Members of Ifite village, Enugwu-Agidi in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State are seeking the intervention of relevant authorities over what they described as incessant land-related cases, including land grabbing activities allegedly carried out by some individuals in the community.
Frustrated over the situation, the villagers came out in their numbers on Saturday to express their discontent.
The protesters marched through the Ministry of Lands in Awka, the state capital, accusing the commissioner of several land-related offenses.
They also moved to the Government House in Awka, where they also indicted the Management of a Real Estate and Investment company and a security organisation in the area.
They carried placards with different inscriptions, such as, “Soludo, please, give solution to our lands”, “Registration of Dubai Estate within Ifite Village Land Is Illegal”, “Commissioner for Lands, how much were you given to sell our farmlands?”, “Dubai Estate does not have any land within Ifite Village Enugwu-Agidi”, and “Dubai Estate obey the court order”, among others.
The leader of the protesters and former Vice-Chairman of the village, Benjamin Ejinaka, said, “Our major aim of this protest is to express our grievances and dissatisfaction over what has been going on in our community and our lands, as well as to seek the intervention of the appropriate authority, to ensure the right thing is done.”
Addressing the protesters on behalf of the Commissioner for Lands, the Surveyor-General of the state, Anthony Idigo, assured them that their grievances and demonstration had been noted and would be treated with utmost consideration.
He further assured them that the commissioner would schedule a roundtable with the people on the concerns raised during the protest to get a more comprehensive and fruitful deliberation, and initiation of necessary actions towards addressing their grievances.
At the Government House, Awka, a three-man delegation from among them, was engaged in an instant roundtable with the Chief Security Officer to the Governor shortly after they were generally addressed by the admin police officer of the Government House, SP Obiora Onyemauche, while the people went home full of expectations.
When contacted, a director of the indicted real estate company said they followed all the necessary procedures to procure the said lands, adding that the lands in question did not even totally belong to the community but the government, except a very few portions that belonged to few individuals in the village, which he said had been paid for.
