Vincent Udobi, 11 others to be arraigned for allegedly brutalizing ex-PG of Ifitedunu, Nwoye

– Victim raises alarm over intimidation of his witnesses

By Ifeizu Joe 

South Africa-based businessman, Chief Vincent Udobi also known as Ike Dunukofia or Onwa Ifitedunu, and 11 others will on June 19, 2026 be arraigned before a State High Court in Awka for allegedly brutalizing the former President General of Ifitedunu community, Chief Uchenna Nwoye.

The defendants who are 12 in number are facing charges of assault, attempted murder, stealing, conspiracy to kill and others, would be expected to take their plea on that day on their culpability or otherwise in the brutal beating and injuring of Nwoye in 2023, while he was still serving as PG of the community.

According to a petition written by Nwoye against Udobi and 11 others who participated in brutalizing him, he claimed that he sustained spinal cord injuries over the attack which involved persons suspected to be thugs, allegedly working for Udobi.

His petition to the State Commissioner of Police, which was investigated by State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), led to Udobi and all those involved being charged to court. When the matter came up on May 22, Udobi and another accomplice, Arinze Azodo could not appear for arraignment, pleading absent on grounds of ill health. The matter was later adjourned to June 19.

In 2023, while still functioning as the President General of Ifitedunu community, Nwoye and members of his executive had visited a project site in Nkwo Market in Ifitedunu for oversight supervision, when thugs accompanying Udobi, who he identified as being opposed to his leadership descended on him and his executive.

Nwoye told THE RAZOR that Udobi was also captured in a video as he participated in beating them up, even in the presence of operatives of the Nigerian Police Force. He claimed that since after then, he sustained spinal cord injury which he is still treating in Europe. He stated that he has a medical report to the effect.

“Since then, I have been in court with him (Udobi) and he has been evading court. His counsel had earlier filed preliminary objections (PO) which the court in her wisdom overruled on the 6th of March 2026. There had also been attempts by some prominent individuals to settle the matter between us, but we couldn’t reach an understanding.

“The genesis of this was that he didn’t want me to become PG of Ifitedunu. He wanted one Francis Chukwudebe. So when I emerged, he vowed to disrupt my leadership. He could not hide his hatred for me, and even vowed to make Ifitedunu ungovernable for me.”

Meanwhile, the victim has raised alarm over what he called a targeted attempt to silence him and intimidate him into withdrawing the matter. He told journalists that he was recently arrested over a petition, alongside two of his witnesses, and he suspects that the trumped up charges were geared towards intimidating him and his witnesses.

He said: “On March 6, this year, I was arrested by Special Investigation Unit (SIU), Abuja, while coming out of court, over a petition by two persons, Kenneth Aforka and Aye Okoye, who alleged that I and two of my witnesses, Charles Uzoewulu and Ekene Amasiana are kidnappers and armed robbers.

“The men they accused alongside myself are my witnesses in the case against Vincent Udobi and 11 others, and I suspect that it was a plot to silence us and intimidate us out of the matter. The people who petitioned against us are not known to us, they are not from our community and we have never set eyes on them nor had any dealing with them. We suspect that the names are even fictitious, but may just be a plot to intimidate us,” he lamented.

Though the claims could not be immediately verified by THE RAZOR, Nwoye insisted that Udobi and his cohorts were behind their travails, stating that they visited the police facility where he was kept. He called for justice, citing the humiliation he received in the hands of Udobi and his cohorts, while going about his task as the PG of his community; a position he said he took up as community service for the development of his community.