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From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
The Umuana Ndume-Ibeku community in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State has warned intruders on Government College Umuahia land to be wary of their actions as decisive action awaits them.
This is equally as the community has dismissed reports alleging moves to cede the College to Amaoba Ime community in Ikwuano Local Government Area.
Addressing newsmen in Umuahia, the community chairman, Mr Friday Ohaeri condemned a recent online report he said suggested the land on which Government College, Umuahia situates belongs to Amaoba Ime community.
Ohaeri said the online report was deliberately misleading and aimed at distorting long-established historical and legal facts surrounding the ownership of the school’s land and urged the public to ignore what he termed “false narratives circulated online.”
The community leader maintained that Government College Umuahia has always been situated on ancestral land belonging exclusively to Umuana Ndume-Ibeku in Umuahia North Local Government Area.
The community described the claim as “malicious, baseless and capable of causing unnecessary tension” among neighbouring communities.
Ohaeri said the community was compelled to speak out to prevent misinformation from gaining legitimacy through repetition.
He warned that Umuana Ndume-Ibeku would not “fold its arms while its ancestral heritage is threatened or redefined through false claims.”
Ohaeri revealed that representatives of a neighbouring community allegedly supplied incorrect information during a state boundary committee sitting on land disputes.
The committee, he noted, was chaired by the Deputy Governor of Abia State, Mr Ikechukwu Emetu.
Ohaeri called on the Abia government to remain impartial, transparent and guided strictly by verifiable historical and documentary evidence.
“Umuana Ndume-Ibeku was fully prepared to submit all documents required to establish its ownership beyond doubt.
“The community’s forefathers donated the land to Rev. Robert Fisher, a British Anglican priest, in 1926. Fisher later founded Government College Umuahia on the land in 1929, with the full consent of Umuana elders.
“There are clear documents, records and oral histories supporting this uncontested donation,” Ohaeri asserted.
Ohaeri explained that ownership of Abia State University campus and the Timber Market land by Umuana, which borders Government College Umuahia, had never been disputed.
“It is on record that the boundary between Umuahia North and Ikwuano is the Ohimiri river. In our language, the place is called Ogbaododo Umana, meaning land given by our forefathers to Government College,” Ohaeri said.
Chief Ikechukwu Meregini, Chairman of the GCU Boundary Adjustment Committee, in supporting the community’s position said he possessed sufficient documents proving Umuana’s ownership of the land hosting the college.
Government College, Umuahia, founded in 1929, has produced notable alumni including Chinua Achebe, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Ben Enwonwu, Lazarus Ekwueme, former Governor of Enugu State, Okwesilieze Nwodo and Gen. Alex Madiebo.
