Enugu community embarks on peaceful protest over alleged takeover of ancestral land among those include Chief Arthur-Ugwa Chinedu

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A large number of people of Umuigbo Amurri autonomous community of Nkanu West Local Government Area Enugu State, have staged a peaceful protest over an alleged unauthorised takeover of their ancestral land for Enugu Smart Farm by the local government chairman, Hon. John Ogbodo.

They pointed out that they had already mapped out a larger expanse of land to enable the state government utilize it for the Smart Farm project, insisting that the place being forcefully taken over has been reserved for residential layout.
The people- women, youths and the elderly- clutched green leaves and placards with various inscriptions: “Umuigbo Amurri, we say no to illegal seizure of our land”; “We say no to the arrogance of the Nkanu West LGA chairman”; “We have a place mapped out for Smart Farm”; “We support the government of Peter Mbah”; “Nkanu West LGA chairman cannot take our land without our knowledge”; “Stop destroying our crops”, among others.
They, especially the women, wailed, sang sorrowful songs and matched from their village square to Agbani Road, where they spoke with newsmen.

The president general of the community’s town union, Chief Sebastian Onu Okoh, disclosed that the community fully supported the Smart Farm idea of Governor Peter Mbah especially as it concerns ending the invasion of farmlands by Fulani herdsmen.

“For this purpose, we met on April 22 this year and mapped out over 1000 hectares of land in our farm settlement for this purpose. This is a place where Fulani herdsmen with their cattle always destroy our crops. The governor requested for 200 hectares of land for this farming but we gave five times more. We did this in conjunction with the other autonomous communities in Amurri clan.
“We were surprised to see bulldozers rolling on the farmlands close to where we live and started destroying crops in the farms. Upon inquiry, we were told that the LGA chairman, Hon. John Ogbodo has taken the place for government’s Smart Farm project. We were confused because nobody has approached us for that.

“When our people tried to stop the bulldozers and told them that we had a place bigger than this for that purpose, the LGA chairman sent policemen from Agbani to arrest them on the allegation that they set the bulldozers ablaze. Meanwhile they are still there working,” he said.
Okoh accused the council boss of using policemen to intimidate and silence the people into submission, lamenting that four members of the community were made to spend 10 days inside police cell for trying to stop him from destroying their crops.

Another leader in the community and special adviser to the governor of Bayelsa State on Special Duties, Chief Chinedu Atokwa, queried the motive of the LGA chairman in forcibly taking a piece of land in the community without the people’s consent, lamenting the destruction of crops in the farmland.

The leader of the women of the community, Mrs. Chinyere Ugwu and the youth chairman, Jude Okoh, expressed doubts over the LGA chairman’s intentions, saying a government that had a good thought for its people should have a listening ears rather than destroying their livelihoods.

The community therefore appealed to Governor Peter Mbah to intervene and direct the LGA chairman to leave this land for them as “it is where we have mapped out as a residential layout for our young ones.”
They warned that continued encroachment could lead to unrest and called on Governor Mbah to step in to ensure that the place mapped out for the purpose of smart farming by the community is adhered to.
But reacting to the allegations, the LGA chairman, Hon. Ogbodo said the land was properly donated by the community through their traditional ruler and other leaders of Amurri town, adding that the government’s Smart Farm project is for benefit of the people of the community.
According to him, the choice of the land by the traditional ruler of the community was because the land had been “lying fallow for over 300 years without any use but only serving as a cover for Fulani herdsmen”.
He said the government meant well for the people and urged the protesters to accept the project the way other communities had accepted their own.

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