A Federal High Court sitting in Enugu has awarded ₦5 million in general and exemplary damages against former Minister of Information, Chief Frank Nweke Jnr, and two other prominent members of the Ishi-Ozalla Community, for excommunicating and branding an entire village as non-indigenes.
Justice M. G. Umar, who presided over the suit marked FHC/EN/CS/40/2023, ruled on May 21, 2025, that the acts carried out against Mr. Christian Uzochukwu and the Edeaniagu village of Ishi-Ozalla in Nkanu West LGA, amounted to an infringement on fundamental human rights, including freedom from discrimination and dignity of the human person.
The court held that Nweke Jnr., along with Sir Willy Chukwuani and Christopher Nwanyanwu, orchestrated the shaming, beating, booing, and branding of Uzochukwu and his community as slaves, descendants of slaves, outcasts, and strangers—a gross violation of Sections 34 and 46 of the 1999 Constitution and Articles 5, 6, and 12 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The judge declared:
“The excommunication and ostracisation of the applicant and his entire Edeaniagu village by the respondents is an infringement of the applicant’s right of freedom from discrimination.”
In addition to the ₦5 million fine, the court ordered the respondents to:
-
Issue a public apology to Mr. Uzochukwu in a national daily newspaper.
-
Cease and desist from any further acts of excommunication or ostracisation against Uzochukwu and the entire Edeaniagu village.
The discriminatory campaign, which dates back to 2021, also had political undertones, as it reportedly prevented the village’s preferred traditional ruler candidate, Prince Don Sylvester Chinedu Nweke, from participating in the Ishi-Ozalla Igweship election.
Legal analysts say the judgment is a significant victory for human rights and anti-discrimination law, especially in a region where cultural stigmatisation and exclusion remain contentious community issues.
Neither Chief Frank Nweke Jnr. nor the other respondents have issued public statements as of the time of this report.
