…Abaomege Has Lost Over 100 Persons In 5 Years – Council Boss
Obinna Uchendu Abakaliki
Over 80 aged women from Ishinkwo autonomous Community in Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State in the early hours of Monday, staged a peaceful protest over an alleged fraudulent activities by some Government officials in the ongoing land demarcation exercise between their community and their neighboring Abaomege community.
Recall that Ebonyi State government in its efforts to permanently end the intractable land dispute between Ishinkwo and Abaomege communities in Onicha LGA, which has claimed scores of lives and properties worth millions of naira, commenced demarcation of the disputed land as part of terms of settlement contained in the released government white paper.
The women who stormed government house, Abakaliki, in their large numbers, to register their displeasure over the alleged flawed demarcation exercise, carried placards with different inscriptions, such as: “Gov Nwifuru, father of the State, please, come to our aid; where is the map attached to the white paper?;
Others includes, “enough is enough to land grabbing, follow the white paper; Ekeroku, stop taking sides and be neutral; return Ugwuekuma Primary School to Ishinkwo, it’s our ancient land mark; return Uda Iyiocha to Ishinkwo, it’s our land; Ogboffia is out to grab more lands to his community among others.
The women also marched to the State House of Assembly complex Nkaliki to register their complaints before the State Lawmakers.
They accused the Council Chairman of Onicha LGA, Mr Ikechukwu Ogboffia, of allegedly colluding with the land demarcation committee and is currently grabbing Ishinkwo land for his Abaomege Community.
In an open letter addressed to Governor Francis Nwifuru, signed by the National President, Women Wing of Ishinkwo Community Development Union (ICDU), Mrs Fidelia Nworie and 12 others and made available to journalists alleged that the ongoing demarcation exercise is fundamentally flawed.
The protesters stated that the, skewed activities in the demarcation exercise was capable of breaching the peace building efforts of government and called on the Governor to intervene.
They accused the Deputy Surveyor General of the State, Mr Ekeroku of executing the demarcation exercise without reference to the white paper, the legal basis of the exercise, which according to them, renders the exercise illegal, null, and void.
“The demarcation is being executed without reference to the White Paper, the legal basis of the exercise. Which renders the exercise illegal, null, and void, as no one can place something on nothing and expect it to stand.
“The Survey Map, which is a critical component of the White Paper, has also been disregarded by the Deputy Surveyor-General of the State, Mr. Ekeroku.
Despite all our entreaties, Mr. Ekeroku has blatantly refused to make the Map available to guide the demarcation, choosing instead to rely on intuition.
Reacting, the Council Chairman, Mr. Ogboffia expressed the regret that the land crisis have led to the death of over 100 persons from Abaomege community and called on the people to embrace peace.
Let me appeal to the people of Abaomege and Ishinkwo to give peace a chance. I don’t know what we are dragging. The land in question will not cost more than N10million and we have already lost above 10 persons just from Abaomege not to talk of Ishinkwo.
We are brothers, we intermarry and one can not differentiate between an Abaomege and Ishinkwo persons. So there is need for us to embrace peace. It is better to live together in peace than to engage in war.
Mr. Ogboffia debunk the allegation of land grabbing adding that he can never be a party to anything that will jeopardize the peace process being put in place by the State Governor, Francis Nwifuru.
