Residents to Uzodimma: stop land grabbers
Communities in Owerri West, Imo State, have protested alleged land grabbing of their ancestral land by suspected state government agents. Residents of Avu, Umuoma and Ihiagwa communities have trooped out
Communities in Owerri West, Imo State, have protested alleged land grabbing of their ancestral land by suspected state government agents.
Residents of Avu, Umuoma and Ihiagwa communities have trooped out en-masse to protest alleged coercive acquisition of over 38.76 hectares of their ancestral land by people suspected to be land grabbers, urging Governor Hope Uzodimma to intervene.
Attorney for the communities, Chief Sam Anokam, called on Governor Uzodimma to intervene in what he described as “inhumanity to man”, saying: “The agents forcefully entered people’s land and demolished structures.
‘’This is against the recommendation of the commission of inquiry set up by Governor Uzodimma, which cleared the land as belonging to Nigerian Prisons now called Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS).
“For the same government to turn around and say they are reclaiming it beats all imaginations.
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“On this premise, we demand government restores the place, otherwise we shall occupy it.”
Anokam, an estate surveyor, said Avu ancestral land, housing Nigerian Correctional Service, was reduced from its initial 61 hectares to 38.76 hectares under former Governor Rochas Okorocha’s administration.
“The 38.76 hectares have been earmarked for prison land in Avu since 1977 and they are in the master plan of the state government,” he said, adding that the land was acquired through the ‘Traditional Rites Agreement’ with the landlords.
NCoS Deputy Controller Stanley Obosha condemned the alleged land grabbers’ actions, saying the matter was already being handled by the authorities.
“We are aware of the encroachment and destruction of our fence and other structures on the land by land grabbers and we have lodged complaints to the state government,” he noted.
Spokesman for Avu community Elders Council, Elder Vincent Njoku, urged Governor Uzodimma to stop the alleged land grabbers, to prevent breakdown of law and order.
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Representatives of Ukwo Umuoma and Ihiagwa communities have decried sale of their ancestral land.
They accused agents, who claimed to be acting on behalf of the state government, of encroaching on and selling their land at N2.5 million per plot.
Anokam said about 2,290 hectares, which the Federal Government excised out of the 4455.786 hectares in favour of the host communities, ‘’are now being encroached on by these land grabbers.’’
“Within this land area is where government agents are selling land with fake allocation papers of Imo Housing Corporation,” he alleged.
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Anokam said there was exchange of letters issued by ex-Governor Sam Mbakwe to the Federal Government over the land.
“There was exchange of letters, which the late Governor Mbakwe administration issued to the Federal Government over the land. This letter is in perpetuity, it cannot be revoked,” he maintained.
Commissioner for Land Enyinnaya Onuegbu, a barrister, denied land grabbing allegations, claiming government was chasing out criminals. “The whole areas have been taken over by kidnappers, who use the place to conduct their crime-related operations.”
However, he said: ‘’If they have evidence of exchange of letters, they should provide it. So, the issue of land grabbing is neither here nor there; all we want to do is recover part of the land given to Rochas Okorocha’s cronies.’”
