Thousands of residents of Umuigbo Amurri autonomous community in Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu State have staged a peaceful protest over the alleged forceful takeover of their ancestral land by the council chairman, Hon. John Ogbodo, for the proposed Enugu smart farm project.

The protesters, including women, youths, and the elderly, marched through the village square to Agbani Road, carrying green leaves and placards with inscriptions such as “Umuigbo Amurri, we say no to illegal seizure of our land,” “We support the government of Peter Mbah,” and “We have a place mapped out for smart farm.”

They accused the local government chairman of disregarding community input and encroaching on land already designated for residential development. According to them, a larger and more suitable area had already been earmarked by the community for the smart farm initiative.

The President-General of the town union, Chief Sebastian Onu Okoh, said the community supports Governor Peter Mbah’s agricultural vision, especially as it relates to curbing the menace of Fulani herders, but insisted that the project must not come at the cost of their residential lands or without due consultation.

“For this purpose, we met on April 22 this year and mapped out over 1000 hectares of land in our farm settlement for this purpose. This is a place where Fulani herdsmen with their cattle always destroy our crops. The governor requested 200 hectares of land for this farming, but we gave five times more. We did this in conjunction with the other autonomous communities in the Amurri clan.

“We were surprised to see bulldozers rolling on the farmlands close to where we live and started destroying crops on the farms. Upon inquiry, we were told that the LGA chairman, Hon. John Ogbodo, has taken the place of the government’s smart farm project. We were confused because nobody had approached us for that.

“When our people tried to stop the bulldozers and told them that we had a place bigger than this for that purpose, the LGA chairman sent policemen from Agbani to arrest them on the allegation that they set the bulldozers ablaze. Meanwhile, the is still there working,” he said.

Okoh accused the LGA chairman of using policemen to intimidate and silence the people into submission, lamenting that four members of the community were made to spend 10 days inside a police cell for trying to stop him from destroying their crops.

Another leader in the community and special adviser to the governor of Bayelsa State on special duties, Chief Chinedu Atokwa, queried the motive of the LGA chairman in forcibly taking a piece of land in the community without the people’s consent, lamenting the destruction of crops in the farmland.

The leader of the women of the community, Mrs. Chinyere Ugwu and the youth chairman, Jude Okoh, expressed doubts over the LGA chairman’s intentions, saying a government that had a good thought for its people should have a listening ear rather than destroying their livelihoods.

The community, therefore, appealed to Governor Peter Mbah to intervene and direct the LGA chairman to leave this land for them, as “it is where we have mapped out as a residential layout for our young ones.

They warned that continued encroachment could lead to unrest and called on Governor Mbah to step in and the place be mapped out for smart farming by the community.

Reacting to the allegations, the LGA chairman, Hon. Ogbodo, said the land was properly donated by the community through their traditional ruler and other leaders of Amurri town, adding that the government was a smart farm project for the people of the community.

According to him, the choice of the land by the traditional ruler of the community was because the land had been “lying fallow for over 300 years without any use but only serving as a cover for Fulani herdsmen”.

He said the government meant well for the people and urged the protesters to accept the project the way other communities had accepted their own. (The Nation)