For several weeks running, tension has continued to brew in Enugu State, South East Nigeria, as the people of Umuatugbu Oma, a small community in Nkanu West Local Government of the State, have seemingly drawn battle with the State Government over allegations of forceful take over of their land located at Onu Nyama by the Enugu State Housing Development Corporation (ESHDC).
According to the community, the land in question which measures about 34.4 hectares, is an ancestral property allegedly belonging to the Umuatugbu Oma community as a heritage from their ancestors for their children. They revealed that contrary to the claims in the media by the Enugu State Government through its agency that the land asset was donated to the ESHDC by the community for building an estate, the said land was forcefully taken over from them through a combination of sheer subterfuge and brute force in collaboration with some unidentified individuals.
The aggrieved community is highly miffed that as a ploy to acquire the land, the Enugu State Government’s agency known as the Enugu State Housing Development Corporation (ESHDC) allegedly labeled the said land “a den for kidnappers and terrorists”, a comment which the community found offensive and has condemned and described as ‘malicious’ against them, just to give the state government a smooth sail to achieve their acquisition intention.
The people of Umuatugbu Oma also accused the state government and its housing development agency of illicit collaboration with some unnamed individuals said to be working against the interest of the community to grab their ancestral land without prio discussion, negotiation and agreement to procure the Onu Nyama land for whatever purpose, under a mutual deal terms which is a proper and acceptable practice.
The community said they were so infuriated when they learnt about the alleged secret land grabbing exercise by the government through it’s agency, the ESHDC, in a recently published media report They insist that the news report was a misleading information sponsored by the state government which they swore, had no such land deal with the community or its appointed representative.
The community stated that though it had donated its lands in the past to the Enugu State Government for public interest purposes, such purposes was a willful gesture by the community which was well discussed and mutually agreed for community development sake and not for private or commercial reasons. They dismissed as orchestrated intentional fraud and propaganda, the claim by the Enugu government that the alleged land grabbing scandal was designed to rid the community of the nefarious activities of criminals since the government had already labelled the controversial land as ‘a den of robbers and kidnappers’.
The community insists that two individuals, one Elder Philip Nnam and Mr Valentine Okoh, described as a ‘faceless security officer’ who allegedly justified government’s claims that the community voluntarily donated the land to the ESHDC, were neither indigenes nor tenants in Umuatugbu Oma community. However, some representatives of the entire Umuatugbu Oma community namely: Dr Josephat Ani, Chief Anthony Ogbodo, Chief Ezekiel Ogbodo, Chief Earnest Nwobodo, and Mr Onyekachi Ogbodo, maintained that there was never a time the people of Umuatugbu Oma, as landlord of the said land, jointly entered into any agreement/Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to wilfully donate the said hectares of land, as claimed, by the Enugu State Housing Development Corporation (ESHDC).
They maintained that the alleged malicious allegations by elders Philip Nnam and Val. Okoh, who they described as “unknown” and who claims that the land was given out willingly to the Enugu State government to secure the community against the nefarious activities by the so-called criminals in the area, was totally untrue and a mere conspiracy by the alleged desperate grabbers to trade off the land to the Enugu State Housing Development Corporation, ESHDC.
They further stated that the “green vegetation and the land was never a den for kidnappers and terrorists. This claim is a malicious and negative indictment on the good people of Umuatugbu Oma”.
The community representatives further called on the governor of Enugu State, Dr Peter Mba, to urgently intervene to save the community from the hands of those they described as “faceless land grabbers working in conjunction with ESHDC” to disposes them of their land.
However, in separate reactions to the raging land donation dispute, some prominent citizens of the community explained the circumstances of the land.
One of illustrious sons of the community, a retired Major General and the immediate-past Nigeria’s Ambassador to Poland, Amb (General) Christian Sunday Ugwu, and Dr Josephat Ani and other leaders of the community, denounced the activities of the alleged land grabbers said to be working with the Enugu State Housing Development Corporation (ESHDC) against the general interests of Umuatugbu Oma over their community’s ancestral land.
They pointed out that the people of Umuatugbu Oma had been very cooperative and open handed in welcoming government in the past, often with mutual understanding. They however wondered how the same Enugu State Housing Development Corporation that had previously and legitimately acquired a land within the community named Rangers Estate (which is yet to be developed, but selling same to private developers at will), would invade the community’s land again without due process, to forcefully acquire another 34.4 hectares of land for another Housing estate!
“This is pure injustice that beats one’s imagination. If this new acquisition is for school, industry or hospital, and with the inputs and mutual understanding of the community, one would understand”.
They accused a member of the community (name withheld) of stirring the crisis, but advised the angry youths of the community to be calm in the interim and not to take laws in their hands. They added that their actions was “a ploy to create crisis to justify their evil intentions.” The community’s eminent leaders also stressed that the alleged malicious tag of their peaceful community land as “a den for kidnappers and terrorists “, was simply designed to rubbish and discredit the Umuatugbu Oma community in order to demolish the land and reclaim it.
A spokesperson for the community, Barrister Amechi Ugwu, however, concurs in an interview on the matter, that the Enugu state government, through its agency and proxies, never approached the community on the possibility of acquiring the large hectares of land in question which he also affirmed was an ancestral land that belonged to many families in Umuatugbu Oma. He stated that the claim by the state government that the land is “a den of kidnappers and terrorists’ was false, as the people of the community viewed the claim as an orchestrated plot/ploy to forcefully acquire the land from the community for unspecified reasons.
While lamenting the situation in his Umuatugbu Oma community, Ugwu appealed to the Enugu state governor, Dr Peter Mba, to save his people the anguish of losing their age long land assets from being taken away from them by restraining the officials and agents of his government from brazenly and clandestinely appropriating their community land through grabbing.
Ugwu who described the alleged action of the officials of Enugu State Housing Development Corporation (ESHDC) and their collaborators as “desperate land grabbers”, however debunked the allegations that the said land was a haven for kidnappers and terrorists. He vehemently maintains that this allegation was a malicious conspiracy by the ESHDC to tarnish the image of the community in the alleged land grabbing quest. He equally affirmed that though there were land donations to the government by the community in the past for public purposes, in this case, no such donation occurred.
Meanwhile, another indigene of the community and a veteran journalist, Mr Okey Igwesi, was specific on instances of such previous land donations to the Enugu State Government by the embattled Umuatugbu Oma people.
According to Igwesi, the community had made their lands available to government for two schools, St Francis Catholic School and Methodist now known as Akpasha Comprehensive Secondary School in Umuatugbu Oma. He revealed that the land was willingly donated by the community through families for public benefit.
Another land donation, he disclosed, was for the building of a Catholic Cottage Hospital opposite St Francis Catholic Church. “This was equally donated by our community through families for the general welfare of our community. The site for a defunct Brewery was donated in the same way with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Umuatugbu Oma community and the old Anambra State Government.
“Again, the land upon where Awkunanaw Development Centre Headquarters is cited was given to the government collectively by the Umuatugbu Oma. The land upon which the defunct Nigerian Bricks Company was built with their burrow pits was again donated by our community with an MOU.
“Parts of the MOU were the initial payment of compensation to some owners in addition with agreement for employment for our people; offering of fair price of their products to our people. And above all, an agreement in the same MOU/agreement to surrender back their burrow pits and the land to the community when no longer in use. The document for this is still in the government archive”, he stated.
Igwesi who queried over what happened to the agreements/MOU the government have had with their community in the past, however said that the land in question has currently been acquired by the same Housing Corporation as an estate (Rangers Estate), with few plots allegedly given out to gag his people. To him, “This is very unfortunate!”
This explanation of the preamble of the land, “simply, is to direct our attention that our people have been managing our land and the community in peace and harmony. The question now, is why is our generation different?” .
Igwesi who canvassed for a quiet and pacifist approaches to the resolution of the land altercation with the Enugu State Government, however urged a collective resistance to the illegal acquisition of the said land. His key recommendation for settlement of the land skirmish include a non-violent confrontation with the government, but through wisdom, dialogue and prayers.
He stated that the Umuatugbu Oma community had been peace loving and renown for its mutual understanding in dealing with visitors, missionaries and government who came with open hands and with good intentions to partner in the development of their community. He further stated though land ownership in Umuatugbu Oma has been under families and individual title, it has never been a problem when it comes to collective needs for community welfare and development. “This has been the order in the past years of Umuatugbu Oma and her history.
Igwesi however appealed to the leaders and rank and file of the community to bury whatever existing differences and denounce the allegations by some faceless donors that the people of Umuatugbu Oma collectively donated their land to the Enugu State Government. He equally deplored the roles and activities of the individuals that sabotaged the community and counseled against disunity and crisis in the community arising from the land saga.
However, the prime minister of the traditional cabinet government known as the Onowu of the community, Chief Augustine Nwobodo, expressed dismay at the unfolding crisis event in Umuatugbu Oma, especially the tag on the community as a base for criminals, was not only untrue, too denigrating but absolutely infradig on the people of the area.
The Onowu noted that the Igwe-in-Council were surprised at such malicious comment against the community and are currently investigating the circumstances of that unfortunate development. He assured that “very soon, the Igwe-in-council shall come out with their position and solution to this matter”. He however appealed to all aggrieved citizens of the community to be calm and vigilant!.
As the war rages on over the alleged acquired ancestral land, efforts to get the Enugu State Housing Development Corporation (ESHDC) has proved abortive.
