Nchatancha Community in Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, Saturday, embarked on protest over an alleged takeover of their ancestral land by the state government.
The inhabitants, in their thousands, protested around markets and village halls within the agrarian community.
They were carrying placards with many inscriptions, such as ‘our house and land are not for sale’ ‘Nchatancha Nike life matters’, ‘Enugu State government, leave us alone’.
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Men, women and children were seen chanting in Igbo,
“This is an abomination. Government has taken our land. All we have is gone. Nchatancha community is finished. We shall not agree. Let the governor hear us. Hunger will kill us.”
The women’s leader of the community, Justina Nnamani, said that, “We have already given them a large expanse of land, but they said it is not enough. Now, they told us to leave our community totally. I cry every day. I don’t know where to take our children to. We have begged the governor at the Government House to leave our land alone because we already gave them some. But he refused. They have ordered that all our houses be removed. They sprayed teargas on us. I am asthmatic.“They were shooting sporadically. We are now homeless. We need federal government’s intervention. Our farm plantations have all been destroyed. They deployed soldiers and police to force us out. They barricaded our roads. We did not commit any offence by voting Gov Mba.”
The Assistant Secretary of Nchatancha Nike Community, Anike Samsom Benjamin, said, “The community is not happy over what the state government is doing to us. They want to take 80 per cent of our community land without the consent of this community. Almost 90 per cent of the entirety of the community is here. They want to take over the land without the due process. They want to allot the land to big politicians. They want to demolish our houses. Nobody consulted us. Our traditional ruler and the elders did not agree also.”
The state Commissioner for Information, Aka Eze Aka, said the government is not taking over anybody’s land.
He said, “The interest of the state government is to harness the land in Enugu State to the advantage of its people. We are aware that sometime in the past, there was a gas flaring around the area.
“All discussions about land will take place before any action is taken. It is important to know that some people unnecessarily like to ignite the feelings of the people and make them protest.
“This government is a peaceful government that likes discussions for any action to be taken. Those who are embarking on the protest are doing so to besmear the government unnecessarily.”
On allegations that the community already gave the government 200 hectares and the government’s insistence to take over 10, 000 hectares, Aka said, “Consultation is not a day job. We have realised that some people use opportunities like this to vent their political interest, and try to create tension around the issue at stake.”
