The Owo Ala Council in Ozar Ukwu Autonomous Community of Ukwa West Local Government Area, Abia State, has pronounced that the head of Umuntaku Village in Owo-Ala, Asa is Mr. Promise Ibechodo Nkwonta Eletuo Ntaku.
Mr. ThankGod Ntaku, had in the month of March, 2022, dragged Mr. Richard Achilam Ekpo before the Owo Ala Council for laying claims to the headship of Umuntaku Village. He, therefore, asked the Council to determine who was the rightful head of the Umuntaku Village between Mr. Promise Ibechodo Nkwonta Eletuo Ntaku and Mr. Richard Achilam Ekpo.
In his statement, Ntaku said that he witnessed the late Herbert Ekpekwuo Ntaku function as the head of Umuntaku, and when he died the late Sunday Ntaku took over instead of the late Isaiah Ekpo, the father to Richard Achilam Ekpo, who was older than him at the time.
Continuing, Ntaku said after the death of Sunday Ntaku, the late Sampson Nkwonta Eletuo Ntaku took over, and that he was succeeded by the late Moses Ufomba Adiele Ntaku and the late Godwin Adiele Ntaku respectively.
He further said that Mr. Promise Ibechodo Nkwonta Eletuo Ntaku, by virtue of being the oldest in the Ntaku lineage, was the next to become the head of the Umuntaku Village.
Mr. Richard Achilam Ekpo, had stated that his late father told him that, since he was physically challenged, he had to ask the late Herbert Ekpekwuo Ntaku to hold, in trust, the position of the head of Owo-Ala-Asa, which duties had mainly to do with making sacrifices to the gods of the land, and appeasement of the gods. He also averred that when Herbert Ekpekwuo Ntaku died, his late father began to perform those responsibilities from his house.
Mr. Richard Achilam Ekpo also informed the Council that his grand father, siblings and immediate relations were killed by the gods, but could not establish that the gods killed any of Ntaku’s children. He went further to state that he belonged to a different lineage from the Umuntaku.
Delivering judgement on the matter on behalf of the Council, on June 25, 2022, the Secretary of Owo-Ala Council, Chief Adimohanma Okpokiri, said it was incontrovertible from the documented evidences presented before it that the headship of the Umuntaku Village was not in doubt, adding that it had been proved that Mr. Promise Ibechodo Nkwonta Eletuo Ntaku is the head of the Umuntaku Village.
He said the Council also made wide consultations in addition to the evidences before it in arriving at its judgement, adding that the respondent, Mr. Richard Achilam Ekpo, had informed the Council, during the hearing of the matter, that he was of a different lineage from the Umuntaku Village.
