People of Odumodu in Umunya, Oyi local government area of Anambra state on Thursday said their traditional ruler, Igwe Kris Onyekwuluje should be held responsible for any calamity on any of their leaders.
The locals had alleged the monarch’s high-handedness including land-grabbing, indiscriminate harassment, brutality and arrest of members of the community.
The traditional ruler, while refuting the allegations, had raised alarm over plots by some members of the community, mostly from the Odumodu quarters to kill him.
He alleged that his life had been threatened seven times by his traducers who had resorted to calumny to tarnish his “hard-earned” reputation.
But speaking on Thursday through the Secretary, Odumodu Ebenabo Improvement Union, Sunday Esedo, the community said the monarch was being economical with the truth.
They said rather than the alleged plot to kill him, it was the monarch that was hunting for their lives.
He said they were ready to put their lives on the line than allow the monarch forcefully take their inheritance from them.
He said, “We’re here to address the allegations raised by the monarch that we’ve been planning to assassinate him.
“We want to let the whole world know that His Royal Highness is not asserting the obvious. Nobody in Odumodu has ever planned to kill him which he knows too well.
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“He moves around with security. The DSS men, the police are all in his convoy. All members of the vigilante sleep in his palace.
“Personally, I’ve been receiving threat messages on plans to attack me. I want to tell the whole world that if anything happens to me or any member of the executive, the Igwe should be held accountable.
“We’re ready to die. Let him kill all of us before snatching our lands from us.”
Esedo disclosed that the monarch had in 2015, made similar allegation against the entire Odumodu community which led to the arrest of the former chairman and five of his executives.
According to him, they were at the Oyi division police station on Wednesday at the instance of the DPO where they were arrested and detained for three hours, but not before they were issued with arrest and arraignment notice.
He said it took the intervention of the Deputy Commissioner of Police before they were released after they had protested.
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