made to feel inferior at school as they are being tagged ‘illegitimate’.
The Igweship tussle
The then traditional ruler of the community died around 2009, and contrary to the constitution of the community that another traditional ruler would emerge within one year, the son of the late ruler sat tight on the throne till 2017. The then Gov Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi had declared that any community that had no elected traditional ruler would be merged with the nearest one that had a traditional ruler. That was when the struggle to elect a traditional ruler ensued among the ten villages of Ishi-Ozalla. In the buildup, Don-Sylvester Chinedu Nweke, ex-nollywood actor, from Edeaniagu, became the front-runner to the throne.
Chinedu Nweke’s fame is because he is a philanthropist and voice of the voiceless, says Mrs Chiome Ugwu, a native. She continues, “He has been donating in millions for the upkeep of the entire community. Last year, he paid all the electricity bills of the community. He awards scholarships to indigent students, and sponsors Ozalla Christmas Candle Night on a yearly basis. I doubt if there is any village in the entire Ozalla that Chinedu Nweke has not impacted. But many stakeholders didn’t want him because they say Edeaniagu people are settlers.”
Prof Muna Okoye has been leading the protests against what she called “secret plots to enslave the people of Edeaniagu”. She says, “Many wanted Chinedu Nweke, but some people felt threatened. Against what the constitution said, they refused the president general to conduct the election because the then PG refused to disqualify Nweke on the basis of not being a native of the community. They called him ‘a visitor’.
“They then rewrote our constitution and created Edeaniagu as a village. It was formerly Umungwu. They merged us with some selected villages. The constitution was meant to cage us forever. On the day of the election, they brought military and scuttled it. With the way things were going, Edeaniagu people crowned Don-Sylvester Nweke their own traditional ruler, and began to answer Edeaniagu Royal Kingdom. As a result, the entire Ishi-Ozalla sent one Sylvanus Aninwechi who came to the village square and ostracised the entire Edeaniagu. They also directed that no one should sell or buy anything from Edeaniagu people. They brought the politics to the church. A member of our family was the head of the Catholic men’s group. He was beaten up at the church. He reported to the priest. The priest said he would look into it. Rather, he told the victim to return the documents of the church in his possession. We appealed to the head of the Nkanu deanery, and he ordered that the man be reinstated, but till today, the church refused.”
The stigmatization continues
Ngozi Nwafor changed her daughter’s school because of mockery she was subjected to. “Even school children were poisoned,” narrates Nwafor. “They began to call our children strange names. I took my daughter out of our community school because she refused going to school. Because we are smaller in number, they would beat our people at streams. Okada would refuse to carry our people. They said if anybody has any association with our people, a fine of N200, 000 would be paid. One of our elders, from Ndiagbo, went for a traditional marriage. They beat him, and he came home and became sick and died.”
Chief Peter Agu is the traditional prime minister of the kingdom. He laments, “My people are suffering. Before this dehumanization, everybody usually collaborated to do farm work in our community. But right now, they discriminate. If an Edeaniagu man calls them for a team farm work as it used to be, they would reject the offer. There is modern slavery.”
Natives denied UNTH’s jobs
The federal government, some years ago, relocated the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, to Ituku Ozalla. NewsNGR gathered that the two-third of the land where UNTH is situated is owned by the Edeaniagu race. Corporate social responsibility entails that host communities benefit from the gestures of such institution. UNTH authorities have not failed on this, but the original landowners have always been short-changed.
A native of Edeaniagu, Malachy Evo, said, “Any Edeaniagu person you see there is by his or her personal efforts. But once in a while, UNTH gives jobs to Ozalla. The privileged would share the slots among themselves without us because for them we are non-natives.”
Digging into the archives
There have been write-ups that tend to assert that Edeaniagu descendants are not aborigines of Ishi-Ozalla. The purveyors of such statement are mainly the descendants of Aninwangwu, one of those claiming that Chinedu Nweke is a non-native. One Chijioke Agbo wrote that Edeaniagu, the forbear of Edeaniagu village, was a servant to Aninwangwu.
NewsNGR went a step forward to unravel who are the settlers and the migrants in Ishi-Ozalla. A historian in the community, who refused to be mentioned to avoid victimization, says the history of who are the natives and the settlers in Ishi-Ozalla is distorted.
He states, “Edeaniagu was the ancient man colonial masters met when they came. Edeaniagu briefly joined the Native Authority as a warrant chief, and later, due to old age, sent his only son Onwude to be representing his people. Onwude one day brought a baby lion from Udi forest while returning from an assignment. The father was afraid that lions might devour his only son. That was how he delegated Chukwuani, the son of Aninwangwu, to take over the position at the Native Authority.
“That was the beginning of the rise of the Chukwuani’s. Aninwangwu, a migrant, from Akwukwo Utu, was Edeaniagu’s adopted son. Chukwuani held the power of a warrant chief and got intoxicated in it. By the time Aninwangwu and other villages migrated and got integrated into Ishi-Ozalla, Edeaniagu was the 12th generation of his race. But the Chukwuani kindred multiplied geometrically and became very powerful both in education and government, and want to change the tide.”
Prof Okoye is a progenitor of Edeaniagu. She says, “The relationship between Edeaniagu and Aninwangwu was built on trust. It was indeed Edeaniagu that gave Aninwangwu, and by extension the Chukwuani’s, an abode to live, which they still inhabit. Chukwuani people, who are the descendants of Aninwangu, have no one single land in Ozalla. The descendants are among those claiming that Edeaniagu people are not original inhabitants.”
State government’s double standards
Edeaniagu indigenes, it was gathered, ran to former Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for a rescue. The governor invited the stakeholders of the community, heard from them and approved a fresh election, and frowned at the orchestrated discrimination against Edeaniagu people, including the sacking of the president general without the consent of the concerned ministry.
Rather than conducting the election, the larger Ishi-Ozalla ostracized Edeaniagu people and conducted an election into the vacant throne without allowing Edeaniagu people to participate. Ugwuanyi heard it, and suspended the traditional ruler. He also set a panel of inquiry into the crisis. But Gov Ugwuanyi’s tenure elapsed without the committee submitting its report. Then came incumbent Gov Mbah.
Don-Sylvester Chinedu Nweke, the traditional ruler of Edeaniagu Royal Kingdom, said, “We were surprised that shortly after Easter this year, we heard that Gov Mbah has reinstated the suspended Igwe without the report of the committee set up. We cannot fight the governor. We now said in that case, let the reinstated Igwe rule his people; then let the state grant us an autonomous community so that I will rule my people. No staff of office was given to me. But it is not the government that made me the Igwe; it is my people.”
Victims lament
A student of Ishi-Ozalla said, “I can’t enter any car driven by a person from Edeaniagu. We are not allowed. My father will kill me if I enter.”
Chibuike Eze is a native of Chukwuani village. He says, “This act has deprived me of a job offer which a person from Edeaniagu promised him before the ostracisation. I went to him to submit my credentials. But because they are now excommunicated, I can’t go to his house again. He called me one day, and I told him that I would prefer to meet him outside our community. He became angry and never answered my calls again.”
Counter-narrative
Efforts to hear from stakeholders of the larger Ishi-Ozalla did not yield positive results. Their reinstated traditional travelled overseas, and no one agreed to speak on his behalf. Willy Chukwuani, who was to be interviewed, died before the agreed meeting. Michael Okpe, from the community, managed to say, “Our settlement was given to my ancestors by a family at Obodo Okwe, and not Edeaniagu.” He refused to discuss further. Chris Nwanyanwu, the PRO of the community, did not respond to calls placed to his line.
Edeaniagu and Nigeria’s Constitution
Nigerian constitution forbids discrimination under any guise. This is the view of human rights lawyer Aloy Ejimakor. In his words, “Such discriminatory practice against the so-called ‘settlers’ (as a particular community) is a breach of the fundamental rights of Edeaniagu people, and thus actionable pursuant to Section 42 (1) of the Constitution which provides that: “A citizen of Nigeria of a particular community, ethnic group, place of origin, sex, religion or political opinion shall not
be subjected either expressly by, or in the practical application of, any law in force in Nigeria or any executive or administrative action of the government, to disabilities or restrictions. No citizen of Nigeria shall be subjected to any disability or deprivation merely by reason of the circumstances of his birth.”
This report is with the support of the Civil Media Lab