The leadership and members of Avu Mechanic Village have sent a Save Our Soul (SOS) message to Governor Hope Uzodimma, urging him to call Prince Jeff Ukachukwu to order, pointing out that he is working hard to impose a leadership on the artisans in order to take full control of their land.
Speaking after the botched election of the association on Friday, December 12, the chairman of the association, Comr. Ifeanyi Ugwuegbu, in the company of the Vice Chairman, Mr. Nwanjoku Chinedu, and the Secretary, Chief Barth Ajaero, said Prince Ukachukwu has been doing everything humanly possible to impose his puppet on the association to actualise his selfish purpose of cornering the entire land of the village to himself.
Comrade Ugwuegbu, who is popularly known as Bishop, further alleged that Prince Jeff Ukachukwu has made life difficult for him and his entire executive council, adding that his only offence against Prince Ukachukwu was his refusal to dance to his tune.
He disclosed that Comrade Kyrian Nnadi, Chairman of the Nigerian Automobile Technicians Association (NATA), brought Prince Jeff Ukachukwu to Avu Modern Mechanic Village when he was contesting for the position of State Chairman of NATA as an investor.
Ugwuegbu said the self-acclaimed investor later turned out to be their tormentor-in-chief because he refused to allow him take over the land in Avu Mechanic Village.
He stated that the leadership and members of Avu Modern Mechanic Village were never opposed to the idea of having Jeff Ukachukwu as an investor, but that the bone of contention was that the NATA State Chairman was bent on keeping the investment agreement secret, whereas members of the village wanted to know the details of the agreement to ensure it was favourable to all parties involved.
He alleged that Prince Jeff Ukachukwu, through the State Chairman, had locked him and some members of his executive council up at the Tiger Base unit of the Imo State Police Command on more than seven occasions.
According to the chairman, the State Chairman of the Nigerian Automobile Technicians Association had been acting in violation of the association’s constitution, beginning with the constitution of an illegal electoral committee and the arbitrary increase in the cost of nomination forms for the election by over 1,000 percent.
“For instance, the form for the chairmanship position was raised from thirty thousand naira (N30,000) to three hundred thousand naira (N300,000). This was done to disenfranchise genuine members of the village who intended to contest the election, while stooges sponsored by Prince Jeff Ukachukwu would be the only ones able to purchase the forms,” he said.
He further stated that due to the unwillingness of the State Chairman of NATA to abide by the provisions of the constitution, the election had been botched on two occasions: on December 1, when Prince Jeff Ukachukwu allegedly invaded the election venue with thugs after realising that his preferred candidates were unlikely to win, and on December 12, 2025, when the State Chairman, with the support of Prince Ukachukwu, allegedly hired officers of the Tiger Base and thugs to enforce an illegal election on the people.
He disclosed that the postponement of the election was ordered by the South East zonal leadership of the association, which insisted that the association’s constitution must be strictly adhered to before any election could be conducted.
