Answer:
In "Things Fall Apart," the District Commissioner and his messengers use their power as representatives of the British colonial government to achieve their desired outcomes. They use their positions of authority and their access to resources such as guns and soldiers to intimidate and coerce the people of the Igbo village. For example, when the District Commissioner arrives in the village, he is accompanied by a group of armed soldiers, and he uses their presence to assert his power and authority. He also uses his position as a white man to further intimidate the villagers, stating that they are "children" who do not understand the ways of the world.
On the other hand, the egwugwu, who are a group of village leaders who take on the roles of ancestral spirits during ceremonies, use their power in a more symbolic and ritualistic manner. They use their status and the respect they command within the village to enforce social order and uphold traditional values. They do not rely on physical force or material resources to assert their power, but rather on the fear and reverence that the villagers have for the spirits they represent. For example, when Ikemefuna, a boy who has been taken in by Okonkwo, is sentenced to death by the egwugwu, they do not use weapons or threats to carry out the sentence. Instead, they rely on the fear and respect that the villagers have for the spirits to ensure that the sentence is carried out without resistance.
Overall, the District Commissioner and his messengers use their power in a more direct and aggressive manner, while the egwugwu use their power in a more symbolic and ritualistic manner.
Couldn't cite the text specifcally but I tried to summarize it the best I could.