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From David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi
Nkomoro Nike community in Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State and Onuogba Nike community clash over a disputed parcel of land.
The Nkomoro Nike community has, to this end, appealed to the Governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and the Inspector Genersl of Police, to prevail on the Enugu Force CID Annex, the Zonal Police Command or any Police formation in Enugu State, not to provide protection or cover to anybody towards carrying out any activity in the disputed land until the determination of the real owners of the land which case the community said was pending at the Supreme Court and High Court 8 Enugu, respectively.
The appeal followed an alleged entry into the land by a developer who claimed to have bought part of the land in contention from Onuogba Nike community even as the case was still pending in the courts.
The Nkomoro Nike community while addressing newsmen, yesterday, in Nnewi, through their lawyer, Rev. Jessie -Daniels Onuigbo, said it would amount to encouraging hatred between the two contending communities to the land, for the Police to provide protection to anybody into the land in disobedience to the court orders for the parties to steer clear form any activity in the land.
They also wondered how anybody would be claiming to have bought a part of a disputed land from a party to the dispute when the ownership to it, was yet to be determined by the Supreme Court.
Rev. Onuigbo said: “We have petitioned the Commissioner of Police, Enugu State and other formations of the Police in the State against frequent use of the Police to arrest and detain members of the Nkomoro Nike community by the developer who claimed to have bought part of the land from the Onuogba Nike community, while the matter is pending at the Court of Appeal and subsequently the Supreme Court.
Explaining how the matter is in both Supreme Court and High Court 8 Enugu, Rev. Onuigbo said: “What brought about the matter going to High Court 8 Enugu is that the developer after purportedly buying part of the land from some members of Onuogba Nike community, started clearing the land to build, but a member of Nkomoro Nike community, Mr Moses Igwe, whose father’s portion of the communal land was purportedly sold to developer, took him to court, seeking to restrain him from trespassing into the land, asserting that the land belong to Nkomoro Nike community.
“The two contenders to the large communal land were made to sign an undertaking by Police at Emene Emugu State on the directive of the Commissioner of Police in the State in 2015, after several petitions we made to the Police in Enugu State over threat to peace between the two communities.
“Now the two communities are waiting for the Supreme Court to decide on who owns the land, activities of the developer with the support of some members of Onuogba Nike community is provoking restiveness among the youths of Nkomoro Nike community who are being intimidated with the use of the Police by the developer.
“We are, therefore, appealing to the IGP to prevail on his men in Enugu State to allow peace reign by not encouraging any activity by the developer in the land or the contending communities in the land, pending the determination of the real owners of the land by Supreme Court.”
