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From George Onyejiuwa, Owerri
The leadership of Mbaishii Youths in Ngor-Okpala council of Imo State has slammed operatives of the state Police Command over the arrest and detention of the Traditional Ruler of the Eziama community, His Royal Highness, Eze Hyacinth Nwamadi, Nma 11 of the Eziama Ancient Kingdom.
The group said that the arrest and detention of the royal father smacks of gross disrespect and desecration of the community’s traditional stool.
The youths demanded the immediate release of the monarch and the other alleged illegally detained youths of the community, warning that if the unlawful arrests and hostilities do not cease immediately, the community would be forced to seek an alternative means to defend itself, a path they said may ultimately prove inconvenient for both parties.
A press statement, yesterday, signed by the President, Dr Kelechi Onyeike, and the Secretary, Osinachi Okere, partly read: “In a shocking disrespect for traditional authority, the Imo State Police Command went as far arresting and detaining our revered royal father, HRH Eze Hyacinth Nwamadi, Nma II of the Eziama Ancient Kingdom, following a petition linked to the ongoing land dispute.
“This desecration of our traditional institution was accompanied by a brutal night raid on August 16, 2026. Police officers invaded our community and abducted a young man who had just concluded his wedding ceremony earlier that day, having recently returned from Ghana. This newlywed groom was dragged out of his home barely hours after exchanging marital vows, robbed of his honeymoon, and forced to spend his first night of marriage in a police cell.”
Continuing, “When Mr. Chikezie, a concerned community member, questioned the lawfulness of the operation, he was violently assaulted and taken into custody, alongside a minor under 18 years of age. As the police convoy departed through the Eziama community, officers fired gun shots indiscriminately into the air, causing widespread terror while seizing more youths who were peacefully going about their businesses.
“Credible reports confirm that this wave of repression stems from a petition submitted to the state police command, regarding the alleged destruction of a fence at the site of Evangelist Ebuka Obi’s Zion Ministry in Mbaishii. This same dispute previously led to the tragic killing of Okechukwu Nwafor, who was shot dead in his village last year, and is yet to be buried.”
However, the youth group has called on the Zion Prayer Movement and Evangelist Ebuka Obi to reach an amicable settlement with the host land owners, rather than relying on police harassment against the owners of the land.
“The people of Mbaishii are naturally accommodating. We simply request that Evangelist Ebuka Obi and the Zion Prayer Movement Outreach amicably settle with the host landowners rather than relying on police harassment, intimidation, unlawful arrests of youths, which will only deepen the crisis. We are not averse to development or against the Zion Prayer Movement, but the lingering disputes over the acquisition of people’s land should be settled with the real landowners”.
