Alleged Forgery Of Emekuku Late Monarch’s Signature: Court Adjourns To June 16 …As Obi Royal Family Insists Town Union P-G, Scribe Erred

A magistrate’s court sitting in Owerri on the 10th of May, 2023, adjourned a case of forgery brought before it to June 16, 2023 for further hearing. The case hinges on alleged forgery of the signature of the late monarch of Emekuku autonomous community in Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo state, HRH, Eze Peter Obi by the President-General and Secretary of Emekuku Town Union, Alex Ofurum and Damian Opara which was reported to take place while the Eze was alive.

The Obi Royal Family had alleged that the Town Union P-G and Secretary had smuggled in the doctored document that had the forged signature of the late Eze to aid the purported amendment of the community’s constitution as according to Obi Royal Family, the Town Union cannot usurp the power and authority of the Eze in Emekuku which has the backing of the tradition of the land.

Obi Royal Family had dragged the duo; the P-G and Secretary to court seeking redress over the alleged forgery issue and raising the alarm that the late Eze Ugochukwu Peter Obi had a constituted cabinet which was made up of the representatives of the various kindreds in Emekuku. Obi Royal Family had also insisted that the Town Union has no role in the traditional matters of Emekuku,let alone forging the signature of their monarch, alleging that the script was acted out to suit their purposes over the constitution of Emekuku for their preferred person to be the traditional ruler.

In the course of cross examinations according to reports ,the defendants’ lawyer engaged the IPO who was reported to maintain that following his investigations,the Eze signs the constitution into use and that the late Eze Ugochukwu Obi did not give any one authority at that period over his signature. Report had said that there was resistance to the attempts by some persons to unduly amend the constitution of Emekuku for the purposes of achieving a strange aim towards suffocating the age- long hereditary system of the famous community.

History has it that Emekuku and other communities among which include Egbu; Owerri; Oguta; Onitsha in Igbo land that have traditionally stuck to the hereditary monarchy which is believed to be strongly bound by their tradition.

In other developments, a Magistrate’s court sitting in Owerri which has a case that also borders on Emekuku monarchy has adjourned the matter to June 13, 2023 while the one at the High Court sitting in Owerri, the Obi Royal Family is alleging that one Ejeshi Amadi Obi did not emerge as the Eze of Emekuku through the processes traditionally anchored by the principal members of the Obi Royal Family and that the doctored document viz- a- viz forged signature was put in place to favour him to the throne.