On Saturday, the atmosphere in Enugu State was heavy with grief and sorrow as the Catholic community gathered to bid a final farewell to seven young seminarians who tragically lost their lives in a fatal road accident at the Obudu Cattle Ranch in Cross River State.

The deceased, all members of the Capuchin Order under the ecclesiastical authority of the Catholic Diocese of Enugu, were returning from a group visit to the popular Obudu Ranch Resort when their vehicle was involved in a ghastly crash in the lower hill area of the Obudu region.

DAILY GAZETTE gathered that a priest was among those on the ill-fated trip.

The seminarians who died in the accident have been identified as Brother Somadina Ibe-Ojuludu, Brother Chinedu Nwachukwu, Brother Marcel Ezenwafor, Gerald Nwogueze, Brother Kingsley Nwosu, Brother Wilfred Aleke, and Brother Chukwudi Obueze.

DAILY GAZETTE reports that at the solemn funeral Mass held in their honour, mourners wept openly as the caskets of the seven brothers were laid side by side.

The incident has not only left seven families devastated but has also left a deep scar in the heart of the Capuchin community and the Enugu Diocese at large.

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A fresh leadership crisis is brewing in Isiagu Akpawfu autonomous community, Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, following allegations of imposition of a traditional ruler without due electoral process.

Investigations indicate that although the matter of the community’s traditional stool is still before the Court of Appeal, a Certificate of Return has already been issued to Prince Tony Ike Okoye.

This development has sparked widespread discontent among many natives of the community.

Addressing journalists over the weekend, one of the contenders for the Igweship position, Chief James Ede Ogbu, expressed shock over his disqualification on the basis of alleged non-indigene status, a claim he strongly refuted.

“I’m from Obodo Onovo Nwowo and it is gazetted. Telling me that I’m not from the autonomous community made me to ask why this should be so,” he said.

Chief Ogbu alleged that the omission of his family name from the community’s records was a calculated move to edge him out of the contest.

He insisted that the community’s constitution stipulates that an Igwe must emerge through an election, not imposition, and maintained that no election was held before Okoye was declared traditional ruler.

According to him, three candidates were screened and cleared to contest before Okoye obtained an injunction that abruptly halted the process.

Ogbu revealed that he had since appealed the judgment in a bid to challenge the claim that he is not a bonafide indigene of the community.

He said it came as a shock that while the appeal is still pending, the Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy Matters and Rural Development, Okey Ogbodo, went ahead to officially recognise Okoye as the traditional ruler on April 26, 2025.

Calling for Governor Peter Mbah’s intervention, Ogbu said he felt marginalized and unjustly treated.

Lending his voice to the concern, Assistant Secretary of the community’s town union, Ede Stephen, also refuted claims that Ogbu is not from Isiagu Akpawfu.

“I’m saying this because conscience is an open wound that only truth can heal. We do not want the government to recognise anybody as Igwe for now. We have not gotten any Igwe; we want to choose our Igwe through an election,” Stephen stated.

The community now looks to the state government to step in and ensure justice and due process prevail.

An Oyo State High Court has ruled in favor of the children and family of the late Chief Olalekan Lagoke, declaring that their relationship with the deceased remains valid, even without presenting a letter of administration.

Presiding over the matter, Justice Kabiru Olawoyin dismissed a preliminary objection filed by Mrs. Biola Ayinke Titilayo, who contested the legal standing (locus standi) of the claimants, Professor Segun Lagoke and Mr. Olawuyi Lagoke, representing other members of the Lagoke family.

The court held that “the four claimants are not busy body as alleged by the first defendant.”

Chief Olalekan Rafiu Lagoke, an America returnee, passed away intestate (without a will) in October 2022.

Following his death, Titilayo challenged the rights of the children and family to claim ownership of his properties, arguing that they had no letter of administration and therefore lacked legal authority.

However, Justice Olawoyin ruled that “first and second claimants are junior brothers to the deceased and section 41 of the Estate Law of Oyo State allows the first and second claimants to sue for the properties of their late brother since the children are minors.”

The judge further stated that the claimants had made it clear that the deceased “only co-habitated with the first defendant when he returned from Lagos state to Ibadan and there was no child between them,” and thus, referring to them as “busy body in this case is null and void.”

He also held that “the fact that the claimants did not present letter of administration on the properties of late Chief Olalekan Rafiu Lagoke before the court cannot prevent them from representing their family in protecting the properties of their late brother.”

The disputed properties include a duplex located at 4, Gbedu Street, Ikolaba Estate; a completed property at Kehinsi Village near Paara in the New Airport area of Ona Ara Local Government; and an uncompleted land in the Ikolaba area measuring 518.452 square meters.

The claimants, represented by counsel Mr. Peter Idowu and Mr. Taiwo Adediran, asked the court to declare that “the first defendant has no legal authority to sell any of the properties of late Chief Olalekan Rafiu Lagoke” and that “the purported sale of the uncompleted land at Oba Oni Street, Ikolaba area with survey no plan Oy/3912/2020/060 dated 31/08/2020 by first defendant to the second defendant was illegal.”

They also prayed the court to set aside the sale and issue an “order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, and others from interfering, entering, disposing, selling, building or undertaking any construction work, tampering or dealing in any manner whatsoever with the properties of the deceased.”

The matter has been adjourned to June 16, 2025, for a case management conference.

Proceedings at the Anambra State High Court, Awka, were stalled on Friday as three well-known native doctors, Chidozie Nwangwu (“Akwa Okuko Tiwaraki”), Onyebuchi Okocha (“Onyeze Jesus”), and Ekene Igboekweze (“Eke Hit”) failed to appear for their resumed trial.

The state government alleges that the trio “prepared charms for suspected criminals and engaged in money rituals.”

All three had earlier pleaded not guilty.

They were first arraigned before Justice Jude Obiorah on April 11, 2025, after their arrest by operatives of the state security outfit, Agunechemba, set up under Anambra’s new Homeland Security law.

Their pleas having been taken, the matter was adjourned to Friday, May 16, for hearing.

When the case was called on May 16, however, none of the defendants was present.

According to defence counsel, they “had not even been informed” of any reason for the absence.

With no explanation forthcoming, Justice Obiorah adjourned the matter to June 20, 2025, for further proceedings.

Attempts by reporters to obtain comments from the prosecution team were unsuccessful, as they “refused to entertain any question from the press.”

The trial follows Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s directive to clamp down on native doctors in the wake of Operation Udogachi and other initiatives targeting ritual-related crimes across the state.