Group Threatens Legal Action As Internal ‘Apartheid’ Rears Its Head In Delta Community

By Braxton Ilobah

An unusual development garbed in what could be described as internal apartheid is unfolding at Idumu Osume Quarters in Ubulu-Uku, Delta State following the decision to brazenly deny some indigenes their natural right of citizenship by a group. The group is allegedly led by a Lagos based businessman, Chief Fruitful Mekwunye who holds the title of Ekwueme of Ubulu-Uku.

In a letter dated 18th December, 2025 to Chief Mekwunye from the Law Firm of Onyeisi Chiemeke & Associates, Asaba, Solicitors
to Messrs Anthony Osakwe, Ebele Ijeh (JP), Reginald Ojie, Okwudlii Chiemeke, Anthony Ojeah, Anthony Obuh, Felix Osakwe and Dr. Cyril Ezeamaka, among other things queried why Chief Mekwunye has led a group of people described as “brood of persons” of Umu-Alamuzo extraction or otherwise to form an exclusive organization known as Umu-Alamuzo of Idumu-Osume Descendants Association with many aims, principal of which was setting up of a Land Committee for the purposes of managing and selling lands that belong to Idumu-Osume Quarters with the exclusion of all other sub-sets that make up Idumu-Osume.

For purposes of clarification, the Solicitors on behalf of their clients have drawn the attention of Mekwunye and his group to the fact that all the parties mentioned here in the story are members of the Umu- Alamuzo family unit in Idumu-Osume Quarters of Ubulu-Uku.

That the Umu- Alamuzo family unit is a sub-set of the general Idumu-Osume Quarters while the other sub-sets within the Idumu-Osume Quarters are Umu- Aliko, Umu- Ute and Umu- Otikwu etc.

According to them, members of the various sub-sets cultivate their farms on the same settlement and utilise a single farm road known as the Uzo- Ugbo Idumu-Osume in Ubulu -Uku.

They further clarified that all rituals and conflict resolutions with respect to farming and using the same farm road had been performed and managed by all sets within the community as long as memory can recall to the knowledge of everyone of them who are all within the average age of 65 years.

Chief Mekwunye is further confronted with the allegation of his group already having drafted a constitution for the people of Idumu-Osume and decreed into existence the denial of right to leadership of Umu- Alamuzo of persons of single parenthood as against the tradition and customs of the people of Ubulu-Uku.

The business man and his group were said not to have even called any meeting of kiths and kin within the Umu- Alamuzo family unit in order to get everybody’s buy in.

Based on the highlighted issues, the afore-mentioned persons through their solicitors have chosen to draw Mekwunye’s attention to the fact that much as his group has “constitutional right to gather a coterie of persons to form an association of your choice” the object of their interest could not extend to the rights of property such as Land belonging to the Idumu-Osume community of which he and his group “are a miniscule of the general group.”

They made it clear to him that there was no meeting of Umu- Alamuzo where it was decided to form Umu- Alamuzo descendants association and he has been challenged to produce the minutes of such meeting with the attendance if he insisted that there was a meeting.

They further made it clear that the Land Committee illegally set up “has started depriving people of their farmlands on the spurious and apartheid claims that they are not members of Umu- Alamuzo family of Idumu-Osume Quarters.”

Buttressing their assertion, they cited examples of such situations among which is the case of Okeleke family land which has been marked for sale by the so-called land committee. They also cited the case of Godfrey Osakwe (a.k.a. Aboki) who has reportedly been ordered to stop farming on the land which his fore-fathers and his own father had cultivated their farms for over hundred years.

In the light of the foregoing, the Solicitors on the instructions of their clients have directed Chief Mekwunye and his group not to further parade themselves as representing the Umu- Alamuzo family unit as they have no power to do so.

Failure to adhere to the directive would leave the Solicitors with no other option than to take all necessary legal steps to stop such acts of illegality even as they warned that no Diokpa (elder) has power to grant the group any such power as “no Diokpa has any competence to set up an illegal group for the purposes of denying others their constitutional rights to property, freedom of association and freedom of movement.”

According to the Law Firm’s letter to Mekwunye, “it is curious that against modern legal practices that your association will introduce discriminatory practices that will deprive people of their right to leadership for reasons of the circumstances of birth.

“The retrograde policy is against the cultural practices of Ubulu-Uku and obnoxious to the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.

“It is the clear instructions from our clients that your association desist from the path of retrogression and greed for communal land that it has chosen or it shall be left with no option but take necessary legal action against you for trying to assert the rights you do not possess over Idumu-Osume Quarters.”

Responding to the afore-mentioned accusations, Chief Mekwunye on Friday morning told ATLANTICNEWSONLINE that the association in question was founded primarily to checkmate the activities of those he described as questionable characters at Idumu-Osume and not to grab community land.

Explaining the genesis of the issue, he said “we are all from Idumu-Osume quarters, whether of single parent or both, insofar as one has ancestral linkage or bloodline with Idumu-Osume. The reason we formed and registered (with the Corporate Affairs Commission) Umu-Alamuzo of Idumu-Osume Descendants Association was because Idumu-Osume has become so encumbered in recent time with so many questionable characters and we believe this is the time to sift the chaff from the grain.

“Some of the characters have brought shame and disunity to Idumu-Osume to the point that those regarded as our elders/leaders are no longer accorded any respect. If they take decisions on behalf of the quarters, and such decisions do not favour some personalities, they would come against the Diokpa (oldest man) to the extent of dragging him to court. Most of the people who involve in this kind of action are those with questionable character, who do not have interest of Idumu-Osume at heart obviously because they have alternative places to run to once Idumu-Osume disintegrates.”

According to Mekwunye, “it was this ugly scenario that prompted him and others to form the association as a body that would assist the elders in the governance of Idumu-Osume quarters,” adding that one of the major steps taken by the association was to initiate a process of identifying and vetting identity of those suspected to be causing disaffection. We want to ascertain their biological connection to Idumu-Osume, whether they are true sons of Idumu-Osume or sojourners.”

With respect to the issue of land, he said that, “people associated with issues or sales of land are known as Omonile in a place like Lagos and other communities. So, if we have them in our midst, we want to know who they are. Those who are Omonile usually have a say in land related matters. In our own case, those who will be associated with issues of land are not just Omonile for land matters but for other developmental purposes.”

He hinted that such developmental steps about to come on stream is the electrification of streets in Idumu-Osume with solar energy light. According to him, the solar energy light project would be launched on 28th December, 2025 with his residential premises at Ubulu-Uku as event venue.

Chief Mekwunye further explained that the newly formed association is development-centred, to cater for Idumu-Osume and not founded to discredit or disown anyone of his citizenship.

However, he said “there are some people who are maternally connected to Idumu-Osume and are resident in the quarters and yet, not interested in belonging to the association for reasons best known to them.”

Beyond the afore-mentioned reasons for founding the association, Mekwunye emphasized that in this period of nation wide insecurity, it has become necessary for people to be adequately identified just as he remarked that there are many Hausa/Fulani elements residing in that part of Ubulu-Uku.

Concluding, he said that those who were afraid of the emergence of the association were probably those who would want to impose themselves wrongly where they do not belong as Ubulu-Uku tradition demands.