From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Tension is brewing in Enugwu-Agidi community, Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State, as some indigenes of the community are gearing up for a showdown with their traditional ruler, Chief Izuchukwu Okeke-Onyeocha, over the ownership of large parcels of land in the area.
Operating under the banner of Concerned Enugwu-Agidi Indigenes, Achalla village chapter, the group recently converged on Awka, where they addressed journalists and sent a ‘Save Our Souls’ message to Anambra State Government alleging an increasing rate of land-grabbing and insecurity in the town.
President-general of the town, Mr. Victor Okeke-Mgbajiaka, appealed to Governor Chukwuma Soludo to help them set up a security outfit in the community, as the activities of land-grabbers who pose as real estate agents were causing mayhem in the community.
He said, as law-abiding citizens who are not interested in the use of force to settle disputes, they have written numerous petitions to security agencies, ministries and government offices, to no avail and they have done a lot of things to end land-grabbing in the community, which he said has degenerated into other social vices like rape, killing, kidnapping and violent physical assaults.
They accused the monarch of masterminding various attacks by suspected land-grabbers and alleged that no fewer than 12 persons have been injured and two women raped by thugs used by the land-grabbers.
They claimed that over 1,000 plots of the community’s land have been forcefully taken, while many farmlands were destroyed by the land-grabbers, allegedly led by the monarch.
Okeke-Mgbajiaka, in warning developers against buying land in Enugwu-Agidi without proper questions, wondered how a single individual could have hundreds or thousands of plots of land in one community without running into other people’s plots.
Chairman of Achalla village, Enugwu-Agidi, Mr. Obinna Okoye-Ocha, the secretary, Igwe-in-Council, Chief Alex Ayotalumuo, and a stakeholder in the town, Comrade Emeka Ementa, alleged that Ezi Onogwo and Ana-Mili forest and farmlands have been destroyed by the monarch and his group.
They collectively said that the activities of the group have raised concerns of insecurity in the town, which was why they were alerting security agencies and the government on the matter.
Mrs Evelyn Okeke-nta, who claimed that her farm was destroyed and farm produce wasted at different locations, recounted how she was beaten up and threatened by the land-grabbers if she ever set her feet on the said location again. She added that she had notified the village chairman about her experience and called on government to do justice, as she had no other source of livelihood.
Though the Anambra State Police Command did not issue any confirmatory statement as regards the matter when contacted, the aggrieved community members who spoke to journalists alleged that several petitions to the police yielded no result.
When contacted, Chief Okeke-Onyeocha said he was an estate developer who acquired all the land in the community legitimately.
He also wondered how a single individual could overpower an entire community and take over their land, as his accusers alleged, and asked the state government to institute a committee to investigate the allegations against him by his own brothers even as he pledged his continuous support for the betterment of Enugwu-Agidi.
He dismissed all the allegations against him, saying he had no hand in any land-grabbing activities as claimed by the aggrieved members of the community.
He added that he officially bought the plots of land he acquired, with relevant documents to back them up. The monarch challenged the aggrieved members to come up with evidence that he forcefully took over their land.
He pointed out that the community did not have any communal land as claimed by the group: “Those people are just being jealous and envious and it’s a mere conspiracy by the group to malign me. It is because I refused to give them money that they turned around to accuse me of land-grabbing when they know that there is nothing like communal land.
“One of them came to me after I had bought land from his family and asked me for money for me to gain access to my land and I promised to give him money but when the money wasn’t forthcoming he went about accusing me of land-grabbing.
“The man that claimed to be the president-general of the town who is also among them is only impersonating because his three months tenure as an interim PG has passed and he is still parading himself as the PG.”
The monarch further added that he also bought land from the family of the president general and that he (PG) took part in the sharing of the money for the purchase of the land.
“Let those people who they said I collected their lands come out in the open and talk and I can assure you that nobody can do that because i legitimately acquired all properties I have. I’m into farming too and all my companies are duly registered because I believe in doing the right things at all times”
Police Public Relations Committee, Anambra State Command, Ikenga Tochi when contacted said he is not aware of any petition from the Enugwu-Agidi community over case of land grabbing or molestation.