John Nwaigwe
POWER & PRIDE: HOW ONE MAN’S AMBITION IS POISONING A FAMILY/COMMUNITY
When influence becomes a weapon, a society begins to drift toward chaos. The ongoing controversy surrounding the disputed poultry farm project in Isiala Ngwa North has raised troubling questions about power, privilege, and respect for the rule of law. What should have been a straightforward matter of environmental compliance and community welfare has evolved into a test of whether public institutions can uphold justice in the face of alleged political and social influence.
Investigations have uncovered a deeply troubling and high-stakes battle unfolding in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area of Abia State, as two prominent community figures, Dr. Elelenta Nwambuisi Elele and Engr. Cyril Ishmael, are locked in a fierce and bitter dispute over illegal sitting of a commercial poultry farm dispute that has now erupted into a full-blown legal and environmental crisis.
At the heart of the controversy is the construction of a massive commercial poultry farm by Dr. Elele, the immediate past Mayor of Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area built directly adjacent to the residential compound of Engr. Cyril Ishmael. Not next door. Not nearby. Right there. Walls away from where a family eats, sleeps, and breathes. Dr. Elele has vowed never to listen to anyone regardless of their status, even as numerous respected voices have stepped in to mediate. In a shocking display of arrogance, Dr. Elele is reported to have boasted that his influence is untouchable, allegedly declaring that even the President of Nigeria cannot stop him from completing his project. He reportedly claims to have the entire state apparatus on his side, boasting of his relationship with the governor and placing him beyond the reach of any legal consequence.
Meanwhile, Engr. Cyril Ishmael has described his reality in heartbreaking terms calling the situation “pure inhumanity” and likening it to a quit notice or death sentence for his family. He argues, with every right, that siting a massive commercial poultry farm directly beside a family home condemns his household to a life of unbearable stench, deafening noise, disease-carrying pests, and rat infestation. He stated that it is about land, it is about the right to breathe clean air.
The alarm has been raised at the highest levels. Both the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA) and the Environmental Health Agencies of Isiala Ngwa South and North conducted official inspections and delivered a damning verdict that the project poses a serious and direct health threat to the surrounding community. Critically, the farm was constructed without approval from ASEPA or the Local Government Town Planning Authority meaning it should never have been built in the first place.
The two local government health departments issued a formal abatement notice, citing the absence of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and the wrongful siting of the facility. The Environmental Health Agencies explicitly ordered Dr. Elele to cease construction immediately due to the odour, nuisance, bird bugs, and rodent infestation it would unleash on the neighbourhood. ASEPA followed with its own notice, warning that the structure poses a direct threat to human life.
Dr. Elele blatant defiance of official orders forced the Isiala Ngwa South Environmental Health Authority to escalate the matter before a Magistrate Court. The case has since risen to the highest level, the High Court of Abia State.
On February 3, 2026, Hon. Justice Enyinnaya Okezie issued a clear and binding interim injunction, restraining Dr. Elele from continuing construction or stocking birds on the premises and he defied that order too.
Legal documents Form 48 and Form 49 confirm that Dr. Elele allegedly violated the court’s order, prompting a Motion for Committal, seeking his imprisonment for contempt of court. One man’s ego or alleged contact should not in anyway be another family’s nightmare. The people deserve clean air, safe homes, and leaders who respect the law and not strongmen who believe the rules were written for everyone else.
