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By Enyeribe Ejiogu
In a commendable demonstration of the central role which the married daughters of Igbo communities and towns play in peacebuilding and conflict resolution efforts to sustain peace, members of Umuada Umunnachi (married daughters of Umunnachi) in Dunukofia Local Government Area, Anambra State, have unanimously urged their kinsmen in Umueze Umunnachi to respect the decision of the Supreme Court in the protracted land dispute between Uruowelle kindred of Nkwelle village and Umuogu family of Umueze village, all in Umunnachi town of Dunukofia LGA.
Despite the final and sacrosanct decision of the Supreme Court on the land matter, the Chairperson of Umuada Umunnachi, Mrs Onyinye Udegbunam, said the daughters of the community found it very disturbing that some of their misguided kinsmen have remained intransigent and refused to allow peace to reign, but have been “pushing for violence and taking actions that constitute a breach of peace.”
One particular case involved Chief Augustine Nwachuya and his cohorts who trespassed on the land in question, prompting a report to be made to the Commissioner of Police, Anambra State. Following deliberations at the Command headquarters, he signed an undertaking not to do so again.
Again, Francis Okonkwo reported Chief Chukwuebuka Okenwa to Ukpo Police Division claiming that Chief Okenwa destroyed government property on the land but nothing came out of it because Francis Okonkwo couldn’t substantiate his allegation.
To the consternation of members of the Uruowelle kindred, persons suspected to be from Umueze destroyed Okenwa’s brick fence and set his building on fire.
To douse the tension set off by the action of the miscreants, Umuada Umunnachi intervened and took the matter to the Peace and Reconciliation Committee led by Dr. Peter Offorah, a pharmacist for resolution.
Sunday Sun gathered from a knowledgeable indigene who pleaded for anonymity, that the 11-man committee comprised two persons from each village and one representative of the Umuada Umunnachi. According to the source, the committee comprised the following: Dr. Peter Offorah (chairman); Barr. Lawrence Odilora (secretary); Rev. Canon Tochukwu Odilora; Rev. Fr. Celestine Aniofor; Pastor Emeka Ifedigo; Prof Ifeanyi Ezebialu; Chief Benedict Okoye; Mr. Arinze Oscar Nnabuenyi; Ichie Emeka Anaekwe; Chief Frederick Ezika and Chief (Mrs) Carol Ikeabbah.
The committee, it was learnt, deliberated on various matters and petitions brought before it, including the land dispute between Uruowelle and Umueze. In keeping with global best practices, the chairman of the committee, Dr Offorah, who hails from Nkwelle and Chief Benedict Okoye, acting chairman of Umueze, both recused themselves from the Committee’s deliberation on the land dispute. Pastor Ifeadigo Okagbue then presided.
After the deliberations, the source told Sunday Sun that the committee resolved as follows: “That the dispute between the parties has passed through the High Court of Justice, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
“That upon thorough investigation, it was discovered that the Supreme Court of Nigeria delivered judgement in favour of Uruowelle Kindred of Nkwelle village, Umunnachi.
“That the Umunnachi Peace and Reconciliation Committee resolved not to meddle or interfere with the dispute already decided by the Supreme Court, therefore Umueze village should respect the decision of the Supreme Court of Nigeria over the said dispute.
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“That in the spirit of brotherhood and peaceful co- existence, the Umunnachi Peace and Reconciliation Committee, together with Umueze people shall meet the stakeholders of Uruowelle to passionately appeal to Uruowelle Kindred, Nkwelle village, Umunnachi to see if they can concede or relinquish a part of the land in dispute to Umueze as compensation in the spirit of brotherly love.
“That the Umueze village and her executives should sensitize and carry out orientation and enlightenment programmes for their youths and community members to desist from trespassing on the land in line with the judgment delivered by the Supreme Court of Nigeria.”
The source said the Umuada Umunnachi through their chairperson, Mrs Chinese Udegbunam, expressed joy over the decision of the committee and adopted the resolution.
Asked to provide perspective to the matter, the source said: “This protracted land dispute started many years ago. There were several interventions by the various bodies, without any success.
“My kindred, Uruowelle, through our representatives, namely Chief Michael Onwuka, Chief Augustine Okeke and Mr Patrick Oraegbunam, took the matter to Awka High Court as the plaintiffs and filed Suit No.A/219/2002, against Umuogu kindred, which was represented by the trio of Mr. Simeon Muodili, Mr. Ben. Enujioke and Mr. Gabriel Azotani as defendants.
At the High Court, Uruowelle gave the name of the land in dispute as Ofia Otosi (bamboo forest) while Umuogu kindred called it Ofia Eziagu (Eziagu forest).
“Now, this is very interesting: during trial, late Igwe Felix Onochie, who was called as a witness for the defendants, gave evidence that became an albatross for the defendants. When he was asked the name of the land in dispute, he responded that it was called Ofia Otosi (bamboo forest) as opposed to Ofia Eziagu, the name the defendants called it.
At the conclusion of trial, the High Court gave judgement in favour of the defendant and dismissed the claims of the plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs appealed to the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division, in Suit No CA/E/53/2008. Delivering the judgment on 06/05/2014, the Hon. Justice Ignatius Agube, who read the lead judgment, set aside the High Court judgment and granted the claims of the plaintiffs.
Dissatisfied with the outcome at the appeal court, the defendants (Simeon Muodili, Ben Enujioke and Gabriel Azotani), appealed to the Supreme Court in Suit No SC/528/2014 against the Appeal Court decision.
However, their appeal was unsuccessful as the Supreme Court on March 18, 2015 dismissed the appeal pursuant to Order 6 Rule 3(2) of the Supreme Court Rules 1998, as amended.
The people of Umuogu, still aggrieved by the dismissal of the appeal by the apex court, filed an application on March 1, 2018, to seek an order of the Supreme Court to set aside the dismissal of their appeal by the apex court and relist it for hearing. However, the apex court in a ruling on December 18, 2020 delivered by Justice Uwani Musa Abba Aji unanimously refused.
