By: Oby Edward[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he people of Umuezeroli Community in Onitsha of Anambra State cried to Governor Chukwuma Soludo and the general public over the illegal and forceful acquisition of their Community land without notice by the Anambra state Deputy Governor,Dr. Gilbert Onyekachukwu Ibezim. Chairman of Umuezeroli Community, Chief Okechukwu Chukwudebe, Ajie of Onitsha, said that the illegal purported acquisition of their land by the Anambra Deputy Governor ,Dr. Gilbert Onyekachukwu Ibezim without any negotiation/ agreement with the natives, the purported acquisition is suspicious and fraudulent. The protesting Community appeal to the state governor, Charles Soludo to urgently intervene to avoid breakdown of law and order in the community. The villagers made their concerns known during the protest in Onitsha, during which they also alleged that Anambra Deputy Governor,
Dr. Gilbert Onyekachukwu Ibezim and some influential individuals, as parts of those trespassing into their communal lands. The protesting Community also allegedly accused the Anambra government that after the saga with the His Royal Majesty, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Ugochukwu Achebe, the Obi of Onitsha and the governor as regards the traditional ruling council, he suspended a couple of traditional rulers. The unforgiving Governor has found a way to punish the obi of Onitsha and the entire Onitsha Community by instructing Dr Ibezim to go after the land in Onitsha,without due consultation by fronting a fictitious water scheme. The Deputy Governor commenced the assignment by forcefully ejecting the owners of the land the Umuezeroli with government security agencies thugs and other security forces. The said land was leased to Innoson in 2021 for development in other to create jobs and other economic benefits that a project of it’s kind would offer.I have never seen where a government acquires a community land without the knowledge of the natives.” The Umuezeroli Community are still surprised that our action Governor Prof. Soludo who was quick to suspend the Igwe of Neni over the conferment of title to Senator Ifeanyi Uba has turned blind eye over this unlawful action and intimidations of our Community by his Deputy Governor, one of the government official at the state Ministry of Lands who spoke on the condition of anonymity believes that for our action Governor Soludo to condone this ABUSE OF POWER by Dr Ibezim is likened to Essau the voice of Jacob.
The Umuezeroli land in question has been leased to Innoson Group Ltd. since 2021 for trucking and trailer. The said land is not a buffer zone because the the land belongs to Umuezeroli Community of Onitsha and for the records the said land is the bonafide property of Umuezeroli having won the people of Isiokwe village at the High Court in 1972, Appeal Court in 1977,and Supreme Court in 1982. The said land was never acquired by government from Umueezeroli as claimed.
Addressing journalists at Onitsha, the Chairman of Umuezeroli Community, Chief Okechukwu Chukwudebe,Ajie of Onitsha lamented that the Deputy governor was bent on ceding their land to his allies, regretting that the deputy governor had acted defiantly to courts JUDGEMENTS on the issue and other series of petitions written by the communities.He said rather than suspend action on the “illegal acquisition” the Deputy governor had deployed bulldozers to destroy crops and other economic trees on their land.Chukwudebe also accused the Deputy governor of being insensitive through constant harassment and intimidation of the said communities with law enforcement agencies; police, civil defence and vigilante groups.
He stressed that the communities would not relent on the matter until the Deputy Governor removed himself from their land. “Today, the community supported by the Onitsha General Assembly,Onitsha Women Prayers Group, a global charity with headquarters in Belgium and the United Kingdom, the Nature Conservation Observance of the United States of America and indigenes of our communities at home and in the diasporas, are intensely opposed to the movement of bulldozers by the Anambra State Government and its proxy companies to our remaining ancestral land.
“Deputy Governor Ibezim is insistent on grabbing, bulldozing and replacing our biodiversity rich lands to his almighty business friends and owners of the local multinational companies, this means robbing our poor of the poor to pay his superbly rich associates.
“After months of arm twisting, blackmail and intimidation of our poor villagers with heavily armed policemen, soldiers, civil defence corps and other security men, the public machinery of the state has finally been deployed with the bringing of the bulldozers for the forced possession, cruel destruction of the forest biodiversity, our farmlands and livelihood.
“This is despite that our various communities and organizations had severally briefed and wrote petitions to the state government that its ceding of our remaining reserve land is an illegal act that would dispossess, impoverish and destroy our communities and people.
“Our youths particularly, depend on the land for farming and source of foods, logging, medicine, harvest of non timber forest products, ancestral worship, environmental replenishment and source of water.
“Ibezim and his company allies, with the bulldozing of our ancestral forest and crops, have ignored with impunity the court case already won by our community.
“Sadly, the movement of bulldozers to our community is provocative, misplaced, ill-timed and a barefaced excuse to kill and maim our people, should they object to the destruction of our community.
“How can a state government acquire a community’s land without any negotiations/ agreement with the natives who are the principal land owners?
We the Umuezeroli Community are seeking the intervention of the appropriate authority, particularly, the state governor, Prof Charles Soludo to call Deputy Governor,Dr. Gilbert Onyekachukwu Ibezim to order and ensure the right thing is done to avoid breakdown of law and order in the Community.