Prince Ojukwu’s Death: Tension In Awka-Etiti
The mystery surrounding the gruesome murder of Prince Angus Chukwuma Ojukwu, first son of the former traditional ruler of Awka-Etiti in Idemili South local government area of Anambra state, Joachim Okwudili Ojukwu, has sent the royal family and the community into panic mode.
Orient Weekend gathered that Prince Ojukwu was killed by yet-to-be identified assailants around 8:30 pm on September 7, 2020, in his Nkolofia country home in Awka-Etiti. Even as his community leaders and police authority in Anambra state were making frantic efforts to unravel the mystery surrounding the murder, tension has soared amid suggestion of plausible leads to solving the puzzle. So cited are the deceased’s controversial bid to succeed his father, business deal gone wrong and possible cold war within the royal family.
A source, simply identified as Miss Abigail, who claimed to be the deceased’s fiancée and who was with him when the tragic incident took place, told Orient Weekend that she had lived with the deceased in Awka Etiti during the coronavirus lockdown. Abigail spoke from her hospital bed where she was being treated for injuries she sustained while escaping from the assailants.
Estate sharing feud
She suggested that the death may not be unconnected with the problems within the royal family; problems involving the deceased’s mother, his siblings and the deceased’s wife that bore three kids for him. The Cross-River state born lady disclosed that she accompanied the deceased to the police headquarters in Awka on September 7, 2020 where he told the commissioner of police, CP John Abang, that his life was in danger.
She claimed: “After laying his complaints, the CP called the queen mother on phone, asking her to come with the prince and other children to Awka on Tuesday, September 8, so that their differences would be resolved. The queen agreed.
“When we returned in the evening, I called the attention of the prince that a padlock we used in locking the entrance gate was unlocked, that his seat was brought outside, and somebody stepped on it and that some windows at the first floor of the building were open. Again, I called his attention that somebody might have climbed the house using his seat. But told me his mother had the spare key to the gate and that siblings might have come for an errand, and because the entrance door was locked, they might decide to climb. The signs of intrusion into the house unsettled her and she suggested spending the night elsewhere but the prince rejected it.
According to her, the prince suggested that they should buy fuel and run their generator for lighting for the night, just to dispel her fears. That proved to be their last outing together.
She recalled: “We went out, sipped bottles of beer, and also bought for friends. We also bought fuel and put the generator on when we returned. But I insisted that I was afraid. Shortly after the prince put the generator on and joined me in the room, it went off. This heightened my fear and I told him not to go downstairs to fix it. I told him that since his flat was secured, it would be difficult for thieves to enter; but that if he moved out, he might be caught. He ignored me and, as soon as he got to the point where the generator was kept, some people accosted him.
“I heard when they told him, ‘stop there! Don’t run!’ I heard when they told him, ‘Prince, so you get this kind of mind? Have you finished burning? It is now our turn to burn you!’ As they were hitting him, I heard him talking to them in Igbo language, ‘Nwannem kedukwanu ihem mere gi? Ichoro igbu nwanne gi?’ (My brother, what did I do to you? Do you want to kill your brother?
“In the midst of that commotion, I came out of the room, jumped down from first floor through the back; then, scaled the fence from the backyard and ran into town to inform people. Before I could get to a shop where I saw people, I could not walk again but I managed to crawl to the shop and told them what was happening to the prince.
“It took about an hour or more before help came. Before the prince could be taken to hospital, he became too weak. The medical doctor on duty confirmed him dead.”
“On the day that the properties were to be shared, the queen mother came to the palace in the company of two policemen. The prince did as they agreed but, later, they said he took a bigger share. I remember one of his brothers came back and said the prince must give him a portion of land near the palace; but the prince refused. The prince quickly fenced the portion of land; but later, we found out that people broke the fences.”
Efforts by our reporter to get the queen mother or any family member to react to the claims made by Abigail against her and her children were unsuccessful as at press time. When this reporter visited the palace, the royal house was under lock and key and deserted. None of them could be reached on phone for clarifications.
Succession bid
Orient Weekend also reliably gathered that Prince Ojukwu’s controversial proclamation of himself as the traditional ruler of the community shortly after the traditional “last Ofala” of his father in 2015 had pitched him against certain powerful elements in the kingdom. Although, he was said to have formally withdrawn his bid to succeed his late father and apologised to the community for upsetting the apple cart, it was unclear if he had obtained absolution from those who felt aggrieved by his actions.
A member of the Awka-Etiti royal cabinet, talking to this paper in confidence, also pointed to the kingship claim as the source of odium and wrath of many against the prince. He said: “Kingship had not been rotational in the town until sometime during the reign of Joachim Okwudili Ojukwu [1999] when a resolution was reached that, after his reign, kingship would be rotational. After Joachim’s death, the community wanted to implement the resolution but Prince Ojukwu refused.”
He said the town elected Chief Michael Ezeudenna October 2016 and planned his coronation for December same year only for Prince Ojukwu to send out invitations for his coronation on October 16, 2016 and, later in 2018, an elaborate Ofala festival which was, however, foiled by the police.”
The chief said that Prince Ojukwu later reversed his decision and “In 2019, he personally wrote the Awka-Etiti town union, apologising for his past mistakes and misdeeds and expressed deep regret over his past actions in laying claim to the throne against the decision of the community, and promised never to lay claim to the throne again. “Since then, he turned a new leaf and had been a good son of Awka-Etiti, attending ceremonies in the town, including those of Igwe Michael Ezeudenna,” he adds.
Contacted, the traditional ruler of Awka-Etiti, Igwe Michael Ezeudenna, however said Prince Ojukwu’s death would not have any link with the previous kingship tussle in the town. “The kingship tussle was a thing of the past. The prince retraced his steps long ago. The town mended fences with him and, until the time he died, we were like brothers and sisters,” he clarified.
Business dispute
Meanwhile, some suspect that business dispute between Prince Ojukwu and a major cement dealer in Anambra state might have contributed to his untimely death. They imply that the dealer sold two trailer loads of cement to the deceased who refused to repay.
A cement trader at the Building Materials International Market, Ogidi, Anambra state, who claimed to be a very good friend of Prince Ojukwu, told this paper on the condition of anonymity that “Between 2016 and 2017, the cement dealer, who was a good friend of the royal family, sold two trailer loads of cement to the prince; believing that after selling them, he would return the capital; but after selling, he took the gains and also refused to pay.
“It was in anger that the businessman arrested and had him jailed in Port Harcourt where he spent over one year,” he adds.
Meanwhile, the Anambra state police command has declared its readiness to find killers of Prince Ojukwu. The public relations officer of the command, SP Haruna Mohammed, who confirmed the murder, assured that “the police are making every effort to unravel the circumstances surrounding his death.”
Also, when contacted, the acting president general of Awka-Etiti Improvement Union, Chukwudiaso Philip Ojukwu, described the death of the prince as a very big shock to the entire community, just as the chairman of Nkolofia, the deceased’s village, Chief Adigwe Izundu, told this paper that the atmosphere in the village became sullen due to the death. He further disclosed that the community was also making every necessary effort to get the perpetrators.
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