Over 500 people of Iruobeli village of Mbanano Enugwu Agidi Community, in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State on Friday protested alleged growing harassment of their sons and daughters at their farmlands.
They accused the owner of the Blue Shield Security Outfit Ozo Jeff Nweke as the man behind their present predicament.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, the Chairman Land Committee, Enugwu Agidi Iruobieli Village of Mbanano Community, Mr Peter Onuekwusi said that they were at the Police Command to lodge a complaint over the çontinued intimidation, torture and harassment of the indigenes of the community.
They alleged that the Security chief was using his outfit to unleash mayhem on the community, including using the personnel from his private security company to carry out what he described as dastardly act as well as heinous crime against his people.
“The assault is becoming too unbecoming. It is getting out of hand. Imagine beating up our people at will. They rounded our women and laid them on the bare floor and asked them to remain like that from morning till evening. This is condemnable. That man Jeff is on his own.
“He’s using Ezinano Awka as a cover. If it is Awka people, those we are in court with that are protesting then it is the contempt of the court. They should be arrested by the police by flouting the court order,”
According to the community leader, the issue of land contention had long been won by his Community, saying that they won all the cases filed by Awka town many many years ago and the matter was buried and forgotten until the year 2005 when it was resurrected by the accused, adding that they won Awka fair and square in all the courts they took them and also won them at the court of appeal at the time.
“After we won in the year 1936 at County Council on the five cases they filed against us. They went to West Africa Court of Appeal (WACA) on consolidated issue we won them again. Since then we have been on the land without any interference, disturbance or assault of any kind.
“Surprisingly, in the year 2005 the appeared from nowhere and said that they are on Apeal. The matter lingered till 23rd of October 2013 when the judgement was delivered. It wàs in our Favour. We won yet again. We crisscrossed from Nnewi, to Awka , from Awka to Ogidi but before then Nnewi High has placed an injunction against barring them from entering the land. Based on status barred.
“In 2019 they went to Appeal over the same matter. On the 6th of August Appeal Court dismissed their matter based on status barred. The man Ozo Jeff Nweke has never attended any court proceedings. I was at the Dock since 2005 till when the matter ended in 2013. My uncle was in the case in the 50s. So I know a lot about the land. It is our inheritance from our forebears. I told him in his face when he came to me with some officers from Area 3 Abuja that since we started going to the court that I have not set my eyes on him.”
He said they went to the Supreme Court and I demanded for the court stamp immediately I asked that question he closed it. I argued that if he said he has gone to the Supreme Court he should serve us through our counsel. Since 2020 till 2023 we have not been served. The brutality is much. We are asking the police to please save our people from the armed men loyal to Ozo Jeff.
We promised the police that we will build a police post on our land and hand it over to the police for security reasons. Just imagine we have not been cultivating on our land since 2020. It is a pity that Awka is at loggerhead with all their neighbors over land dispute.
The peaceful protesters marched through Amawbia Park to Police Headquarters with placards of various inscriptions ranging from enough is enough, we will not watch yoú take over inheritance, leave our land for us. Stop harrassing our men and women, among others.
When contacted the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Ikenga Tochukwu confirmed the protest even as he declined comment saying that he was not on seat when the protest took place.
It would be recalled that Ezinano Community Awka Indigenes led by the youth Chairman, Mr Tochukwu Nwokoye, sometime ago took to the streets of Awka to protest over the said land and even accused the Anambra Police Command of plotting to take over the land.
Efforts to reach Nweke for his reaction proved abortive as the time of filling this report.
