The Enugu State High Court has barred the Nigerian Police Force and its tactical units from conducting further arrests or harassment of ten applicants and more than seventy residents of Mburubu community in Nkanu East LGA.
The order, issued by Justice C. O. Ajah, followed an application filed on November 24, 2025, in which the applicants alleged a pattern of unlawful arrests, torture, detention, and coercion linked to a long-running dispute over the community’s traditional stool.
PACESETTER reports that the once peaceful Mburubu community has been embroiled in disputes and litigations following the contest for the kingship of the community after the death of HRH Igwe E. M. O. Ezeh in 2021, with factions loyal to Prince Lawrence Ezeh — the late monarch’s son and current Enugu State Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology — and Ozo Patrick Onuakaibe, a contender for the kingship position, trading blames and accusations.
According to the applicants, the crisis stemmed from the persistent refusal of Ozo Patrick Onuakaibe to abide by the community’s 2003 constitution governing the rotation of the Igweship among the six villages of Mburubu.
The applicants claimed that the constitution, which was upheld by the High Court judgment delivered on January 12, 2025, disqualified Onuakaibe from contesting for the Igweship position since he hails from Umunafor, the fifth in the order of seniority, while the throne is due to rotate to Uhunegbe, the second senior village.
The applicants further claimed that the court restrained him from parading himself as Igwe or hosting any traditional function in that capacity.
Despite the clear ruling, Elder Ozo Emmanuel Aniobi stated that Onuakaibe began publishing invitations online for a New Yam Festival, a development that led to the “unlawful arrest” of some youths and elderly persons.
Some of the applicants who spoke after the court’s ruling narrated alleged stories of torture and brutalization by the police.
The applicants and their supporters expressed relief, insisting that only the strict enforcement of the court’s orders and a firm intervention by the state government can prevent a further breakdown of peace.