By Okey Maduforo Awka
Abacha Community in Idemili North local government area of Anambra state is currently boiling following conduct of election for the President General of the Town .
The conduct was reported to have taken place while the petition of the Akanato quarter of the Community is still pending at the the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs .
During the said election, many people were locked out and prevented from participating in the election and against the constitution of the Town Union , the election was conducted through option A4 .
However the Representatives of the Ministry led by Mr Chukwuma Joseph Echidiegwu were at the said election and urged them to set up a Peace Committee on the matter .
But for the quick intervention of the officers and men of the Anambra Police Command led by the Divisional Police Officer( DPO ) and a detachment of the Agunechemba Security Squad in the crisis would have deepened as the angry quarters of the Community stormed the venue for the election insisting that the election should not hold .
They agued that one section of the Community is holding the position of the Traditional Ruler, the Prime Minister and wants to produce the next President General of the area .
Consequent upon thier position, they boycotted the election contending that it is unacceptable to them in view of the known imbalance in the power sharing arrangements of the Town.
The Umudisi village currently have the Monarch, Prime Minister and had insisted that it would equally produce the President General which the Akanato quarter objected to , describing it as pure marginalization and injustice.
According to the leader of Akanato Chief Jonahs Okafor , it represents a shortchange for the other quarter to hold all positions in the Community demanding the rationale for such moves .
“So this is actually the matter and as a matter of fact we boycotted the election and those that took part in the election are those from the other quarter of the Community.
He also stated that the Chairman of the Electoral Committee, Mr Obinna Obika resigned a night before the election stating that he cannot be part of any action that would distabize the peace in the Community.
According to the resignation letter made available to by Chief Jonahs Okafor , Obika explained that;
“Unfortunately the on for seen controversies, disagreements and growing division among the various Clans over the distribution of leadership positions have created an atmosphere of tension, mistrust and uncertainty and what ought to be a process of collective responsibility and Community advancement had regrettably become a source of division, hostility and unrest.
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“It is deeply painful to witness a situation where brothers who ought to stand together for the common good of Abacha has been divided into opposite camps with threat of legal action has also taken a considerable toll on my personal peace of mind , well being and health”
“At this point I believe that it is in the best interest of my personal being and more importantly the peace and stability of my Community that I step aside and consequently my resignation as the Chairman of the Committee takes immediate effect”
Chief Jonahs Okafor said that their prayers to Governor Charles Soludo is to intervene in the matter because they are four villages while the other are three villages appealing to Soludo to stem the imbalance and the marginalization in Abacha Community.
“The Amanato people are peace loving people that respects constituted authority and law abiding and cannot take the laws into their hands hence we appeal to our Governor who believes in equity , fairness and good conscience to come into this matter and we have implicit confidence that he will do the needful ” he said.
Meanwhile security operatives are still on yellow mode for quick response to the unlikely event of security challenges.
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