According to the family, Igwe Odenigbo and Moses Izuchukwu have been held in prison custody for over a week on holding charges, accused of arson, promoting local war, assault on police officers, and malicious damage to property valued at N3 billion.
The children of Igwe Ekwueme Odenigbo, the traditional ruler of Akpakume Ancient Kingdom in Enugu State, are seeking help after their 86-year-old blind father, Igwe Odenigbo; brother, Solomon and the traditional ruler’s caregiver, Moses Izuchukwu, were allegedly unlawfully arrested and detained by the Nigeria Police Force.
According to the family, Igwe Odenigbo and Moses Izuchukwu have been held in prison custody for over a week on holding charges, accused of arson, promoting local war, assault on police officers, and malicious damage to property valued at N3 billion.
However, the family has described the allegations as false and fabricated by Mr. Livinus Okolo, alleging that he has been trying to take over the throne and control the community’s resources.
The family alleges that Mr. Okolo, backed by the Commissioner for Local Government, Rural Development & Chieftaincy Affairs, Deacon Okey Ogbodo, has been terrorising the community and trying to dethrone Igwe Odenigbo.
They claim that Mr. Okolo’s actions are motivated by his desire to exploit the community’s mineral resources through a proxy company he brought to the community.
Addressing some journalists in Enugu on Sunday, Pastor Solomon Ekwueme and his sister Roseline Ekwueme, who spoke for the family, called for the intervention of Governor Peter Mbah, Senator Osita Ngwu, and well-meaning Nigerians to ensure justice prevails and secure the release of their father and brother from prison.
Pastor Solomon Ekwueme, who read a written address on behalf of their family, recalled that his father had written to the police authorities including the Inspector General of Police and so many other government agencies and offices over the lingering crisis and after the said Okolo allegedly invaded his palace with armed thugs and carted away several valuables including money.
Solomon regretted that the police and all the government agencies did not act until the crisis degenerated into burning of houses in the community by youths following the invasion of the Igwe’s palace. He also lamented the subsequent arrest of the traditional prime minister of the community by security agents, allegedly on the orders of Okolo, with the connivance of his collaborators in the Enugu State police command.
The family said: “It is truly heartbreaking for us to be called back to Enugu with the news that our aged and blind father, a retired elder in the Redeemed Christian Church of God and the king of an entire community has been locked up by the Nigerian police and charged to a magistrate court and subsequently sent to the prison at the behest of a man that has been nothing short of a terror to the entire people of Akpakwume community, Mr Livinus Okolom, Alias Zion.”
Odenigbo’s children stated that trouble began on December 23, 2024 when Okolo allegedly invaded their father’s palace with about 20 men, armed with guns, axes and machetes.
According to them, the assailants beat their parents and took away their father’s staff of office and other valuables, claiming that Igwe Odenigbo had been dethroned and he, Okolo, was now the acting Igwe because Igwe was involved in illegal mining so the government had decided to remove him.
They pointed out that following the alleged attack, irate youths in the community went and destroyed some part of Okolo’s house.
According to them, Igwe Odenigbo on December 24, petitioned the police over the attack on his palace but no arrest was made because Okolo is said to be highly connected and has the backing of Governor Mbah and the Commissioner for Chieftaincy Matters, Chief Okey Ogbodo.
They went further to explain that when the youths destroyed Okolo’s house over his alleged attack on their Igwe, Okolo petitioned the police and got the traditional prime minister elect, Onowu-elect, Chief Marius Ezeanyanwu, arrested, claiming that it was he who instigated the destruction of his house.
According to the family, Ezeanyanwu’s arrest further angered the youths of the community who then burnt down Okolo’s house.
Based on the arson attack on Okolo’s house, he was said to have petitioned the police and on January 9, 2025, they invited their brother, Izuchukwu and their father for questioning but detained them afterwards.
Igwe Odenigbo, 86, and his son, Solomon Ekwueme, have been held at the Enugu Correctional Service Centre since January 9, 2025, following a petition filed against them by a prominent community member, Mr. Livinus Okolo, also known as Zion.
The family said, “We the children of HRH, Igwe Ekwueme Odenigbo, Pastor Solomon Ekwueme and Ozioma Roseline Ekwueme sit here today to appeal to the Executive Governor of Enugu State, His Excellency, Dr. Peter Mbah, the Senator representing Enugu West, Distinguished Senator Osita Ngwu, the Executive Chairman of Udi Local Government Area, Engr Hyginus Ogbonnia Agu and well-meaning Nigerians to come to our help and effect the immediate release of our 86-year-old blind father and our younger brother from the Nigerian correctional center Enugu formally known as prison.
“We are pleading with Governor Peter Mbah to come to our aid and nip this issue in the bud before it becomes worse than it currently is. Our father is a sick, 86-year-old blind man with no capacity to inflict hurt on anyone. He has faced all kinds of tribulations in the hands of this same Mr. Livinus Okolo and his cohorts. Our brother is in no way a person of violence and would not engage in the activities he has been accused of.”
When contacted, Chief Livinus Okolo, denied the allegations against him, saying the police and the state government investigated the matter and made the arrests.
He accused the monarch of instigating youths to burn his house and the houses of other prominent leaders of the town.
Okolo, who claimed that he had been appointed by the state government to supervise the affairs of the community, disclosed that “no fewer than 14 houses were either destroyed or set ablaze by the youths of my community, who are working for the suspended monarch”.
He added that “over N30 billion has been lost by the community to the crisis”.
“Part of the crisis in the community was the discovery of some mineral resources,” he said.
He claimed that the incarcerated monarch sold the community land to prospective miners without due process.
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