According to court documents obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, the traditional ruler was convicted of theft in April 1997 at the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, State of Maryland in the US.

Ogwashi-Uku Community has spoken on the conviction of its traditional ruler in the US.

Ogwashi-Uku is a community in Anaocha South Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria’s South-South.

The conviction

PREMIUM TIMES exclusively reported on Wednesday that the community’s traditional ruler, Ifechukwude Okonjo, was convicted of theft in April 1997 at the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, State of Maryland, in the US.

Mr Okonjo emerged as the traditional ruler of the South-south Nigerian community in September 2019, about 22 years and five months after his conviction.

According to court documents obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, his younger brother, Onyema Okonjo, was also convicted of a similar offence at the same court on 23 January 1998.

This newspaper also reported that some members of the community separately petitioned the Delta State Government and the State Security Service, accusing the traditional ruler of engaging in land grabbing, illegal arms dealings, harassment of indigenes with security operatives, and formation of armed militia groups, among others.

The community members claimed that Mr Okonjo, Onyema and others recruited some unnamed gunmen from South-east Nigeria into the community’s vigilante security outfit.

They alleged that the recruited gunmen were being used to forcefully take over people’s landed property and also to commit violent crimes such as kidnapping and murder.

Ifeakanachukwu Emordi, Mr Okonjo’s palace secretary and the traditional ruler’s brother, Onyema, separately dismissed the allegations as false when contacted by PREMIUM TIMES.

But Mr Emordi and Onyema, for nearly one week, failed to get the traditional ruler to speak with our reporter despite promising to do so.

Community speaks

Meanwhile, reacting in a statement, Mr Emordi described the report on the traditional ruler’s conviction as “defamatory and false,” according to a report by ThisDay newspaper.

The newspaper report, quoting unnamed palace sources, claimed that at the time of conviction, the traditional ruler was not in the US but was studying for his Master’s degree in business administration at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

“This malicious story is part of an ongoing campaign against His Majesty and his family, launched by individuals seeking to disrupt the peace and integrity of the Ogwashi-Uku Community,” the palace secretary was quoted as saying, apparently referring to the PREMIUM TIMES report.

He claimed those who “sponsored the story” against the traditional ruler were facing criminal charges at various courts in Nigeria.

“The allegations in the story are entirely false, and we intend to pursue appropriate legal action to address this misinformation.

“His Majesty, the Obi of Ogwashi-Uku, reaffirms his commitment to transparency and lawfulness and welcomes any investigation by any investigative agency as claimed in the authors’ statements,” Mr Emordi added.

Like Donald Trump, like Ifechukwude Okonjo

Mr Emordi attempted to defend Mr Okonjo’s emergence as the traditional ruler of the Ogwashi-Uku Community despite his conviction in the US.

The palace secretary likened Mr Okonjo’s emergence as the community’s traditional ruler to Donald Trump’s recent election victory.

“It is instructive that on this day today (Wednesday) 6/11/2024 when even Donald Trump, despite accusations of criminal convictions, was elected overwhelmingly as the President-elect of the US,” he said.

Speaking on the report of Mr Okonjo’s conviction, Mr Emordi, the palace secretary said: “These stories will not stop the work the Obi of Ogwashi-Uku is doing to ensure that the lives of his subjects are improved.”

Donald Trump’s election victory and conviction

Mr Trump, who served as the 45th US president between 2017 and 2021, was convicted in 2024 after being found guilty of falsifying business documents in relation to a hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

With the development, he became the first US president to be convicted of a felony.

But on Wednesday, Mr Trump emerged winner of the 2024 US presidential election, defeating Democratic candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris.