Anambra communities tango over land ownership

Chief Ejike Okafor, the president-general of the Abacha Community Development Union in the Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, has criticized claims made by Dan Analiku, the president-general of the Nimo community, that his people should cultivate all of the area’s lands during the 2024 farming season.

At a news conference in Nimo on Tuesday, Okafor said that if such accusations were not handled carefully, they may spark a crisis in the communities.

The Nimo PG allegedly identified parcels of land in villages like Nimo Owa, Owe, Mkpuluota, Nkokpo, Agunogba, and Aguekpe, among others, as sites to be cultivated by his people in order for them “to achieve bumper harvest” during the community opening of its 2024 farming season in anambra.

In response to the claims, Okafor asserted that the Abacha people own the aforementioned land plots and have been cultivating the area since their ancestors’ time.

“Abacha community is a neighbor of Nimo community,” he stated. The president-general of Nimo was quoted in a recent news as saying that his people ought to cultivate the fields there during this year’s farming season.

Such a claim is deceptive, a charade created to hide the real situation, and a ruse to mislead the public about who really owns the aforementioned lands.

If not controlled, this kind of public discourse can spark catastrophes. Since the beginning of time, the residents of the Abacha community have coexisted peacefully with their neighbors and held ownership of the three lands—Agu Owa, Ugwu Ogazi, and Agu Nogba—and we have always wondered why the President General chose to get involved in these matters despite being fully aware that the lands belong to the people of Abacha town.

“The Abacha people have owned these three lands—Agu Owa, Ugwu Ogazi, and Agu Nogba—since the time of our ancestors. We Abacha people are unaware of the motivations behind the president general’s and the Nimo people’s remarks. Since these areas are involved in the ongoing legal dispute between the Abacha community and Nimo as plaintiffs in suit number NN/110/2018 at the Anambra State High Court, sitting in Neni, it is documented that the Abacha people are the legitimate proprietors of these locations.

Abacha Development Union Secretary-General Mr. Mathew Obi, for his part, called on the leader of Nimo Town to retract his remarks regarding the aforementioned lands and opt for peace, adding that the two towns have been coexisting peacefully and could not afford to be adversaries this time.

Dan Analiku, the President-General of Nimo, denied the allegations when he was approached about the development, stating that the grounds belonged to his community.