RAYMOND OZOJI reports
Umueri village in Ogbunike community Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State has said enough is enough to all the atrocities and despicable acts allegedly committed by one Nze Levi Elobisi, whom the entire village unanimously passed a vote of no confidence on over his blatant refusal to account for plots of lands sold under his watch as chairman Umueri Welfare Association and valued at over N700 million.
A public notice cum disclaimer signed by the new caretaker chairman of Umueri village welfare association Chief Ikenna Onyekwuluje, the secretary Paul Azoba and Chief Barr. Ogochukwu Onyekwuluje (Elder Umueri village) declared the suspended chairman persona non grata and issued caveat emptor thereby advising members of the public to desist from having any land transactions or dealings with him henceforth because the village has removed him from office.
The public notice reads: "The Umueri Welfare Association, Umueri Village, Ogbunike, Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State, hereby informs the general public that Nze Levi Elobisi (also known as Ochendo, Onwa, and Afunwa), whose photograph is in circulation, is no longer the Chairman of the Association.
His removal was unanimously effected during the Association’s general meeting held on December 30, 2025, following a vote of no confidence passed against him. This decision was reached due to acts considered detrimental to the progress, welfare, peace, unity, and development of Umueri Village.
The allegations against him include, but are not limited to unauthorized sale of community land; diversion of proceeds from such sales for personal use; failure to account for the proceeds of the said transactions; refusal to convene general meetings of the Association since assuming office; involvement in the arrest, detention, and intimidation of youths and women, reportedly with the aid of security personnel and other parties.
By this notice, the public is advised that any individual or group engaging in transactions or dealings with the said Nze Levy Elobisi does so strictly at their own risk, as he no longer represents or has the authority to act on behalf of the Umueri Welfare Association."
Upon further investigations, the new caretaker chairman alleged that the suspended chairman ordered his security boys to go to Oye-Olisa market on Saturday 10th January this year and unleash terror on one Ebuka Okonkwo who is helping Ogbunike community town union to ensure sanity and orderliness in the market.
He said that the hoodlums in security uniforms butchered Ebuka Okonkwo such that he was rejected by three different hospitals where he was taken to shortly after the attack at Oye-Olisa market due to the severity of the injuries inflicted on him by the illegal vigilante operatives.
According to him, the suspended chairman had also ordered his security boys and masquerades to go and disrupt women's meetings at the village square; boasting that any gathering against him won't work even though the village square is owned by the entire village and not a single individual.
The caretaker chairman further alleged that the suspended chairman has masterminded the illegal arrest of three youths at midnight but according to him, it took the intervention of stakeholders through intensive phone calls for the boys to be released in the dead of the night. He therefore added that Levi Elobisi has turned the entire Umueri village upside down with his undemocratic leadership style.
A source from the village equally revealed that Nze Levi Elobisi was elected as chairman Umueri Welfare Association in July 2024 and that the Constitution stipulated that no chairman or individual would sell community lands without the approval of the entire village.
The source alleged that the suspended chairman has sold more than 100 plots of Umueri village community lands and diverted the proceeds into his personal accounts. It noted that the village usually conducted meetings in December but the embattled chairman has refused to convene meetings since he assumed office. According to the source, Nze Levi Elobisi had promised the village during his electioneering campaigns that he would build a town hall with his own personal money, if elected.
But contrary to his promise, the source stated that Elobisi began to sell community lands arbitrarily as well as used Police and other security operatives to intimidate and terrorise anyone who dared to question his actions even as it noted that the suspended chairman is currently in court with Umueri village women.
The source maintained that letters have been sent to Ogbunike President-General, Oyi Local Government Chairman, AIG zone 13 Ukpo and the Commissioner of Police Anambra State, notifying them of Nze Levi Elobisi's removal from office while the village moves to recover some of the plots of lands sold illegally and without approvals from the village even as it revealed that over N700 million worth of Umueri village lands have been sold without due consultations with the people, adding that the suspended chairman has gone contrary to all sections of the village constitution.
Chief Samuel Tochukwu Obiakor, the President-General of Ogbunike community while speaking to this journalist confirmed the existence of illegal vigilante operatives in Umueri village. He said that the illegal vigilante operatives who were not inaugurated by him stormed Oye-Olisa market and butchered one Ebuka Okonkwo to the point of death such that hospitals in the area declined to admit him instead they referred him to hospitals in Enugu State.
The PG equally confirmed that he was aware of the removal of Nze Levi Elobisi as chairman of Umueri village welfare association because a copy of the sack letter was sent to the town union government.
When contacted for his reactions on allegations of selling communal lands arbitrarily, diversion of proceeds from land sales into personal accounts, use of Police and other security operatives to intimidate and terrorise women and youths in the village, refusal to organise meetings to render account of stewardship, to mention a few; the suspended chairman Nze Levi Elobisi insisted that he would not grant this journalist a phone interview unless he sees him face to face.
This journalist however obliged the suspended chairman and they both agreed to meet on 10th January for his official response yet still he declined the appointment even when the journalist came and waited for him for hours which delayed the report for another 24hours.
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