Amidst the tension in Enugwu-Agidi engineered by land grabbers and buccaneers the Igwe Micheal Okekeuche has called for calm while charging indigenes of the town to stand up against people whose only interest is to sale people’s lands.
This is the President General (PG) Of Enugu-Agidi Brotherly Union (EBU) has charged the youths of the town to stand up against people who are bent on throwing the town into crisis for their personal interests.
According to a statement from Igwe Okekeuche the Okpalariam 111 of Enugu-Agidi the state government and security agencies has already being briefed on the activities of the group of people who are taking the laws into their hands and are determined to throw the peaceful town into crisis to use the opportunity to hijack people’s lands.
According to Igwe Okekeuche “We need to mobilize all available resources to develop a shared, strategic approach to a life of dignity for all, no single sector, no individual, no organ in our town, can alone deal with the complex problems and challenges we face in our community today but rather all hands must be on deck.
“Conflicts arise for one simple reason of putting personal interest, aspiration and needs beyond the interest and needs of others. There seems to be a competition in brutality of which we have seen horrific examples in the last few weeks.The aim of the actors is, in my own view, is to incite fear in our community and divisions among people in order to carry on in their illicit grabbing and selling of lands unhindered.
The leadership of E.B.U led by Nzekwesi Ndubuisi Obijiofor in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer Benjamin Okoye urged Agidians to stand up and be counted among those who are determined to fight against disunity in our community and to ensure that Youths who are usually used in instigating crisis and restiveness are sensitized to shun restiveness and embrace peace as the matter has been officially reported to the appropriate authorities.
The leadership admonished people to resist from taking laws into their own hands, but to do so in a peaceful, organized manner noting that “the current leadership is focussing on the benefit of a non-violent uprising, which is the cornerstone of our belief.
Unequivocally, no crime committed against the Land will go unpunished, as a wide consultation on the possibility of summoning for an emergency Stakeholder’s meeting to further deepen our efforts in restoring peace and normalcy in our community.
Specifically, according to sources within the community, trouble started when a group from the community decided to subvert the laid down rules by the community on the sale of lands.
Enugwu-Agidi community, historically, has laid down rules and guidelines for the sale of land. This is to regulate the sale of lands by criminals – and fraudulent activities of selling lands that don’t belong to them – selling of other people’s lands.
The group led by the duo of Izuchukwu Okekeonyeocha and Chidi Okoye decided to discard the rules and guidelines of the community – and continued in their sale of lands – contravening the laws of the community. When the Igwe of the community, Igwe Mike Okekeuche intervened in the company of the President General [PG] of the community, Hon. Ndubusi Obijiofor – the group of land sellers protested that threatened to violently deal with the Igwe and the PG.
An indigene of the town who is conversant with the unfolding events in the community explained that “The Igwe and Caretaker Chairman of our Town union had put in place processes for any land sales because of many cases of illegal sales of individual and community lands but a group of land bandits are opposed to it. These chaps mobilized some disgruntled youths in the town and started attacking all perceived opponents. Even the Caretaker Chairman was waylaid and beaten up in the presence of Army personnel that he brought in to quell the ugly situation. Now they claimed that they have installed a new PG and Igwe.
