… Decry encroachments
The people of Umuoke/Umuagiriga Uborji Okuku community, Owerri West local government area, have called on Imo State Government led by Governor Hope Uzodimma to do the needful by compensating them monetarily, pay them their due rites as tradition demands, implement the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), as well as stop encroaching on the land (Ama-Bekee) they did not donate to it, but stick to Uzonwahia land which they freely donated to the government as requested”.
Uborji Okuku indigenes made these demands when they carried out a peaceful protest at the area on Wednesday.
The protesters carried placards with different inscriptions such as: “The Government Should Compensate Us. Concentrate On The Area Donated. Do Not Encroach Into Ama-Bekee Land, Stick To Uzonwahia Land. We Are Law-abiding Community. We Are Peaceful People. We Need the MoU With The Government. We Donated Our Land To Government. Our Indigenes Should Benefit Massively From It. We Need Fairness and Justice”.
Speaking during the protest, eldest man and woman of Umuoke/Umuagiriga, Uborji Okuku, Ezinna Emmanuel Ojiaku and Ezinne Sera Onyezere, asked government to come, sit down with them to agree on what to do for them apart from the fulfilment of land rites, monetary compensation, urging government to stop encroaching on the land they did not donate to it.
According to the people, “we freely donated our land to support the government and we are not taking the land back, but government should do the needful before taking possession of the land. We need the balance of our land rites so that the money can reach those who could not collect theirs at that time. We heard over the media that #10m was brought for the settlement of land rites, but we discovered that only #6m was released.
“We need our financial compensation for economic crops for the 300 hectares of land freely donated. We need to sign an MoU to know the kind of development government is bringing to our land and any further benefits accrued to us. The clearing of the land should be done by one of us as part of our indigenous benefits of donating land.
“Government should concentrate on the area donated to it and not encroach on lands we did not donate to it. Government needs to withdraw Army from our area as the land was donated, not acquired. Our youths have suffered a lot of brutalisation in the hands of the Soldiers on trumped up charges against them. We are not fighting government, neither are we shading them off. We are only demanding that the right thing should be done”.
The people who firmly urged Governor Hope Uzodimma to look deep into their demands and meet them squarely to avoid further revolt, regretted that “after many months of donating our land to government, it has not done anything for us – hence the peaceful protest”.
Addressing the protesters, the Sole Administrator of Owerri West, Hon. Victor Osuigwe, through his Chief of Staff, Hon. Oliver Emenyeonu, told the people to continue to remain peaceful and diplomatic as they demand for their rights from the state government, saying Governor Hope Uzodimma has a listening ear and would meet their demands.
