Tension continues to mount over the controversial Enugu Lifestyle and Golf City (ELGC) project, as leaders of the Obeagu Awkunanaw community in Enugu South Local Government Area, yesterday, issued a strongly worded notice rejecting recent claims by the estate developer, Private Estates International West Africa (PEIWA), over alleged unauthorized construction on land within the ELGC.
The statement, signed by key figures including the Traditional Ruler of Obeagu, HRH Igwe Mike A. Nnukwu (Anyanecheibe III), President General of Obeagu Town Union, Hon. Mike Ogbonna (Okwadike), Vice President Barr. Sunday N. Ogbodo, Secretary General Chief Reuben Nnamani Okafor, and Litigation Chairman Hon. Chiene I. Chiene, described PEIWA’s latest letter—dated May 13, 2025 and signed by Gozie Okoye—as “bogus,” “distorted,” and “pathetic.”
“The letter was not particularly addressed to anyone, which we could have easily dismissed as the last desperate acts of drowning fellows,” the community stated, “but since its contents are laced with bogus claims, distortion of facts, wishful thinking and threat, intended to mislead members of the public… we must respond in order to put the records straight.”
According to the community, the lands in question, spanning areas such as Agbana, Ugwuorie, Onususu, Akparata, Isi Oke, and others, are ancestral properties inherited over generations.
They allege that PEIWA is “cloaked in the name of development” while employing “forgeries, forcible encroachment, and boundary manipulation.”
The origins of the ELGC project, the community insists, are rooted in illegality and deceit.
“It is a story where a group of desperate fellows then led by one Kingsley Eze used the name of PEIWA, connived with some compromised officials of then Enugu State Government under the administration of His Excellency Sullivan Iheanacho Chime and illegally shared out our ancestral lands in the name of New Township Development,” the notice read.
“They parcellated our lands and in a most egregious manner, began to sell. While we groan in pains and sorrow, they selfishly smiled to their banks with proceeds from such sales. There was no benefit conferred on us, neither did commensurate benefit inure to the Enugu State Government.”
The community further claims that despite multiple legal battles and police investigations which they say affirmed their rightful ownership of the land, PEIWA has continued with alleged land grabs and intimidation.
“In addition to ongoing legal battles at the Enugu State High Court, various investigations carried out at the highest levels of police hierarchy unequivocally affirmed our ownership of the lands,” they said, adding that “some of the purveyors or promoters of this heist were recommended for trial and appropriate charges have been filed against them at the Federal High Court, but they chose to evade service.”
A notable revelation in the public notice is the accusation leveled against Gozie Okoye, who signed the controversial PEIWA letter.
According to Obeagu leaders, Okoye was a former Branch Manager of Diamond Bank who facilitated a N2 billion loan for PEIWA using the disputed lands as collateral.
“Is it not atrocious and extreme form of corruption that Gozie Okoye, for his selfish interest, applied for loan for his company and, in abuse of his office, used the money deposited by the public and domiciled with the bank to feather his nest?” the community asked.
They vowed to seek the intervention of law enforcement authorities to probe Okoye’s role in the transaction and determine whether his actions constitute criminal misconduct.
Citing support from official bodies, the statement added: “The Enugu State House of Assembly did on the 19th December, 2024 adopt the Report of its Special Committee on Land Matters/Dispute wherein the activities of PEIWA were clearly reprimanded.”
The community urged members of the public to ignore what they called “the latest ranting by PEIWA and its agents.”
