Thirty-eight-year-old Igwe Emmanuel Mbah of Oruku community, Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State was addressing members of his community in a town-hall meeting on December 26, 2020 when policemen allegedly stormed the venue and shot him dead. In this interview with RAPHAEL EDE, the monarch’s elder sister, Amaka Mbah, speaks about the family’s quest for justiceIt is the greatest shock of our life.
I don’t know if anybody gets justice in Nigeria but in this particular case, I don’t think the police and the people who probably sponsored them will go scot-free because there is God in heaven who will pay evil-doers in their own coins. It is the saddest thing ever, a first-degree murder in this country and just after theYou are insinuating that the policemen who stormed the meeting were sponsored.
There are three suspects. The three suspects are the villagers who came with them . I never followed up the controversy on the chieftaincy title but I knew of a case in court that was struck out by Justice Okon Abang at the Federal High Court in Abuja. He had lawyers that were involved and all the court papers are with them . So, some villagers just came to the meeting and started pointing at people and then the police started shooting and people started running away.
Is there any link between his killing and the age-long war between your community, Oruku, and Umode community? The crisis of the Umode community dates back to when I was a young girl in secondary school or even primary school. Whatever is causing this crisis, I don’t know. I grew up hearing that the people of Umode are outcasts who are not allowed in their community. I heard that they used to kill them but at some point the people of Umode said they were also entitled to the chieftaincy title and that was what caused that war. So, my brother and other youths who were overseas resolved to make peace.
Later the government will say our security is working. Keep it u.