Four Charged with Forgery in Nkpor Kingship Conflict

The Nigeria Police Force has charged four people for allegedly forging the constitution of Nkpor, a community in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, in the South-east of Nigeria.

The police stated that the forged constitution, which was allegedly created by the defendants in March this year, outlines how a new Igwe is elected in the community.

Igwe means traditional ruler or king in Igbo.

On April 21, the police filed six counts against the defendants. These include forgery, perjury, criminal conspiracy, and breach of peace in the Federal High Court in Abuja.

According to court documents obtained by PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday, the defendants are Sunday Nwaofia, Patrick Ajemba, Onuorah Anigbogu, and Ekene Okolo.

The Nkpor Royal Dynasty, through their lawyer Osas Raymond, had asked the Commissioner of Police at the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) in Abuja to investigate these four individuals over the alleged forgery of the constitution.

The dynasty claimed that the suspects were trying to cause trouble in the community. They wanted to pressure the Anambra State Government and Governor Charles Soludo to make decisions based on what they called a “false crisis.”

According to the petition, the four suspects allegedly submitted a fake document in a case marked HID/72/2026. This was to stop the Anambra State Government from recognizing Stanley Okeke as the traditional ruler-designate of Nkpor Community.

The FCID later investigated the claims against the four individuals.

Before this, the Anambra State Government had responded to a civil suit filed by the four individuals.

In their response, the government said the community constitution used by the suspects, who were the plaintiffs in the civil suit, is “false, not extant, and not valid.”

This statement was part of the government’s defense in the suit and was signed by the Attorney-General of Anambra State, Tobechukwu Nweke, who is also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

Later, the Royal Dynasty of Nkpor wrote to the Commissioner of Police at the FCID in Abuja. They requested a certified true copy of the police investigative report regarding the allegations against the individuals.

In their reply, the police said a forensic examination showed major differences between the documents submitted by the suspects and the original document from the state government dated July 4, 1982. This original document is registered at the national archives in Enugu State.

“The result of the forensic examination clearly stated that there were features of non-identity, disparity, and discrepancies between them,” the police wrote in the letter.

Paul Dung, the deputy commissioner of police, signed the letter on behalf of the commissioner of police at the FCID in Abuja.

The police concluded that the document submitted by the suspects was forged. They established a prima facie case against the four individuals.

The date for the hearing has not yet been set.

The traditional stool crisis in Nkpor started in 2016 after the previous ruler of the community, Christopher Ibegbuna, died.

After his death, families from the Ezenaubosi Royal Dynasty of Umusiome village began to claim the right to choose the next traditional ruler.

The dispute intensified when both sides provided different versions of the community’s constitution, which outlines how the traditional ruler is selected.

This led to the petition to the FCID in Abuja, resulting in criminal charges against the defendants for the alleged forgery of the community’s constitution.