AN Anambra High Court sitting at Nnewi and presided over by Hon. Justice B.A. Ogbuli has sacked Dr Gregory Nwokaha from parading himself as the Oluoha (traditional ruler) of Mbosi in Ihiala Local Government Area.
The court also declared that the Oluoha stool of Mbosi is rotational among the three quarters of Mbosi and not a hereditary right of any quarter or village in the community.
The judge further declared: “I declare that it is the turn of Ihiteoha quarters of Mbosi, comprising Ubahinnaka, Ogwugwuekwe, Umuezike and Agunnaga villages, to present the next Oluoha (traditional ruler) of Mbosi.
“The 1st defendant (Dr Gregory Nwokaha) is hereby restrained from parading himself as Igwe Oluoha-elect or Igwe Oluoha of Mbosi on the basis of the purported election/selection made by Ichie Peter Okafor and Mr Cyril Mbachu respectively (1st set of defendants) on 27/04/2023.”
However, no costs were awarded to either the plaintiffs or the defendants by the presiding judge.
The judge handed down the judgment after hearing the submissions of counsel to the plaintiffs and defendants, citing several legal authorities to back up his decision.
Smart Obi Esq appeared for the plaintiffs, A.C. Obiajulu Esq (with C.M. Obijagwam Esq) for the 1st to 4th defendants, and A.C. Anaenugwu Esq, SAN (with N.D. Nnodum Esq and P.C. Afuba Esq) for the 5th and 6th defendants.
Recall that the 2nd set of defendants in the suit, Ozo Augustine Onyekwere and Mr Aloysius Eze (for themselves and on behalf of members of Umueze village, Isu-Mbosi quarters, Mbosi), had told the court during the hearing that the Oluoha stool of Mbosi was hereditary and not rotational, and that only people of Umueze (descendants of Dara Ezenyi) are enthroned as Oluoha of Mbosi.
They also averred that one late Okwereogu from Mkpo Ehihe village, Mbosi, was never an Oluoha but a tax collector who was convicted in 1917 by the customary court at Oguga, Ihiala, over alleged misappropriation of tax collected by him and extortion.
Reacting to the said imprisonment of Okwereogu in his judgment, the presiding judge said: “No doubt, Okwereogu might have been a warrant chief and imprisoned by the government, but that did not make him any less a traditional ruler of Mbosi.
“In Exhibit D23, at the last page, he was referred to as ‘Head Chief’, who was imprisoned for extortion in April 1917,” the judge recalled.
The plaintiffs in the suit included Chief P.C. Adione and Mr Titus Afumire (for themselves and on behalf of members of Ubahinnaka village, Ihite quarters, Mbosi, Ihiala Local Government Area).
Other plaintiffs were Ichie Christopher Muoka Obijekwu and Mr Celestine Nwachukwu (for themselves and on behalf of members of Ogwugwuekwe village, Ihiteoha quarters, Mbosi, Ihiala Local Government Area), as well as Ichie Simon Udegbe and Sir G.O.C. Obiwulu (for themselves and on behalf of members of Agwunnagu village, Ihiteoha quarters, Mbosi, Ihiala Local Government Area).
Fielding questions from newsmen outside the court hall shortly after the judge delivered his judgment, an indigene of Mbosi, Okeke Nwachukwu, said it was an abomination for the descendants of Okwereogu to organise a remembrance ceremony for him, having been a convict over a criminal act.
“They can’t deceive the people of Mbosi and the entire Ihiala people with their remembrance ceremony distraction because we know their history,” he stated.
