Amagunze, Enugu State – The High Court of Enugu State, Amagunze Judicial Division, has issued a fresh interim injunction restraining Ozo Jerry Patrick Onuokaibe from organizing or celebrating the Mburubu New Yam Festival, earlier scheduled for November 1, 2025.
The order, granted under Suit No. HAMA/24/2025, followed an ex parte motion filed by High Chief Linus Ejimofor Igbudu and Chief Raphael Chukwu on behalf of Uhuegbe Village. The applicants argued that Uhuegbe Village is traditionally entitled to produce the next Igwe of Mburubu Town, and that Mr. Onuokaibe’s self-declaration as Igwe-Elect and his attempt to host the festival amount to usurpation of authority and a violation of the community’s long-established customs.
After hearing submissions by the applicants’ counsel, Ike Ozor, Esq., Justice J.L.C. Okibe granted the interim injunction, emphasizing the need to preserve peace and order in the community pending the determination of the substantive motion.
In his ruling, Justice Okibe ordered that:
“All parties — including the defendant, his agents, or any affiliated group — are hereby restrained from organizing, promoting, or celebrating the advertised Mburubu New Yam Festival under any guise on November 1, 2025, pending the determination of the Motion on Notice.”
It will be recalled that on February 12, 2025, Justice C.O. Ajah of the Enugu State High Court had delivered a landmark judgment concerning the rightful heir to the Igweship of Mburubu. In that ruling, the court held that the throne is exclusively reserved for candidates from Uhuegbe Village, which occupies the second position in Mburubu’s traditional hierarchy, as enshrined in the Mburubu Town Union Constitution.
Justice Ajah further ruled that Mr. Onuokaibe, a native of Umunafor Village (fifth in the seniority ranking), was constitutionally and traditionally unqualified to contest for the throne. He described Onuokaibe’s claim to the Igweship as “illegitimate and contrary to the customs, traditions, and legal framework governing the selection of traditional rulers in Mburubu.”
This latest injunction reinforces that earlier judgment, in which the same court barred Mr. Jerry Patrick Onuokaibe from parading himself as the Igwe of Mburubu Community. The court had at the time declared his self-proclamation as Igwe null and void, describing it as inconsistent with both Mburubu customs and the provisions of the Town Union Constitution.
With the new order, Mr. Onuokaibe is now legally prohibited from carrying out any further acts that could disrupt communal peace or mislead the public regarding his status.
Meanwhile, the leadership of Mburubu Community has urged the general public to disregard any invitation to the purported event, warning that attendance could heighten tension. The community also clarified that the authentic and recognized Mburubu New Yam Festival, locally known as Igba Aju, was already celebrated in August 2025.
Community leaders appealed to indigenes and well-wishers to “respect the authority of the court and uphold the cultural integrity of Mburubu Kingdom.”
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