Chai! Na wah o! Wetin dey happen for Enuagu Akpugo wey dey cause serious gbege? Residents don raise alarm as dem dey fear sey Nigeria Police wan sharp their hand enter dia ancestral land of 36.15 hectares, even wey court don give dem judgment. Dis land matter no be small thing o!
Members of the Umuedenwoko Family Union and the Farmers Cooperative Society no fit keep quiet as dem gather for protest on top the disputed land on Thursday. Dem dey accuse Police Property Development and Construction Company of trespassing dem land after Enugu State High Court don yan say na dem own am.
Dem come out, wear protest clothes like say dem dey go carnival, carry placards wey dey show wetin dey vex dem. Dem talk say powerful people want dey use dem strength take override the law wey protect dem. E be like say dem don forget say court get final say, abi? This land wey dem dey fight for e get history wey dey take us back to suit wey dem file since 2011, no be joke!
As di protest dey happen, Chief Ikechukwu Nnamoko, wey be di Chairman of Umuedenwoko Family (Akpugo Branch), talk say him no fit believe sey police wan snatch dia land. “We dey here to check our ancestral home. My uncle house don scatter because of these land grabbers,” Nnamoko talk. E add, “Dem claim sey the land na for police secondary school. We don dey court since 2011, until judgment land for our favour in 2023. We no gree negotiate with anybody, yet we dey see clearing dey happen.”
Another family elder, Chief Ikem Okenwa, don bring history come front. E pepper dem as e talk say the land don dey surveyed since 1978 and dem don get rightful occupancy since 1993. E claim say na previous government wan carry dem land go through ‘inside-follow’ with big-wigs wey sabi their way. “Justice A. O. Anidi na him dey handle the matter, and him don nullify any land acquisition wey dem talk say na correct,” Okenwa yarn. “E dey shame sey police wey suppose maintain law dey use force to collect land wey court don settle.”
As dem dey wan show dem anger, dem don even put warning signpost for di land to let public sabi say court don judge matter wey concern dem. But make we no forget sey CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, di Force Public Relations Officer of police, don talk for phone say dem follow due process for di land acquisition. According to am, “Dis land na for construction of secondary school, and police don get documents wey show sey dem dey follow law.” E talk say na state government dey handle di matter with landowners, so if court judgment dey valid, police suppose don collect am already no be so?
If you sabi wetin dey happen, make you try reach di Enugu State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Malachy Agbo, but dem no fit catch am as calls and messages no dey return o. This gbege dey show sey wetin dey happen go fit scatter communal land rights everywhere. One family member, wey dem call Nnaji, don yarn say, “If dis kin thing fit happen to us despite our win for court, then no community land dey safe for Naija.” Na di truth be dis o!
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