Tension in Enugu as Ngwo community, govt clash over disputed land
A festering land dispute in Enugu State has escalated into a major controversy, with Etiti Community Ngwo accusing government officials of undermining a subsisting court judgment. The state government maintains
- From Damian Duruiheoma, Enugu
A festering land dispute in Enugu State has escalated into a major controversy, with Etiti Community Ngwo accusing government officials of undermining a subsisting court judgment.
The state government maintains the land in question belongs to the Federal Government.
Leaders of Etiti Community Ngwo, who staged a peaceful protest on Monday, alleged that officials of Enugu State Geographic Information System (ENGIS) and Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) are working in concert with a rival community to dispossess them of their ancestral land.
In a petition signed by the President General of the community, Daniel Eze, an engineer, the protesters said the disputed land—known as Agu Ovolo, Isiama and Ebemi—had long been in their possession.
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Eze said the matter had been litigated up to the Supreme Court, with judgments delivered in favour of Etiti Ngwo by the Court of Appeal in 2015 and subsequently affirmed when the apex court dismissed an appeal in 2021 filed by Umuakum Atakwu village in Akwuke community.
Despite these rulings, the community alleged that members of the rival Umuakum Atakwu village had continued to encroach on the land, allegedly with backing from certain government officials.
The protesters accused the Director of ENGIS, Chiwetalu Nwatu, of reallocating portions of the land to the rival community in disregard of the court decisions.
Tensions surrounding the dispute reportedly turned violent on July 12, 2025, when a member of the Etiti Ngwo community, Sochima Onoh, was killed. The community alleged that the attack was carried out by youths from the rival community.
The community has since appealed to Governor Peter Mbah to intervene, calling for a thorough investigation into the alleged conspiracy and the killing.
They also urged the government to provide security in the area, expressing fears over the safety of lives and property amid rising tensions.
Responding to the allegations, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Dan Nwomeh, dismissed the claims, insisting that the state government’s actions were guided by law.
Nwomeh says the disputed land, located within the Olympic Layout, is classified as Crown Land originally acquired during the colonial era and now vested in the Federal Government.
According to him, the Bureau of Public Enterprises currently administers the land, exercising statutory authority over its management and allocation.
He argued that neither Etiti Ngwo nor Akwuke community had any legally recognisable ownership of the land, stressing that any such claims were defective due to lack of valid title.
Citing established legal principles, he maintained that ownership could not be transferred where no valid title existed, rendering competing claims by both communities untenable.
Nwomeh clarified that any court judgment obtained between the two communities did not override the superior title of the Federal Government, as such rulings were binding only on the parties involved.
He said ENGIS merely collaborated with the BPE to regularise land records and ensure compliance with urban planning regulations, describing the arrangement as standard administrative practice.
