The family of Chima Nwaka from Igbo-Etche community in Etche Local Council of Rivers State has raised the alarm over the mysterious disappearance of their brother after a land tussle with some persons suspected to be land grabbers from a neighbouring local council.

In a petition to the Rivers State Police Command, his younger brother, Chibuike Nwaka, alleged that his elder brother was whisked away by four men on February 4, in connection with the tussle.

He called on the police and Rivers State government to quickly intervene to save his brother’s life and mitigate escalating cases of land grab in the area.

Nwaka stressed that his brother was abducted by yet-to-be-identified people in Umuogbodo, Igbo-Etche, after he refused to surrender his land to them.

He said: “I am calling to let the authorities know how terrible the crime land grabbers are committing within Igbo-Etche and the state. They should also come to our aid and help us get my brother out before he dies in their custody.”

Also, the Committee for Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) asked the Rivers State Police Command to take urgent steps in finding the missing person.

The Rivers State chairman, Paul Amadi, said the problem of land grab in Igbo-Etche was becoming troubling, adding that the victim was only protecting what belonged to him and his family.

“I believe strongly and firmly that the Commissioner of Police who has been fighting crime since he came, that on receipt of this petition, he is going to work on it. We are asking him to, please, order his subordinates to go after the people who did this dastardly act.

“We do not know if it is the police that arrested him because we have gone to the police control room in Moscow Road, but they said there was nothing like that.

“So, we are now assuming that maybe there could be kidnappers involved, since he is not in police custody.”

Meanwhile, some youths at Rumuokurushi and Atali communities in Obio-Akpor Local Council of the state jointly distanced themselves from any act of kidnapping relating to land tussle in Igbo-Etche.

Speaking on behalf of the communities, Henry Amadi, said the people of Rumuokurushi and Atali are peaceful and law-abiding, and could not harm anyone.

Amadi said Rumuokurushi people are not land grabbers, and that the affected land is the subject of litigation in court. (The Guardian)

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