Anambra community protests, demands release of detained traditional ruler

By MICHAEL OVAT

Amanuke community in Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State, on Monday, protested against the detention of Chief Dennis Ezebuilo, its traditional ruler.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that the monarch was remanded in police custody by Justice Hyeladzira Ajiya Nganjiwa of Awka Federal High Court, following a case of alleged impersonation as the traditional ruler of Amanuke and related matters initiated against him by the police.

But the protesters, bearing placards some of which read ‘Leadership is not by force,’ ‘Amanuke is one with one king,’ ‘Igwe Dennis is our crowned king of Amanuke Eri,’ ‘Amanuke stands with Igwe Dennis Ezebuilo’,” described Chief Dennis as duly crowned traditional ruler by the community following extant laws of the land as against Chief Alphonsus Ezebuilo, his cousin who was eventually certified Igwe by the state government.

Addressing journalists, Chief Nweke Nwachukwu, said they would never accept Alphonsus as Amanuke’s monarch until ‘Igwe’ Dennis is recognised or certified by government and allowed to discharge his duties on the throne.

Also speaking, Mrs Maria Nwoye, and a Youth, Mr Moses Akum, expressed worry over the arrest of Dennis, insisting that he was not impersonating but generally accepted and crowned by both the young and the elders of Amanuke kingdom.

The traditional ruler of Amanuke, HRH Alphonsus Ezebuilo, had in an interview last week, said he sought justice from the court because he was crowned in 2014 by Amanuke people, and Anambra State Government duly certified him as Igwe on July 12, 2015. *Credit: Nigerian Tribune