Follow Us on Google
Maduka Nweke
Stakeholders from Igbakwu in Ayamelum Local Government Area of Anambra State have called the Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, to urgently resolve the various communal clashes over land in the state.
Speaking in the wake of brewing tension between Igbakwu and Omor, nearby communities over land issues previously settled by Supreme Court, Chief Simon Okafor, a former Sole Administrator, Ayamelum Local Government Area, said the peace which the state enjoys above other states will not make meaning if the squabbles are not nipped in the bud.
According to Okafor, “We are in farming season and if nothing is done now, be sure there will be famine next year because there is great scare around the disputed land. Government should not wait until people are killed before it can come into any crisis. Government must be proactive because once it reaches to the level of killings, everybody will start looking for revenge. I wouldn’t like the case to reach like that.
“Lets bear in mind that because government could not settle the case before 1998, there was a war. The same scenario is trying to repeat itself. Must we wait until things get out of hand? Igbakwu is a law abiding small community who would like to explore all peaceful means of settling cases hence the call on government to intervene before it gets let,”he said.
In the same vein, Chief Ike Nduba, one of the leaders of thought in the town who added his voice said that it better settle matters when they are at jaw, jaw level than to wait until it gets to the level of throwing blows. He said, “When it gets to blows level, every one tries to get his pound of flesh. This will not be fair for two communities leaving next to each other”.
Chief Philip Chukwuemeka, another leader in the community advised government to hasten its efforts in land matters resolution. According to him government is not doing well to allow all these matters hanging unresolved. He said that those who witnessed the first war in 1998 will not support anything that can lead to another war. “We know some people are fueling the crisis. I want to tell all of you who are beating the war drum to withdraw your instruments because war does not beget good thing. A word is enough for the wise,”he said.
The trio in their respective appeals asked the state government to wade into the various land matters ravaging the state and find ways of settling them. According to them, several communities in Anambra State are currently engaged in land disputes with their neighbours, but this is happening at a time when Ogidi and Umunachi communities have amicably resolved a 100-year-old land feud.
From Ogbunka to Owerre Ezukala, Aguleri to Umuleri, Ogbunike to Ogidi, through Umuoba Anam, the Igbakwu and Omor and several other communities in the State, stories of communal conflicts among communities as a result of land ownership is not new. This is growing to become a major concern to the state government after repeated attempts to resolve the feud between communities.
The story of the communal war between Aguleri and Umuleri which took place in 1999 and 2000, defying every means of settlement, and causing the then President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to come to Anambra to mediate between the two communities is still very fresh in the minds of those who experienced it. Not minding the devastating effects of the war, other communities who are still having feud about ownership of land are yet to learn from them.
The same had been the case of Owerre Ezukala and Ogbunka, where both communities engaged each other a few years ago, defying the mediation of the former deputy governor of the state, Mr. Emeka Sibeudu, who on the day of his visit was said to have escaped death in the hands of a visibly aggrieved community warriors who had laid siege for people of the other community.
It is for this reason that the current state deputy governor who doubles as the Chairman of the State Boundary Commission, Dr. Nkem Okeke, has lamented that one of the most tasking jobs in his position is settling land disputes among communities. A visibly happy Okeke who spoke during a reconciliation meeting organised by Ogidi and Umunachi communities after an amicable settlement of a 100-year-old land dispute, said it would be the first time communities with land dispute would be having amicable settlement.
Okeke said, “Each time I am to preside over a land issue, I develop headache. The most difficult job I have to deal with as a deputy governor is land dispute. I just came back from Abuja yesterday where we went to visit the National Boundary Commission over our land dispute with Enugu and Kogi states.
“What I do not understand is why every community has land dispute in Anambra. It still surprises me that people fight and kill themselves for land that was existing before they were born, and which would continue to exist even when they have long died. Most people who I consider as my friends have left me just because they think I should have sided them when I presided over land dispute for their communities.
I am happy because this is the first time I am being called that two communities accepted on their own to make peace and shun killings. I am very happy.”
Considering the difficulty which the state was facing settling disputes among communities over land, a development that is fast threatening the peace which the state government has repeatedly boasted of as its achievement in the area of security, government may have found a lasting solution to the problem as the deputy governor while commending the Ogidi and Umunachi communities for embracing peace read out a riot act to other communities who were still involved in misunderstanding over land.
