Open Letter To Governor Peter Obi

Nkerehi Town Union – U.S.A.
P. O. Box 441
Metairie, LA 70004
October, 20, 2009

His Excellency, Governor Peter Obi
Executive Governor, Anambra State

Sir:

We hereby bring to your executive attention the unfortunate fact that the Nkerehi people have been forced out of their homes for almost two months now by Dr. Godwin Maduka’s militia, camouflaged as “Umuchukwu Vigilante Group”, and Dr. Godwin Maduka’s youth thugs. Hundreds of Nkerehi people have been displaced and are refugees in the neighboring towns of Owerre-Ezukala, Ogbunka, Umunze, Nneato, and across Anambra State and Nigeria. They have been refused entry into their own town and to their homes by Dr. Godwin Maduka’s militia and his youth thugs. We have received reliable information that Dr. Maduka’s youth thugs are systematically looting the homes of the Nkerehi people with impunity.

Sir, here are the families and individuals in Nkerehi that were run out of their homes by Dr. Maduka’s militia and youth thugs and they have been refugees for almost two months:

1. Mr. Alex Mbamara and family
2. Mr. Denise Mbamara and family
3. Nze. Paulinus Nnadi and family
4. Ms. Monica Ezeji and family
5. Mr. Peter Nnadi and Family
6. Mr. Godwin Odoemena and family
7. Mr. Maduabuchi Onyema and family (Mrs. Onyema a blind widow)
8. Mr. Lazarus Ohaji Okoli and family
9. Elder Iheukwumere Anunobi – 85 year old man and Family
10. Mrs. Cletus Nwachala and family
11. Mr. Peter Echemazu and family
12. Chief Matthias Anyadiegwu and Family
13. Mr. Josiah Anyadiegwu and family
14. Mr. Boniface Uwa and family
15. Mr. Paschal Onyegbule and family
16. Mr. Okechukwu Emeto and family
17. Mr. Marcel Ude and family
18. Mr. Christopher Akandu and Family
19. Mr. Ambrose Ifemeje and family
20. Mr. Angus Obi and family
21. Elder Nze Agodi Igwike 80 years old and Family
22. Mr. Ignatius Igwike and Family
23. Mr. Clement Igwike and Family
24. Mr. Okechukwu Onwuchekwa and Family
25. Mr. Martin Iruefo and Family
26. Mr. Matthew Onyekpudoro and Family
27. Mrs. Margaret Izendu – a widow
28. Elder Ezekiel Onwu and Family
29. Elder Pius Onwu and family (had stroke as a refugee)
30. Mr. Richard Obialo and family
31. Mr. Chiemerie Onwu and Family
32. Mr. Silvester Gonzy Okoli and Family
33. Mr. Fabian Uka and Family
34. Mr. Eric Igwike and Family
35. Mr. Anthony Igwike and family
36. Mr. Sunday Onyekwere and Family
37. Dr. Patrick Igwike and Family
38. Mr. Magnus Obiora
39. Mr. Ekene Onwsoronye
40. Mr. Ben Uwa and Family
41. Mrs. John Okeke and Family
42. Mr. Obinna Duru and Family
43. Mr. Ben Onwu and Family
44. Ms. Obageri Nwankwo and Family
45. Reverend Christian Nwankwo and Family
46. Mr. Uche Oguguo and Family
47. Mr. Emeka Irieme and Family
48. Mr. Paulinus Onyekwere
49. Reverend John Obialo and Family
50. Mrs. Obageri Onwu and Family
51. Mrs. Erochukwu Igwike and Family
52. Mr. Silvanus Okeke and Family
53. Mr. Christian Otika and Family
54. Mr. Ernest Onyekpudoro and Family
55. Mrs. Okpulo Onyekpudoro and Family
56. Mr. Charles Nwankwo and Family
57. Mr. Jonathan Nwahoobere Okoli
58. Mr. Simon Nwankwoikpo Okeke and Family
59. Mrs. Elizabeth Fred Okeke and Family
60. Mr. Lazarus Ike and Family
61. Mr. Boniface Okalazu and Family
62. Mr. Jude Nwaozo and Family
63. Mr. Anthony Nwaozo and Family
64. Mrs. Rose Ezenwa
65. Mrs. Chiama Ezenwa
66. Mr. Dialaekwe Mbaramara and Family
67. Mr. Ikechukwu Okafor and Family
68. Mr. Emeka Okafor and Family
69. Mr. Chinedu Peterson Nwaozo
70. Mr. Collens Onyekpudoro
71. Mr. Emeka Onyekpudoro
72. Mrs. Onyehuruchi Onyekpudoro
73. Mr. Sylverster Ilo and Family
74. Mr. Clement Ilo and Family
75. Mr. Alex Ilo and Family
76. Mr. Felix Mbamara and Family
77. Mr. Jonathan Osunkwo and Family
78. Mr. Francis Mbamara and Family
79. Mr. Aaron Madu and Family
80. Mr. Fabian Nwafor and Family
81. Barrister Basil Igwike and Family
82. Mr. Modestus Okalazu and Family
83. Mr. Basil Okalazu
84. Ms. Easter Emeto and Family
85. Mr. Jonathan Okalazu
86. Mr. Joseph Anulaobi and Family
87. Mr. Ebenezer Okoli and Family
88. Mr. Christian Okoli and Family
89. Mr. Ekenwa Ezenwa and Family
90. Mr. Jason Eze and Family
91. Mathew Nwankwo and Family
92. Mr. Okenna Onyekwere
93. Barrister Emmanuel Onwu and Family
94. Barrister Charles Uwamachi Odoemena
95. Mr. Ifeanyichukwu Igwike and Family
96. Mr. Godhelp Sargi Onwu and Family
97. Mr. Nathaniel Emeto and Family
98. Mr. Stephen Iruefo
99. Mrs. Juliana Okpara and Family
100. Mr. Ernest Anunobi
101. Barrister Innocent Onwu and Family
102. Mr. Samson Anunobi and Family
103. Mr. Promise Onwu
104. Mr. Gabriel Okeke and Family
105. Mr. Lawrence Mbanwa and Family
106. Mr. Stephen Ogbonna and Family
107. Mr. Louis Mbanwa and Family
108. Mr. Nnamdi Mbanwa
109. Mr. Bernard Ike and Family

The only sin of the Nkerehi people is that they do not want the name of their town changed from Nkerehi to “Umuchukwu”. As you know, Umuchukwu means the “the Children of God”, but the actions and antics of Dr. Godwin Maduka and his followers in Nkerehi since 2007 have reduced them to misguided, irrational, and hypocritical evil men. The Children of God do not harass, intimidate, ostracize, beat, maim, shoot, kill, and run out of town their fellow human beings, especially their kith and kin. Dr. Godwin Maduka and his followers have done all these in Nkerehi. Sir, why should this gang of lawless individuals be allowed to take over a whole town and run out of town hundreds of innocent citizens, some in their eighties, others women and children?

Dr. Godwin Maduka’s youth thugs started attacking and maiming the Nherehi people and running them out of town on August 22, 2009. We alerted you through your Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Valentine Obienyem, and later on the Internet, requesting your government to protect the Nkerehi people. That request was made as far back as August 24, 2009. When the displaced Nkerehi people tried to come back to their homes on August 29, 2009, Dr. Maduka’s youth thugs attacked them, and his militia shot and killed an Nkerehi person and a stranger, and also shot and wounded several Nkerehi people and men from Ihe village in Owerre Ezukala.

It is unfortunate and an ultimate miscarriage of justice that the police arrested the Nkerehi people and the men from Ihe village whom Dr. Maduka’s militia shot their legs. Now the police are trying to pin the crimes of Dr. Godwin Maduka’s militia and his followers on these innocent people. Among the detained Nkerehi people were three women whom two are in their seventies. The women were just released recently after more than one month in detention at Awka and Abuja. Sir, there is an urgent need to release the Nkerehi and the Ihe men wrongfully being detained and about to be charged for crimes that they did not commit. How would the Nkerehi people who were not armed with any guns shoot and kill their own person? How in the world would men who were shot in their legs be detained and charged for the crimes of Dr. Godwin Maduka’s militia?

Sir, there is also an urgent need to disarm Dr. Godwin Maduka’s militia, which as we stated masquerades as “Umuchukwu Vigilante Group”. There is also an urgent and critical need for you to set up a strong security unit in Nkerehi, preferably from the military, independent of the so called Umuchukwu police post, to protect the town so that the Nkerehi people would come back to their homes without fear of Dr. Godwin Maduka’s crude armed militia and his ruthless and lawless youth thugs. Here are the names of some of the people in Dr. Godwin Maduka’s militia, armed with pump action guns and other dangerous weapons: Mr. Anthony Ezengu Ezeji (Dr. Maduka’s first cousin), Mr. Felix Okafor (Dr. Maduka’s second Cousin), Mr. Kenneth Maduka (Dr. Maduka’s brother), Mr. Kingsley Maduka (Dr. Maduka’s nephew), Mr. Sunday Obi (a felon and an ex-convict), Mr. Alfred Okoli, Mr. Joseph Obi, Mr. Obulali Ugwa, Mr. Chimaije Nwafor, Mr. Monday Eze, Mr. Felix Okoroalu, Mr. Jude Onyekudolu, and one Mr. Onwudike alias Danga. The commander of Dr. Maduka’s militia is Mr. Anthony Ezeji and the leader of his youth thugs is Mr. Okechukwu Nwaele.

Due to negative and unpleasant experiences, the Nkerehi people have grown to believe that the police would not protect them. Dr. Godwin Maduka built the so called Umuchukwu police post, basically aimed at suppressing the Nkerehi people. Nkerehi people have been arrested and charged to court for just saying the word Nkerehi aloud. Nkerehi people have been beaten and maimed by the Umuchukwu gang in presences of the police without the police doing anything to the Umuchukwu gang. Dr. Godwin Maduka has corrupted the Nigerian police at various levels and that may be the reason he has so far gotten away with many crimes he committed in Nkerehi since 2007. Those that Dr. Godwin Maduka, an American citizen and a medical doctor in the United States, personally beat or participated in beating in Nkerehi include Barrister Basil Igwike, Barrister Charles Odor, Mr. John Onoh, Mr. Ekene Onwu, Mr. Ikechukwu Egwuonwu, Nze Polinus Nnadi, Mr. Ignatius Igwike, Mr. Tochukwu Akaegbobi (the former Catechist of St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Nkerehi), and Mr. Anudu Uwa. His thugs beat and pistol whipped Mr. Okechukwu Onwchekwa. His thugs also went to Onitsha and mercilessly beat Chief. Mathias Anyandegwu.

Dr. Godwin Maduka has been protected by the police, especially Assistant Police Commissioner, Mr. Chris Okey Ezike, who is now in Abuja as the Personal Assistant to the Inspector General of Police (IG). During Dr. Godwin Maduka’s recent visit to Nigeria in August 2009, we were informed that Assistant Police Commissioner Chris Okey Ezike was with him in his police led convoy to Nkerehi, where Dr. Maduka introduced Mr. Ezike at St. Jude’s Catholic Church and announced that he (Dr. Maduka) came home for the final enforcement of changing Nkerehi’s name to Umuchukwu. During that visit, in a party Dr. Maduka threw for his youth thugs and militia, we were also informed that Dr. Godwin Maduka ordered his youth thugs and his militia to force out of town all Nkerehi people who do not believe in changing the name of their town. Dr. Godwin Maduka promised his militia and youth thugs that the police would be on their side no matter what happened. It is, therefore, not surprising that the recent crisis started immediately after Dr. Maduka visited Nkerehi in August 2009, and the police have not done anything to stop the notorious and unlawful activities of Dr. Godwin Maduka’s followers.

Sir, we also requesting for you to urgently set up an impartial Board of Inquiry, made up of men and women of integrity and honesty, to investigate everything that has happened in Nkerehi since 2007. The impartial investigation would help the government to know the person or the people to hold responsible for violating the law including murder in Nkerehi. The board may also assist in looking for a lasting solution to bring peace to Nkerehi short of forcefully changing the town’s ancestral name.

The town’s name, Nkerehi, is the only thing that is left for the Nkerehi people. Dr. Godwin Maduka and his followers have destroyed every historical landmark and antiquities in town for the pretence of building a monastery for the Catholic Church. Dr. Godwin Maduka also bulldozed the town’s market and moved it close to the so called monastery site. It must be emphasized that all Nkerehi people are Christians without exception. However, the Nkerehi people would have preferred for the town’s historical monuments to be preserved for posterity as is done in every civilized society. Nkerehi people also believe in the freedom of religion as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution and would never want to forcefully impose their system of belief on anyone. It is unfortunate that Dr. Maduka and his cult followers do not believe in freedom of religion. They have forced out of Nkerehi other religious denominations. St. Paul’s Anglican Church Nkerehi and the Apostolic Church of God were under siege by Dr. Maduka’s youth thugs and militia, and both denominations and their congregation including their Reverends have been run out of Nkerehi for almost two months. The Reverend of St. Paul’s Anglican Church, who is from Agulu, is now a refugee in Ezira.

Sir, we again ask you as the chief law enforcement officer of Anambra State to disarm Dr. Godwin Maduka’s militia and his youth thugs and bring an impartial security unit in Nkerehi, preferably the military, so that the individuals and families listed above would return to their homes. It is important for you to assist in settling the crisis in Nkerehi and investigate and hold accountable individuals or groups who violated the law. It is unfortunate that the Nkerehi people have been driven away from their homes for almost two months now and we have not heard a single word from the Anambra State government.

Sincerely,

Patrick I. Ibe


Patrick I. Ibe, Ph.D.
President, Nkerehi Town Union –
U.S.A.


Richard S. Igwike


Richard S. Igwike, Ph.D.
Secretary, Nkerehi Town Union - U.S.A.