Some natives of Woji Community in Evo Kingdom, in the Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, said they will secure their ancestral land, known as Gbalajam, located between the community and Alesa in the Eleme Local Government Area of the state.

They said the move was necessary to prevent the land from being sold out.

The traditional ruler of Evo Kingdom (Nyeresi-Eli Woji), His Majesty Leslie Eke, disclosed this on Tuesday while briefing journalists on the disputed land.

Eke accused Chief Emeka Ihunwo, who he said is also laying claim to the stool of Eze Woji, of illegally selling off parts of the land to members of the public for 13 years without recourse to his palace.

He warned members of the public not to deal with Ihunwo, as he was not the rightful person to deal with concerning landed property in the community.

The monarch said Ihunwo is not from the Royal Family of Woji and, as such, does not have the right to sell community lands.

He added that he was only a palace secretary to his deceased father, the former king of the community.

The clarification comes as Ihunwo alleged that Eke encroached on the community’s land despite ongoing litigation.

But Eke said all he did was to call youths of the community to secure the land from further sales by Ihunwo and his group.

He stated, “The issue at stake is that there are parcels of land, among others, but this is very specific, called Gbalajam land area, and Chief Emeka Ihunwo, for the past 13 years, has been selling the parcels of land.

“Chief Ihunwo was the late king, my father’s palace secretary.  But suddenly he is a self-acclaimed custodian of Woji lands.  That is not our custom”.

He said the community rose after 13 years to stop further sales of the land by Ihunwo because “it was not Ihunwo’s birthright.”

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He added, “After 13 years, I have a reason to stop him from selling land. It is not his birthright to sell Woji land. A palace secretary cannot metamorphose into a king for the sake of land sales.

“He is not from the royal family in Woji. His name is Ihunwo. Ihunwo has never ruled Woji, and so he cannot begin now.  The fact remains that all I have done is to stop him from selling Woji lands,” Eke added.

The first-class traditional ruler said the community has mobilised over 40 youths to keep watch over the land to prevent further sale of the land.

He also commended the Commissioner of Police in Rivers, Olugbenga Adepoju, for taking proactive steps to restore calm in the area.

“So every peace-loving person in Rivers State and everybody, indigenes and non-indigenes, I appreciate everybody’s peaceful disposition. And I promise that we’re going to be law-abiding and allow the judiciary to take the place of the final arbiter,” he said.

But Emeka Ihunwo, who is also being addressed as the Paramount Ruler of the Woji Community, said the presence of armed youths in the area following an incident of alleged bulldozing of community land, known as Gbalajam, is disturbing.

Ihunwo alleged that Eze Eke arrived at the disputed land area with an excavator and groups of young men and questioned why men suspected to be cultists would be brought into the community over a matter already before the court.

Ihunwo said, “Eze Evo came with a good number of suspected cultists from outside Woji community with an excavator.

“The entire Gbalajam is a subject matter of litigation in a court of competent jurisdiction. We won this matter. They went to Appeal.”

He stated that all parties concerned in the disputed land had been served with court processes in October, while the matter was subsequently adjourned to November 17, 2026, for hearing.

Ihunwo commended the State Police Command for its intervention in the situation, which he said restored calm and appealed to the state government to caution Eze Eke against further actions capable of disrupting peace in the community.

Source: Punch · Dennis Naku

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