Ekoli-Edda crisis: No fine whatsoever was imposed on me

(Being my rejoinder to a false publication in a cross-section of some national newspapers)

I am aware of a false report and malicious misinformation reported in some print media on 15th July, 2025, titled: Nwifuru reviews fine imposed on former council boss in Ebonyi [State].

The fictitious falsehood cobbled and dished out by mischief-makers to Nnamdi Akpa mischievously claimed that, following the intervention of the Ebonyi State Governor in the festering politically motivated crisis in my Ekoli-Edda community, a certain fine of ₦106M allegedly imposed on me and my younger brother, Barr. Chima Uduma Chima, by a politically charged faction operating under the guise of Ekoli Band of Hope Union (our town union) leadership, was reduced to ₦80M, payable within twenty-four hours.

It is quite unfortunate that such a defamatory piece of propaganda was published without any attempt at verification—an oversight by the ace reporter, which saw due diligence and objectivity, the hallmarks of investigative journalism, unscrupulously sacrificed on the altar of mammon or professional negligence to the duty of fact-finding by members of the fourth estate of the realm.

According to the concocted report handed down to Akpa, “The Governor reduced the fine [purported] to have been imposed on me and my privy from ₦106 million to ₦80 million when he intervened in the lingering crisis rocking Ekoli-Edda, saying that the money should be paid within 24 hours.”

At the critical stakeholders’ meeting with the peace-loving Governor of Ebonyi State, Rt. Hon. Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, on 11th July, 2025, the security situation in Ekoli-Edda was copiously reviewed and far-reaching resolutions reached. But certainly, the resolutions did not include the reduction or payment of any fine of any amount because no valid fine by a competent authority was imposed on me and my learned brother, which subsisted then and now.

The patently false narrative also claims that, out of the seven submissions that I made to the Governor at the meeting on how to restore normalcy to Ekoli-Edda and move forward, only five of them were upheld, while two were turned down.

The fact is that we extensively deliberated on everything and touched all bases. Concessions were made on both sides where necessary. So, it is not a question of proposals being accepted or rejected; the truth is that we got all that we wanted out of that meeting.

Nnamdi Akpa was misled to report that the rejected submissions from me included my call for the return of my Mack Truck vehicle stolen by the Catcham Boys on the instruction of Mr. Kalu Ama Mba, and the call for the dissolution of the Town Union executives.

The truth is that the fourth resolution in clear terms ordered that my stolen truck should be returned to me by the Catcham hoodlums with immediate effect.

Other submissions of mine adopted at that meeting include: the nullification of the fine said to have been imposed on me and my brother, the nullification of the purported banishment of myself and my brother from our community, a warning to the traditional ruler of Ekoli-Edda to desist from petty partisanship and political alignment with parties to the conflict of interests in Ekoli-Edda or abdicate from the throne, the activation and adequate staffing of the Ekoli-Edda police station, and the big one: the disarming of the Catcham Boys as well as a decisive order banning civilians from wielding guns in Ekoli-Edda under any guise.

The call for the dissolution of the Town Union executives was hinged on their exploitation of the nuisance value of the Catcham Boys to kill and destroy. If we got an order neutralising the miscreants, what is there in the Town Union executives to dissolve again? Their wings have been clipped, and that is why I said that we got all of what we wanted, id est; containing their capacity for violence.

This information is in the public domain, including on the social media spaces and handles of untrained netizens, and accessible to any writer versed in the nuances of balanced reportage. Only a misled pen-pusher with no standards, no parameters, and certainly no scruples could have recklessly gone to town with a one-sided version of a developing story without recourse to the second party or to independent confirmation.

It is circumstances like these that inspired Chimamanda Adichie to observe that the problem with a one-sided story is that it is often either incomplete or superfluous. The truth in Nnamdi Akpa’s story is incomplete, and the inaccuracies are superfluous. It is perplexing that a “veteran” reporter and a pioneer practitioner like him was conned into committing a journalistic harakiri. There is no truth in the story by the writer, who may have seemingly mortgaged his conscience for a mess of porridge.

Having said that, it is apposite to point out that the only mention of money payable to victims of material losses in the sporadic crisis in Ekoli-Edda was the sum of ₦10 million, which His Excellency, the Governor, in his magnanimity, offered to give to one Felix Ibiam. In addition, the Governor directed the Edda Local Government Council Chairman to disburse the cumulative sum of ₦7 million among all the victims of material losses from both factions in Ekoli-Edda.

In light of these distorted truths, I want to unequivocally assert that at no time whatsoever did I, Honourable Barrister Eni Uduma Chima, Ph.D., or my beloved brother, Barr. Chima Uduma Chima, ask to pay a dime as a fine—be it 80 kobo, ₦80, ₦80 thousand, or ₦80 million—as misstated in the mendacious reportage of Nnamdi Akpa.

It is nonsensical for Akpa to have said that the Governor did not grant my request for the return or outright replacement of my missing Mack Truck when the Catcham Boys admitted before His Excellency that they stole the truck on the same day they killed one of my supporters, Mr. Udu Nnachi Uzor of Nde-Enworo Ekoli-Edda (God bless his soul). The incontrovertible truth is that the Governor rather gave a marching order to them to return my stolen truck, to which the leaders of the Catcham Boys acquiesced.

The Governor cannot reprobate and approbate at the same time and on the same issue by declaring that the so-called fine and banishment were null and void cum unconstitutional on the one hand, and uphold the stealing of my truck as constitutional on the other by not mandating the armed robbers to return it to me.

The Governor discerned that all the allegations about looting, arson, and shootings—whether real or imagined—wrongfully attributed to me, my brother, and my teeming supporters were without particularities whatsoever, and no sane mind or security outfit could have swallowed those tales by the moonlight hook, line, and sinker.

It is surprising that Nnamdi Akpa was misguided to believe that a village Town Union can impose a fine of over ₦106 million as well as banish somebody from his community in this 21st century. Even more surprising is the fact that a newspaper, seemingly in a desperate want of news to publish, stooped so low as to publish the unfounded lies from its intellectually lazy brown-envelope reporter.

I must make it clear that next time, I would rather clarify any defamatory publication against me by paid unprofessional elements in the court of law than through the media. All Gonzo journalists and their publishers may have their day in court someday down the line if they continue to prostitute themselves for filthy lucre. A word is enough for the wise.