Three villages of Umuwafor, Umuokereke and Umuwogu, Isiala Arongwa community, in Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area of Abia State, have accused some Abia State Government officials of land grabbing and have therefore sent a Save Our Soul petition to Governor Alex Otti.

Addressing newsmen in the area, spokesman for the community, Chief Apollos Ufomba Friday, said that some time ago the three villages gave large portions of their land to Abia Government for the establishment of the permanent site of Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic, Aba.

Friday said later, the people sold other portions of the land within the area to some estate developers.

He said the community and the developers had been enjoying possession of the said land without hindrance until recently when some people who claimed to be officials of Abia State Government, trespassed on the land, parcellated and were giving them out to persons they claimed were private developers.

He said the people who always came with armed policemen resisted the efforts the community made to confront them. He appealed to Governor Otti to stop the trespassers who claimed to be government officials from forcefully taking their ancestral land in order to avoid the breakdown of law and order in the area.

Counsel to some of the developers who purchased land in the area, Obioha Charles Edward, said some people entered into his clients’ land at Egbelu, Isiala Arongwa in Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area, with armed policemen and started demarcating the land and giving out to persons without authorization.

Edward said when his clients made inquiries, the people claimed they were officials of the state government, stressing that the governor had sent them.

He said a few days ago, it was rumoured the governor had acquired the land without anybody notifying his client.

Edward said his clients were not against the governor acquiring the land, but must be done according to the provisions of the law.

“Under the 1999 Constitution as amended, Section 44(1) and Section 38 of the Land Use Act, the Governor has the right to acquire land in overriding public interest. But that law requires that there are legal procedures and processes the governor has to comply with before he can acquire such land belonging to individuals or groups.

“The governor must have to notify the persons about the intention of the government to acquire their land and proceed to pay adequate compensation as agreed to by the parties.”

Edward, therefore, called on Governor Otti to intervene to forestall a situation whereby some land grabbers will dispossess people of their legitimate property, while hiding behind the government.

He said It is unfortunate that some of his clients, including Cyril Nwachukwu and Nkechi Nwachukwu who are natives of Osisioma Ngwa and who thought it wise to come to their area to invest, could have their property forcefully taken from them without compensation.

Some elders of the villages, who also spoke, appealed to Governor Otti to come to the aid of the people and stop those they described as land speculators from trespassing on their land.

Earlier, youths of the villages had protested round the area, denouncing the activities of those they said are hiding under the cover of government to forcefully take their land. (The Sun)