The Nkomoro Onuogba Nike community in the Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State has appealed to former Minister of Power, Barth Nnaji, to stop demolishing their ancestral homes and farmland.

They made the appeal during a news conference on Friday in Enugu, alleging forceful takeover of their ancestral land by the ex-minister.

The community members carried placards with inscriptions such as “Barth Nnaji has rendered our people homeless,” “His Excellency, Governor Peter Mbah, please save us” and “Barth Nnaji leave our land alone.”

The Nkorom Onuogba community, which migrated from Ezza in Ebonyi State, appealed to Mr Mbah to save them from being completely rendered homeless.

Speaking through a representative, Rev. Stephen Itumo, the community expressed regret for Mr Nnaji’s sudden appearance and destruction of their houses, saying they had lived in the area for a long time.

According to Mr Itumo, Mr Nnaji stormed the community with armed security officers numbering over 100 and eight bulldozers pulling down their houses and levelling their farmlands.

He said the community had a land dispute with the Onuogba community, who then sold the land to one Titus Alinta.

Mr Itumo said the matter was pending in court and wondered why Mr Nnaji was the one demolishing their property.

“We woke up Monday morning to find hundreds of policemen and bulldozers in our community, pulling down our houses. This land belongs to us. We will not let anyone take it away from us. When they came to execute the order in 2013, they demolished 264 buildings and raped our women,” Mr Itumo alleged.

Mr Itumo narrated how they migrated to Enugu State.

He said, “Nkwubor people, a neighbouring community, had a land dispute with Onuogba Nike around 1958 that made Onuogba Nike people approach my people in Ebonyi State who were warriors to help them defeat Nkwubor people. We came, fought the war and defeated their enemies, which made them settle our forefathers with this land after a written agreement and oath-taking.”

Counsel to the community, Jessie Onuigbo, said the dispute dated back to 1974 when the Onuogba Nike community, neighbours to the Nkomoro, filed a suit in court claiming ownership of the land.

The court gave judgement in favour of the Onuogba Nike community, but the Nkomoro community appealed.

The Court of Appeal upheld the judgement, but the Nkomoro community was not satisfied and appealed to the Supreme Court.

According to Mr Onuigbo, the appeal is still pending at the Supreme Court, but Mr Nnaji, who allegedly bought the disputed land from Mr Alinta, has been trying to take possession of the land by force.

“We were not represented in court when Prof. Nnaji got a judgement to demolish the homes. We have filed an appeal against the judgement and are waiting for the court to decide on the matter,” Mr Onuigbo explained.

Reacting, Mr Nnaji said he had been the owner of the land for over 20 years as he bought the land from Mr Alinta in 2000.

Mr Nnaji, who spoke through his surveyor, Okwuchukwu Nnaji, said Mr Alinta purchased the land from the Onuogba community in 1977 and got Certificate of Occupancy in 1987 before transferring the ownership to Nnaji in 2000.

He said Mr Alinta went to court with the Nkomoro Onuogba community, adding that when he died, his children continued with the matter until 2013 when judgment was given at the Enugu State High Court.

He said the execution order took effect immediately.

“It was in the process of executing that order that the Catholic Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Bishop Onaga, intervened. But the settlement did not work out. Hence, the recent demolition was in continuation of that execution order. They have no evidence of staying out of execution order, and the land in dispute is approximately 103 hectares. I have a letter of authority from Mr Nnaji to parcellate the land,” he said.

(NAN)