A Federal High Court sitting in Enugu has issued a restraining order against former Minister of Information, Chief Frank Nweke Jnr, alongside Sir Willy Chukwuani and Christopher Nwanyanwu, all of the Ishi-Ozalla community in Nkanu West Local Government Area, Enugu State.
The court barred the trio from further ostracizing or excommunicating Mr. Christian Uzochukwu and his native Edeaniagu village, describing their actions as unconstitutional and discriminatory.
The ruling stemmed from a 2023 suit (Suit No: FHC/EN/CS/40/2023) filed by Uzochukwu, who claimed that he and members of his village were unjustly labeled non-indigenes and consequently subjected to cultural and social discrimination, including being branded as outcasts, descendants of slaves, serfs, and strangers.
He alleged that the respondents subjected his people to a series of degrading treatments, including public shaming, taunting, jeering, and social exclusion, which violated their rights to dignity and freedom from discrimination, as guaranteed under Sections 34 and 46 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Articles 5, 6, and 12 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Delivering judgment on May 21, 2025, Justice M.G. Umar ruled in Uzochukwu’s favor, declaring that the actions of the respondents constituted a clear breach of constitutional and human rights protections.
The court further ruled that:
“The excommunication and ostracization of the applicant and his entire Edeaniagu village by the respondents is an infringement of the applicant’s right of freedom from discrimination.”
Justice Umar awarded ₦5 million in general and exemplary damages in favor of the applicant and ordered the respondents to issue a public apology to Uzochukwu in a national daily newspaper.
In addition, the court granted an injunction restraining the respondents, their agents, privies, or servants from continuing or executing any form of ostracization or excommunication against the applicant and his community.
The judgment also made reference to the 2021 ostracization which reportedly led to the disqualification of Prince Don Sylvester Chinedu Nweke, a member of Edeaniagu and the preferred candidate for the traditional rulership of Ishi-Ozalla, from contesting in the Igweship election.
