Bishop Johnson Ekwe Revitalizes Aguleri-Umueri War By Ikevune Anaekwe

Why should a Bishop start a conflagration? Why should such an elevated cleric stir the honest’s nest? Why should he allow himself to be used to annex, annihilate and despise an innocent community?

Questions, questions and more questions can be conveniently and logically raised in respect of the recent action of the Anglican Bishop of Niger West Diocese, headquartered in Umueri, His Lordship, Rt. Rev. Johnson N. Ekwe.

In a bizarre military fashion, on March 22, 2016, this former Army Chaplain, laid the foundation of the Bishop’s Court of Niger-West Diocese at Aguleri in total defiance and disregard of all entreaties from the Umueri Anglican Community, Concerned Umueri Anglicans, Elders Council of Umueri Anglicans the Diocesan Council, among several other bodies.

Why this fuss over the siting of a Bishop’s Court at Aguleri?


The story of Umueri and Aguleri is a peculiar one akin to the stories of Ife and Modakeke in the Western part of Nigeria, and Israel and Palestine in the Middle East of the World.

It is a sad story of age-old, hostility, rivalry, litigations and wars. The Umueri-Aguleri land case is the oldest land dispute in Nigeria according to our country’s Judicial records. The memories of Umueri-Aguleri wars of 1964,1995 and 1999 and their attendant consequences and repercussions remain evergreen in the minds of the people of the two communities. The scars inflicted on them are still conspicuous: dilapidated structures dot their landscapes and bereaved families still miss their loved ones cut down by these wars.

What is more, no week passes by without one skirmish or another between the two communities. Anambra State Government’s purported acquisition of Umueri land and payment of compensation to Aguleri people, the lopsided allocation of amenities and several indignities meted out to Umueri people all point to one fact, namely, a concerted effort to erase Umueri from the surface of the Earth.

It is against this horrible, nay horrendous background that one can really understand the damage done to peace, justice and equity by Bishop Johnson Ekwe in siting the Bishop’s Court of Diocese of Niger- West in Aguleri when the headquarters of that Diocese is domiciled in Umueri. Meanwhile, only about five percent of Aguleri people are Anglicans.

Throughout the whole of the old Anambra County Council, it was in Umueri that the Anglican Church was planted in 1904! Today that former county council consists of Anambra East, Anambra West, Oyi and Ayamelum Local Government Areas and some parts of Awka North Local Government Area.

Before Rev. Johnson Ekwe was consecrated Bishop of Niger-West Diocese on April 25, 2015, Bishops Ken Sandy and Anthony Nkwoka had held sway in Diocese of the Niger and Diocese of Niger-West respectively. Both of them are still living. They can clearly testify that between the Umueri and Aguleri Anglicans, there is no love lost.
This animosity was made manifest when Aguleri Anglicans refused to operated under Niger West Diocese (upon the creation of the Diocese) simply because the headquarters was rightly domiciled in Umueri (St. Gabriel’s Cathedral Church, Umueri).
Several efforts were made by the then presiding Bishop Ken Sandy to appeal to the Aguleri Anglicans to recoil. On his own part, during the episcopacy of the now retired Bishop (Prof) Anthony Nkwoka as Bishop of Niger-West Diocese, there was a clandestine attempt to move the proposed Bishop’s Court from Umueri (where more than 20 plots were made available for that purpose) to Aguleri. This was stoutly resisted, prompting the National Headquarters of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) to halt that move.

Now, Bishop Ekwe has used “military” fiat to rob Umueri of her entitlement. Where else in Anambra State do you find a Bishop’s Court taken to another community than the community where the diocesan headquarter is?”   

Do you find any such thing in Diocese on the Niger, Diocese of Awka, Diocese of Nnewi, Diocese of Aguata, Diocese of Ogbaru, Diocese of Ihiala or Diocese of Mbamili which was created the same day with Diocese of Niger-West?

This is calling on the Primate of Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), His Grace, Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh to urgently intervene and stop this drift forthwith or else risk another edition of Umueri- Aguleri war.

To be forewarned is to be forearmed.

Ikevune Anaekwe
Ikevune Anaekwe ([email protected]) writes from Umueri, Anambra State