Anambra community alleges land-grabbing, seeks govt intervention

Indigenes, including men and women of the Mbanan community in Enugwu-Agidi, Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State, have protested against what they termed as land dispute, land grabbing, harassment, intimidation and encroachment of people’s farmlands, among others going on in their community.

The protesters, including the elderly men and women, marched around the State Criminal Investigation Department, the State Police Headquarters, the headquarters of the Department of State Service, and the State Government House in Awka, on Saturday.

They were said to be carrying placards with different inscriptions to drive home their message.

They came from the four villages that made up the community including Igbollo, Obunagu Achalla, Iruobieli, and Ifite, while accusing a titled chief (name withheld) from the Ezinano community in Awka, the capital city of the state, of being the mastermind of the alleged land grabbing activities, intimidation, and other violence conducts going on in the community.

They said the alleged land grabber operates a security outfit (name withheld) in the area and uses it to perpetrate crime.

This protest is coming a few days after another group, who claimed to come from Ezinano Community in Awka, protested over what they described as “mindless killings of their relatives”, during which they also accused two senior officers of the Anambra State Police Command of “aiding and abetting bribery and corruption in Awka”, as well as collaborating with the perpetrators of crimes in the area.

But the spokesperson for the protesters from the Mbanano community, Chief Peter Onuekwusi, who spoke during their protest said the alleged “land grabber” sponsored the earlier protest in Awka, in order to distract the police and enable him to continue in his “evil activities”.