Umuaka News24

Umuaka, Njaba LGA, Imo State – April 11, 2026

Umuaka News24 has been notified that the Executive Chairman of Njaba Local Government Area has ordered the shutdown of the historic Afor Umuaka Market in honor of his birthday, forcing hundreds of struggling traders to abandon their only source of daily income to attend what residents describe as a “misplaced, extravagant birthday party.”

This is not governance. This is oppression.

YOU DON’T STARVE YOUR PEOPLE TO FEED YOUR EGO

Afor Umuaka is not a playground for political vanity. It is the heartbeat of Umuaka’s economy – the place where widows, farmers, artisans and petty traders earn the ₦500 or ₦1,000 that puts food on their tables each night. To lock those gates for a birthday celebration is to put the livelihoods of the poor on hold for one man’s ego. It is cruel, reckless and unacceptable.

Who shuts down a people’s stomach to celebrate himself?

Since when did public office become a license to treat an entire community as props for a personal party?

MARGINALIZATION IN BROAD DAYLIGHT

Umuaka News24 is calling on all Umuaka stakeholders, leaders and sons and daughters at home and abroad to rise against this brazen marginalization.

For years, Umuaka has generated significant revenue for Njaba LGA through this same Afor Market, yet we cannot point to one major project or infrastructural development from the council. Our roads are death traps. Our people are taxed, but not served. Now, instead of fixing what is broken, the council’s top office allegedly rewards itself by shutting the very market that sustains us.

The question burning on every lip in Umuaka today is simple: _Why is the Njaba LGA Chairman more interested in Umuaka affairs when it serves his personal interest, yet absent when Umuaka needs roads, schools, and projects?

The Chairman is from Okwudor. We have watched Okwudor get attention while Umuaka, the economic engine of Njaba is neglected. This alleged birthday shutdown is the height of that neglect – treating Umuaka not as a community to develop, but as a stage to entertain.

OUR DEMANDS ARE CLEAR:

1. Reopen Afor Umuaka Market immediately. No birthday is more important than the daily bread of our people.
2. Public apology to Umuaka traders for the economic sabotage and emotional distress caused by this order.
3. Full audit of Njaba LGA projects in Umuaka for the last 3 years. Show us what our market revenue has built.
4. Intervention by the Imo State Government. We call on Governor Hope Uzodimma and the Ministry of Local Government Affairs to investigate this abuse of office.

Umuaka will not be silenced. We will not trade our dignity for political applause. A leader who celebrates while his people are forced to stay hungry has lost the moral right to lead.

If you shut our market, you shut our patience.

This report is based on notifications received by Umuaka News24. We call on the Njaba LGA Chairman to respond to these allegations. Afor Umuaka traders and eyewitnesses with photos, videos, or copies of the shutdown order should contact Umuaka News24 immediately for documentation.

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