July 8 (THEWILL) — The people of Ekebe-Nkaleke Autonomous Community in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State have expressed outright disappointment over the maltreatment, threat of arrest, suppression, intimidation, and above all, total neglect meted out to them by the Coordinator of Effium Development Centre, Ogbonna Nwogbaga.
A Youth Coordinator from the area, Onwe Anayo, disclosed to journalists in Abakaliki that on the appointment of the Coordinator in 2023 by Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, the community heaved a sigh of relief, considering the fact that they are now closer to the government through the appointment of the Coordinator and expect to enjoy the dividends of democracy.
According to the source, the community members approached the Coordinator of the development centre to remind him of some of their needs, which include but are not limited to sinking of a borehole/pipe-borne water, since the only source of water is a local stream, where people drink from with animals and for other domestic use.
THEWILL gathered that the community reminded the Coordinator of the need to renovate the only primary school, which was built by the Executive of Ekebe Nkaleke town union. The four classroom blocks are constructed with zinc, partitioned with palm fronds, and without doors and windows.
The source added that since the Coordinator refused to pay them attention, they started making videos of the streams where they drink from and the primary school in their area, posted videos of the same to social media in order to attract sympathy and help from the state government and other public-spirited individuals.
He said, “This harmless request and soliciting for help through the video was what angered the coordinator, who resorted to allegedly harassing, intimidating, eventually arresting and remanding his Special Assistant, Nwinya Moses, for only trying to champion and to advise him to address the needs of their people.
THEWILL also learned that Moses Nwinya has fixed his child dedication for 30th May, 2026, which the Coordinator, Ogbonna Nwogbaga, was formally invited to grace the occasion; however, the Coordinator arrested his Special Assistant, Moses Nwinya, and was charged to court on 25th May 2026.
The source added, “The Coordinator now saw everyone trying to speak up in the community as an enemy. We said, let us elect a new president for the town union to enable us to reach out to the government.
“When the Coordinator heard that we wanted to form the leadership of the town union, and the person we felt was also closer to the government was Nwinya, so we made Nwinya the president. But he resisted it.
“When we noticed his attitude, the community members undertook to address the situation in the community, and that was when he started threatening and eventually arrested and remanded Nwinya Moses in prison.
“The truth is that it was a time to elect the town Union president of the community of which Nwinya was among the three (3) contestants, the community was throwing her weight behind Nwinya because of his philanthropic gesture and having served as a secretary of the community for more than fifteen (15) good years, and equally serving as special assistant to the coordinator, the community feels that Nwinya is in a right position to approach the government to attend to their needs.
“Nwinya, the Special Assistant to the coordinator of Effium DC, was illegally arrested by Hon. Ogbonna Nwogbaga, the DC coordinator, on 19th May, 2026 and is still in detention as at the time of filing this report.”
He described as false the claim by the coordinator of his achievements in a recent Facebook interview.
“The interview the Coordinator was granted, where he said he registered 50 persons for JAMB and WAEC, installed solar lights, constructed markets and paid widows, is all false.
“We are raising an alarm so that the world will know that the Coordinator has done nothing to the community. In fact, people can no longer express themselves freely in the community for fear of arrest by the Coordinator”, he said.
It was also, however, gathered that even when the tenure of the incumbent coordinators and their aides has not expired, Ogbonna Nwogbaga has proceeded to remove Nwinya from office as a way of reprimand.
Speaking also, the community Chairman, Comrade Mbam Dominic Nwofe, who is in charge of the entire Ekebe Nkaleke community, both home and in diaspora, strongly condemned the action of the Effium DC coordinator, Hon. Ogbonna Nwogbaga.
He appealed to the Ebonyi State government to intervene on this issue and speedily facilitate the unconditional release of their illustrious son, Comrade Nwinya Moses Mbam.
According to Mbam Dominic Nwinya committed no crime to deserve such imprisonment.
Lending her voice, the woman leader of the community, Mrs Augustina Nwangele, also frowned at the action of the DC coordinator, Hon. Ogbonna Nwogbaga.
She stated that the money he used to send his own brother to prison would have been used to empower the youths of the community, adding that such action by the coordinator undermines the freedom of speech as enshrined in the the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Efforts to reach the Coordinator of the Effium Development Centre, Ogbonna Nwogbaga, for comment at his phone number were unsuccessful.
Sunday Ogbu is a professional journalist with eight - twelve years experience that had worked with various print and online media. Sunday specializes in news reporting with the aim of educating his readers on current social, political and economic occurences within his area of coverage. Sunday is a strong force to work with in the media industry and uses his positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed. Sunday is inspired daily by his wife and their four children. In his free time, Sunday likes sight-seeing, reading and discussing issues of societal interest.
