Indigenes of Ngwuru community in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State took to the streets yesterday, protesting the alleged detention of four of their youths over land dispute.
The angry villagers, who included elders, youths and women marched to the Enugu State Police Command.
They carried placards with various inscriptions, some of which read:
“Stop violating our rights”; “Our farmland has been taken over by unknown persons”, “Release our sons from police detention”, “Free us from slavery”, “No to illegal Occupation of our land.”
Speaking to reporters in Enugu, the Vice Chairman of Ngwuru Youths community, Ernest Umezulike and the Chairman of community’s land committee, Linus Eze said that their youths were arrested because of their earlier peaceful demonstration over their land, which they alleged had been taken over by faceless group through some government officials without going through due process.
The Community Leaders stated, “Some group of boys connived with government to take without taking normal process of acquiring land from community. The land in question belong to Nine villages in Ngwuru communities for farming. the case of this land is still in the court 3 of Nsukka high court which court injunction restricting people from entering the land was passed”.
“We have been waiting for a memorandum between the nine villages and the government but couldn’t see them, to our greatest surprise is the present situation when they came on the land for development which leads to our peaceful demonstration.
“All we are saying is that they should release our people and come for memorandum of understanding. We are not saying that the government will not take the land but their must be dialogue between the elders of the nine villages concern and the government.”
When contacted, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Ebere Amalizu said that the villagers should stop protesting over the land, urging them to go back and plan on how to meet government so that the matter could be resolved amicably.
He warned that the security operatives will not fold its hand and watch individuals or group of persons take laws into their hands.
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