An Abia State Chief Magistrate’s Court sitting in Umuahia has ordered parties involved in a dispute about 100 hectares of ancestral land in Isuikwuato to maintain peace and refrain from conduct capable of further escalating the dispute.
 
Chief Magistrate Ngozi Lekwa gave the order during the hearing of a criminal case involving three members of Asunkpa Umuokombo Acha Autonomous Community in Isuikwuato Local Council.
 
The case, Commissioner of Police v. Royal Nwankwo, Chimezie Elekwe Martins and Kelechi Azubuike Onuoha, is registered as Charge No. MIS/33C/2024.
 
The three defendants, aged 49, 45 and 40, are facing a six-count charge bordering on conspiracy, threatening violence, trespass, intimidation and conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace.
 
According to the charge sheet, the alleged offences were committed in September 2022 at Asunkpa Umuokombo Acha Autonomous Community and are punishable under Section 516A(a) of the Criminal Code, Cap. 80, Vol. 3, Laws of Abia State, 2005.
 
The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
 
Their prosecution followed a petition by an elder in the community, Anthony Imo Nwankwo, to the Abia State Commissioner of Police.
 
The case is linked to a longstanding dispute among members of the community over the ownership and proposed sharing of about 100 hectares of ancestral land, which the parties claim through their lineage.
 
The dispute reportedly created tension among community members, with the defendants, Nwankwo and other stakeholders laying competing claims to the land as descendants of the community’s forebears.
 
At the last adjourned date, Nwankwo testified as the first prosecution witness (PW1), while the second prosecution witness is expected to give evidence when the matter resumes on October 22, 2026.
 
Following submissions by the prosecution and defence counsel, Mr Goodwill Nwokeiwu, the Chief Magistrate ordered all parties to maintain peace and refrain from any conduct capable of causing further conflict while the case remains before the court.
 
The order is expected to help prevent further escalation of the dispute as the court continues to hear the case.