A disagreement over a piece of land has led to the death of eight villagers, causing the villagers to demonstrate on Sunday, September 30, 2012.
Surprisingly, an evangelist was among the culprits.
The sad event happened in Umuoga in Okehi II, Etche, where one Mr. Nweaje Okere, a native of Alulu Ngo Okpuala Local Government Area in Imo State, resided.
Reliable sources had it that Mr. Nweaje woke up one day and decided to claim a land which is part of the evil forest of Umuoga village in Okehi.
The villagers protested the move, but Nweaje was supported by Goodluck Okere and Evangelist Vincent Ogbuji, boosting his morale.
As the disagreement between the villagers and Mr. Nweaje continued, he resorted to employ the services of juju to protect what he called his land.
The juju has succeeded in killing eight villagers, including Philip Onynam Nwanyanwu, Chief Silvanus Ihejeka Ozomene and the son of late Mrs. Mary Nwaamadi, famous leader of the Aba women riot, who are now in the mortuary.
Many are said to be critically ill and the entire village thrown into confusion, while the youths and elders of Okehi have ordered Mr. Nweaje and his family to leave the community.
Other villages in Okehi teamed up, with traditional rulers such as Chief Marcus Awokuru, Chief Peter Uguebu and Chief Onyechi Ngwogu, to take a decision.
They ordered Mr. Nweaje to provide a cow and plead for forgiveness for killing eight people, but the villagers disagreed, insisting that he must leave the community.
The disagreement between the Nweaje family and the villagers led to the blocking of the boundary between Umuimo and Umuoga communities which would have resulted into more trouble, but for the arrival of the police who tried to placate the feelings of the people at Umuoga.
The entire villagers of Umuoga now live in fear of Nweaje Okere who they refer to as juju man.
Kenneth Amabipi
