By Uchenna Inya, Abakaliki
Aged women in Ishinkwo autonomous Community, Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State yesterday protested alleged fraudulent activities by the Government officials involved in the ongoing land demarcation exercise between their community and their neighboring Abaomege community in the local government.
The state government in its efforts to permanently end the intractable land dispute between Ishinkwo and Abaomege communities in the local government which has claimed many of lives and properties worth millions of naira, commenced demarcation of the disputed land as part of terms of settlement contained in the released government white paper.
The women who stormed government house, Abakaliki,in their large numbers, to register their displeasure over the alleged flawed demarcation exercise, carried placards with different inscriptions, such as:”Gov Nwifuru, father of the State, please, come to our aid; where is the map attached to the white paper?; enough is enough to land grabbing, follow the white paper; Ekeroku, stop taking sides and be neutral; return Ugwuekuma Primary School to Ishinkwo, it’s our ancient land mark; return Uda Iyiocha to Ishinkwo, it’s our land; Ogboffia is out to grab more lands to his community, it’s unfair; Ishinkwo Military pin down ceded to Abaomege is an injustice, among others.
The women who also marched to the State House of Assembly complex Nkaliki to register their complaints before the State Lawmakers, accused the Council Chairman of Onicha LGA, Mr Ikechukwu Ogboffia, of allegedly colluding with the land demarcation committee, of grabbing Ishinkwo land for his Abaomege Community.
In an open letter addressed to Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, signed by National President, Women Wing of Ishinkwo Community Development Union (ICDU), Mrs Fidelia Nworie and 12 others, which they made available to Journalists, the women alleged that the ongoing demarcation exercise is fundamentally flawed, totally skewed, and was capable of breaching the peace building efforts of government and called on the Governor to intervene.
They accused the deputy Surveyor General of the State, Ekeroku of executing the demarcation exercise without reference to the white paper, the legal basis of the exercise, which according to them, renders the exercise illegal, null, and void, as no one can place something on nothing and expect it to stand.
“The demarcation is being executed without reference to the White Paper, the legal basis of the exercise. Which renders the exercise illegal, null, and void, as no one can place something on nothing and expect it to stand.
“The Survey Map, which is a critical component of the White Paper, has also been disregarded by the Deputy Surveyor-General of the State, Mr. Ekeroku. Despite all our entreaties, Mr. Ekeroku has blatantly refused to make the Map available to guide the demarcation, choosing instead to rely on intuition.
“If Mr. Ekeroku decided to hide the map from both communities, we would not have bothered much. However, Mr. Ikechukwu Ogbofia, Chairman of Onicha Local Government Area, an Abaomege native, is indisputably in possession of the said Map. But, not even our Traditional Ruler has the document! If this is not partiality, we wonder what is.
“The six(6) swamplands in dispute are captured in the White Paper with their names mentioned therein. However, the demarcation has been extended to our uplands, ancient buildings, ancient landmarks, and Old Primary Schools, all of which have been fraudulently ceded to Abaomege by Ekeroku in conspiracy and active connivance with the Onicha Local Government Chairman, Mr. Ikechukwu Ogbofia.
“The Onicha Local Government Chairman, Mr. Ikechukwu Ogbofia, occasionally goes to the site to arbitrarily decree the boundary locations. It was on one such occasion that he and Mr. Ekeroku drove into our interior and marked our old Primary School and the Military PIN-DOWN we built with our community resources in our Efiom village for allocation to his Abaomege community.
“We appreciate Mr. Ikechukwu Ogbofia’s gospel of peace, but we would like to remind him that our community has remained cut off from the National Grid by his Abaomege Community for years now. Where then is the peace he preaches?”, the women stated.
The visibly angry women demanded that the survey map as captured by the White Paper be produced for both communities to eliminate doubts about the demarcation and to enable them to monitor compliance, even as they called on the Governor to replace Mr Ekeroku who is the leader of the Demarcation Committee, for transparency and credibility and to restore their confidence in the demarcation exercise.
The women also demanded that their ancient buildings and landmarks, Primary School, and the location of the Military Pin-down ceded to Abaomege, possibly in error, be reversed; the Local Government Chairman be prevailed upon to be impartial in his supervision of the exercise going forward ; and should advise his people to reconnect us to the National Grid if he is sincere with his gospel of peace.
“The actions of Mr. Ekeroku and Mr. Ogbofia have not only undermined the peace process but have also created an atmosphere of mistrust and suspicion. We request Your Excellency to intervene to reinvigorate the peace building”, the Women concluded.
Addressing the women, the State Commissioner for Lands and Boarder Peace, Dr Donatus Ilang, assured the women that he was going to visit the area to address their concerns, even as he pointed that engaging protest was not the best option.
The Chairman, Onicha LGA of Ebonyi State, Hon Ikechukwu Ogboffia, in a chat with Journalists, denied the allegation that he was grabbing Ishinkwo land for his Abaomege people, noting that his major campaign promise was to restore peace between the two communities and couldn’t have been a party to anything that would hinder the peace process initiated by the Governor of the State.
He called on the people of the two communities for calm, rather than, indulging in actions that could truncate efforts of the State government.