Community in Anambra confronts CoS and Dep Gov, over 100-year land dispute
In a land dispute between their community and its two neighbors, the Abo Ani Awgbu and Enugwu communities, the people of Umuenu community in Umuawulu, Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State, have accused Dr. Onyekachukwu Ibezim, the state deputy governor, and Ernest Ezeajughi, the state governor’s chief of staff, of being biased.
Community in Anambra confronts CoS and Dep Gov, over 100-year land dispute
The Umuenu community, in large numbers, peacefully demonstrated on Tuesday under the direction of the town leaders. Among them were elderly people, some of whom were as old as 92. They claimed that their ancestral land, known as “Agu Udo/Agu Ofu land,” had been overtaken by nearby communities, preventing them from farming and denying them their means of subsistence over time.
They especially accused the Anambra State Boundary Committee’s deputy governor, Ibezim, of prejudice in the resolution of their century-old property issue, saying that he was swayed by the CoS to the governor, Ezeajughi, who is a native of the Awgbu village.
The locals carried banners around the neighborhood that read, among other things, “Governor Soludo, come to our rescue.” “Abo Ani has encroached on our land,” “We have a land judgment in favor of us from the Supreme Court,” “Onyekachukwu Ibezim, the Deputy Governor, is biased;” “The Chief of Staff, who is from Awgbu, has influenced the Deputy Governor;” “The Deputy Governor is following the Chief of Staff’s scripts;” “Soludo steps in before they annex our territory;” Among other things, “We have no other land where we farm but the disputed land.”
Humphrey Obi, a former chairman and spokesperson for the Umuenu Umuawulu community, told South-East PUNC during the demonstration that the land dispute started in 1921, specifically between the Umuenu and Abo Ani Awgbu communities. The dispute was brought before the courts in 1926, and the Supreme Court rendered a decision on it in the 1960s.
According to Obi, the Umuenu community has won every court case since making its initial appearance in 1926. This includes cases heard by the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the Onitsha Judicial Division, the court of the former Republic of Biafra, and others.
According to Obi, the Anambra State Boundary Commission, led by Deputy Governor Ibezim, received a request from the inhabitants of the Abo Ani village to demarcate the disputed property, despite multiple court judgments that prevented them from doing so.
Obi stated, “We argued that we are the land’s legitimate owners and that the Supreme Court’s ruling should be followed because it is still a valid legislation when we appeared before the state Boundary Commission, which is chaired by the deputy governor.
Strangely enough, however, in addition to the Abo Ani Awgbu community, our neighboring Enugwu community, which testified against us in court decades ago, has now reversed course and is asserting that the land is theirs. This assertion indicates that they are supported by strong forces within the state government, including the deputy governor and the governor’s council of state.
“The deputy governor informed us that he had no business with the Supreme Court ruling and others and that he had not even looked through the materials we presented while he was interacting with the Abo Ani Awgbu community during the last meeting he presided over. He claimed that all he needed was the boundary of the disputed land marked out.
We are calling on the state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, to intervene on our behalf by warning his deputy to act appropriately in the role of head of the state boundary committee, as it is evident from his statements that he is biased and influenced by the Chief of Staff, who is from Awgbu. He is also attempting to cede our land to Abo Ani Awgbu.
“The Anambra State Boundary Committee has a sacred duty to follow and apply the demarcation as judiciously fixed by the courts. Failure to do so will amount to strict contempt of court as well as Anambra State Boundary Committee reviewing and reversing the judgment of competent courts.”
However, the governor Soludo was reminded of the supremacy of law by the President and Secretary of Umuenu, Nze Okoye Godwin and Mr. Nwafor Tochukwu, respectively, in a petition. They stated that, as a result, he should not allow any influence from any quarters to cede their land or a portion of it to both Abo Ani Awgbu and Enugwu, as they were trespassers already stopped by the courts.
The two reiterated the risk of giving the land to unauthorized groups and asked Soludo to get the state’s attorney general and commissioner of justice to explain to them what happens if they disobey a court order.
“I am surprised that Abo Ani Awgbu and Enugwu communities are now claiming the ownership of our ancestral land,” 94-year-old Tochukwu Okoye stated during the demonstration. Just give it some more thought. As a man of peace, I am requesting that Soludo step in and resolve this conflict.
“I started cultivating on the disputed land with my father when I was six years old, and I know everywhere there,” stated Chief Johnson Nwafor, an 88-year-old villager. About that land, we have no case against Enugwu and Abo Ani Awgbu. We are not want to see bloodshed because our community is peaceful and we are the land’s legitimate proprietors.
