Enugu Agidi: Rising tension in Anambra community

• Traditional ruler, town union president at loggerheads over arrest of palace guard

From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha

Enugu-Agidi community, Njikoka Local Government area of Anambra State has been in the news recently. There are escalating tension in the community following startling revelations and discoveries made since the arrest of one Chukwudi Tansi accused of gunrunning, kidnapping and other sundry crimes.

Anambra state has witnessed a flurry of criminal activities in recent times. Violent crimes of killings and kidnapping, including car snatching, were reported randomly across different parts of the state.  The state governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo in response to the growing concerns over insecurity in the state, launched a special security operation codenamed Operation Udo ga Achi and Agunechemba on Saturday 18th January  2025.  The security outfit went to work swiftly and has recorded several breakthroughs in smashing various criminal syndicates.

 

Ebuka Onuorah

On 30th January 2025, the Operation Udo ga Achi troops comprising a joint team of security operatives, carried out a raid in a reported kidnappers’ hideout and alleged armoury location at Enugu –Agidi community about 12.45 am. They arrested Chukwudi Tansi and allegedly recovered from him, two Ak-47 rifles, eight pump action guns, four locally made pistols, three packets of cartridges totalling 101 pieces, four empty magazines, three cutlasses, one radio, one motorcycle and some charms.

Before the arrest and discoveries, Chukwudi Tansi, Saturday Sun gathered, was recruited as a member of the Enugu-Agidi vigilante operatives allegedly at the instance of the traditional ruler, Igwe Michael Okekeuche against the recommendations of the Town Union President, Hon. Ebuka Onuorah and some other stakeholders in the community who reportedly kicked against his nomination.

Tansi also served as the traditional ruler’s palace guard at a point before his arrest.

 

Igwe Okekeuche

Tansi’s latest arrest is also not his first brush with the law. The reporter gathered that he was known before now as a Biafran agitator who reportedly carried guns.

In April 2024, the President General of the town, Ebuka Onuorah wrote a petition against him to the police for which he was arrested and six rifles recovered from him.  But after some weeks of detention in Abuja, his bail was secured allegedly by the Igwe of Enugwu-Agidi,  Igwe Michael Okekeuche. When the traditional ruler insisted that Tansi would not only be a member of the community vigilante but also the commander, the Town Union President General kicked against it and this caused serious rift between the two.

An indigene of Enugu –Agidi, Chikelue Okeke told the reporter that the matter lingered for long, thereby affecting the security architecture of the community.

“Sane minds in the community kicked against the nomination of Chukwudi Tansi as a member of the community vigilante in Enugu Agidi because many of us knew his antecedents, but Igwe refused to listen to any voice of reason. It got to a stage that when government needed 20 names from the community as members of the vigilante who will be remunerated, it became an issue here to the extent that Clem Aguiyi, the then local government chairman of Njikoka, ordered that the community armoury should be domiciled at the police station so that guns would not be found in the hands of any unauthorised person.  Now that Chukwudi has been arrested and various revelations are coming out, the person who has been aiding and abetting him now wants to cleverly exonerate himself but the evidence is glaring” he said.

Accusations and counter accusations

Since the arrest of Chukwudi Tansi and the recovery of various weapons from him, accusations and counter accusations have been rife in Enugu-Agidi community about whom Tansi was working for before his arrest.  While the camp of the traditional ruler are bent on pushing the blame on the town union president, the PG on his own part is saying that the facts are there to indict the Igwe on the matter and that the law must take its course.

The Traditional Ruler, Igwe Okekeuche in a statement through his Press Secretary, Ichie Ifeanyi Ndulue  refuted claims linking him to the suspect and criticized the PG , Ebuka Onuorah for allegedly spreading falsehoods.

He called for a thorough investigation into the matter to demystify those he accused of collaborating with Mr Tansi and to ensure justice takes its course. The traditional ruler also denied having any ties or personal dealings with the arrested Tansi.

Regarding the enlistment of Tansi into the 20-man vigilante team requested by the state government, Igwe Okekeuche, through his secretary, clarified that his role as Chairman of the Enugwu-Agidi Security Council required him to rely on nominations from village chairmen, which were then screened by the council. He emphasized that no objections were raised about Tansi’s inclusion.

“My take is that Ebuka Onuorah should not hide under the guise of the arrest of Chukwudi Tansi to discredit Igwe Enugwu-Agidi. He should be bold enough to admit that his fallout with His Highness stems from sundry petitions regarding his alleged involvement in various nefarious activities” Ndulue stated.

But the PG, Ebuka Onuorah countered the claims made by the press secretary to the traditional ruler and said that evidence abound on the relationship between the suspect and the traditional ruler.  The PG also wrote a letter to the governor and other relevant security agencies over the threat to his life by the traditional ruler and his efforts to ensure that the right things are done in the community.

“How can the traditional ruler say that Chukwudi Tansi is working for me when I personally wrote a petition against Chukwudi on April 4th 2024 detailing cases of unlawful possession of firearm, cultism and threat to life with firearm and conduct likely to cause breach of peace in Enugu-Agidi?  While investigation was on-going, Igwe Okekeuche masterminded his bail, claiming that Chukwudi is his palace guard.

“I believe that a thorough investigation would calm the tension already generated by the assertion of the Igwe-in-Council that Chukwudi was only but a set-up. Set up by who?  The import of the Igwe’s assertion is that Operation Udo ga Achi is a political witch-hunt too by the state and that the success recorded so far is a frame-up of individuals by the state,” he stated.

Denial by Tansi’s village

The community of the arrested suspect, Chukwudi Tansi has denied ever nominating him as their representative in the Enugu-Agidi vigilante group as claimed by the traditional ruler. The Anaofia-Etiti Welfare Association, in a statement signed by their Chairman, Ozo Nonso Ifebunso and Secretary Mr Chinedu Mmuo Ututu, said the nomination was purely the traditional rulers’ personal decision and action.

“This is to inform the general public, especially the good people of Enugwu-Agidi, that Chukwudi Tansi was never at any given time nominated/appointed a representative of Anaofia-Etiti in the composition of the Enugwu-Agidi vigilante group.

“This notification became necessary following a false narrative by the Chief Press Secretary to Igwe Mike Okekeuche, Ichie Ifeanyi Ndulue on February 4 2025 that Anaofia-Etiti people “screened and nominated “Chukwudi Tansi” her representative in the 20-man vigilante group for Enugwu-Agidi.

“His appointment/nomination was solely done by Igwe Mike Okekeuche (Okpalariam III) without recourse to the good people of Anaofia-Etiti Enugwu-Agidi, the statement posited.

Meanwhile, some concerned stakeholders in Enugu-Agidi community have written Governor Soludo on the need to protect those who volunteer relevant security information to the agencies. They cited the situation in the community presently, noting that the life of the President General of the Town Union is at great risk because of his relentless effort to ensure that the tide of criminality in the community is stemmed down. 

They said: “Mr Governor, you may have noticed some deliberate misinformation and disinformation by people who want to play politics with security. Please, why noting some operational errors, we will encourage you to remain focused on the goals:  Defeat the criminals. Do not allow them any space to regroup in our state and put measures in place that will maintain internal vigilance. Anambra can be one of the safest places to live in Nigeria if you sustain this effort.

“One of the factors that contributed to the massive success recorded so far is ‘ See something, Say something’. The whistle-blowers must be protected, and information handled discretely. Also, there should be no partiality in the treatment of verified cases so as to gain public confidence.

“Mr Governor, we decided to raise this issue with you due to what is happening in Enugwu Agidi, where, based on credible intelligence, Agunechemba successfully raided a criminal syndicate and armourer’s hideout. A suspect was arrested, and an armada of arms recovered.

“Since this recovery was made, the hirelings of Igwe of Enugu-Agidi, Igwe Mike Okekeuche, have been all over the community’s Whatsapp platform accusing the PG as being responsible for the snitch. They have been making allegations against the PG, suggesting he sold intel to Agunechemba. They are not interested in what was recovered, what the items are doing with the suspect, and who his collaborators are. 

“Let’s assume without conceding that the PG is the whistle-blower, what crime has he committed to warrant inciting the community against him by the hirelings sponsored by the Igwe and some of his cabinet members?  Mr. Governor, under these circumstances, who will see something and say something again? The life of the PG is endangered because the suspect is not a lone wolf. His group and enablers will obviously want to eliminate the PG”. 

“Before the PG Enugwu-Agidi or any whistle-blowers become another statistics of those killed by criminal syndicates, we urge you to order a thorough investigation on those causing incitement against the PG Enugwu-Agidi and take decisive action to serve as a deterrent to criminals and enablers, no matter how powerful they might be.

“The battle against insecurity that you have initiated is a battle that you cannot afford to lose and you need public support and the willingness of the people to confidently see something and say something without the fear of intimidation and harassment.  The criminals and their enablers must be punished without discrimination or partiality. As we write, the house where these items were recovered from is still standing, raising more questions than answers. Thank you in anticipation of your anticipated intervention.”

A security consultant, Chris Adigwe who reflected on the situation in Enugu-Agidi community told Saturday Sun that the best option is for the security agencies to do an unbiased investigation into the issues and incident so as to ensure that justice prevails.

“Somehow, insecurity is rife in Anambra because criminals have infiltrated the communities’ vigilante group. Like in this case, what is the Igwe’s vested interest in insisting that a known criminal flagged red must be a member of the vigilante team and also its commander? Who are those protecting the criminals and who are they working for? With the armada of weapons recovered from this lone suspect, it is important that the security agencies extract as much information as they can from him as his arrest can lead to more discovery and resolve many criminal cases.  The PG of the community must be protected at all cost by the government. The young man has put his life on the line for the people of Enugu-Agidi and nothing bad should happen to him” Adigwe stated.

All efforts by the reporter to speak with the traditional ruler of Enugu-Agidi community, Igwe Michael Okekeuche, in order to get his reactions on the issue were fruitless. Several calls made to his mobile phone by the reporter were not answered, just as messages sent and were delivered to his phone and Whatsapp lines on Wednesday February 12, 2025 between 9.05am and 10.39 am were not responded to till the time of filing this report.