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By Zika Bobby
The people of Obollo community in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State have raised the alarm over a brewing communal clash that could consume many lives if not urgently resolved.
The community, in a petition to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Agbetokun, accused a former governor of the state of using his allies to instigate a crisis in the community, in order to grab a huge parcel of land.
The Donee, Power of Attorney, Oha Obollo in Council, Chief Matthew Agu, who signed the petition dated December 21, 2023, said the former governor had solicited a large expanse of land for the establishment of a dry sea port in Obollo-Afor, a request that was granted on August 9, 2015, with the understanding that it was for public good.
He said, “But, as the years rolled by, we discovered that he had tricked us into donating the land. It was clear that he was planning to grab the property for his personal use. We kicked against it because that land is not for anybody’s personal use.
“Seeing that he could not achieve his plan of taking the land for himself through the dry sea port story, he resorted to engineering one of the clans in the community to claim ownership of the property, against an existing court order indicating that the land belongs to the entire Oha Obollo and not one particular clan.”
Agu also narrated several attempts made by the ex-governor through a serving police DIG, who hails from the same local government area, to frustrate efforts to resolve the issue legally.
He regretted that despite a court judgement indicating that the land belongs to the Obollo community, the police were invited to chase the judgement creditors away, replacing them with the judgement debtors.
Part of the petition reads: “Inspector General, this is a high-level conspiracy against Obollo people to incriminate and cramp my people to jail in their own judgment. Recall that in my petition dated August 21, 2023, I told you about how a DIG, then a CP, had made himself available to make sure that my people of Obollo were dealt with criminally.
“The court, on September 22, delivered judgement and levied execution in our favour with all necessary documentation. On December 8, the police of the Area Command Orba, Udenu LGA of Enugu State, invaded our property, drove our people out of the premises handed to them by the court, and brought the judgement debtors back to the land. On inquiry with the area commander, he told me that the order came from the CP.
“On December 9, I approached the CP in Enugu. He queried the area commander for dropping his name in such a sensitive matter, saying that he never gave any such orders. I strongly suspect that the OC Legal has been compromised to ensure that the judgement debtors are in occupation while the judgement creditors go on a wild goose chase of seeking due process.”
He pleaded with the IGP to intervene, so as not to allow the anger of members of the community to snowball into a full-blown crisis that could consume many lives and property, adding that the police boss should investigate the matter and return the property back to the community.
