Posted by From PETRUS OBI, Enugu on
A genuine desire by a popular Catholic priest based in Elele, Rivers State, Rev. Fr. Ede, to acquire some hectares of land from his native land of Ihunekwagu Community, Akpugo in Nkanu West Local Government area of Enugu State, has brought tears, sorrow and grief to some segment of the community.
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A genuine desire by a popular Catholic priest based in Elele, Rivers State, Rev. Fr. Ede, to acquire some hectares of land from his native land of Ihunekwagu Community, Akpugo in Nkanu West Local Government area of Enugu State, has brought tears, sorrow and grief to some segment of the community.
The worst hit were the traditional ruler of the community, Igwe Boniface Nnamani Nkwor, members of his cabinet, and some elders, following a midnight attack on them by the youths of the community.
The youths allegedly led by a former president of the Ihunekwagu Town Union, had destroyed about 16 houses and property worth millions of naira, including a two-storey building belonging to the traditional ruler. The elders were also seriously beaten up and machete cut inflicted on some of them .
Igwe Boniface Nkwor, who resides in Aba, Abia State, conducting Daily Sun round the destroyed houses, recalled how he was alerted on the mayhem being unleashed on his community and elders through one of his sisters on the night of April 22, 2008.
'She called to say that they have set fire on our house and were destroying property, and that she was calling from a bush.
'I called the Agbani DPO that night, I also called another traditional ruler from a nearby community who said that the kind of gun shots he was hearing was akin to that of war; I called a member of my cabinet and he told me he was lucky to have left his house a few minutes before the marauders arrived.
'My brother, Oko Nkwor, was abducted after his house was destroyed; my prime minister was also abducted. Also, Mr. Fidelis Nnamani's motorcycle was burnt and other items of property destroyed," Igwe Nkwor said.
Walking down memory lane, the traditional ruler narrated how women returned from Christmas church service in 2007 and reported that their son, Rev. Fr. Ede, was coming to visit them during the festive season:
'On the 27th of December, our town union president invited us for an end of year party and also disclosed that the reverend father was visiting, adding that there is a land he wants from the community on which he hopes to build a university."
According to Igwe Nkwor, neither himself nor any of his cabinet members ever heard of the issue of land except on those two occasions.
During the same Christmas period, Fr. Ede, he recalled, finally visited his house and told him of his desire. Igwe Nkwor said he requested the Catholic priest to give him time to discuss with his cabinet members and the elders of the community.
Thus on January 2, 2008, the Igwe summoned his cabinet to deliberate on the issue after which they agreed that the land was too large and was the only farmland left for them, and as such the request could not be granted. Two days later, the Igwe said he met again with the elders who adopted the earlier stand of the cabinet.
He noted that before the reverend father visited his house, the youths had met with him severally and even gave him the go-ahead to take the land; but the Rev. Fr. was reportedly not very comfortable that in all the meetings no elder was in attendance thus his decision to see the traditional ruler.
For refusing to grant the release of the land, the youths met and decided to coerce the elders into giving out the land, he said. This reportedly resulted in the attack that has made all the elders and the cabinet members of the Igwe to flee the community as the youths are still threatening fire and brimstone.
Narrating his ordeal in the hands of the irate youths, Mr. Fidelis Nnamani, who is the Public Relations Officer (PRO) to the Igwe said he was yet to recover from the injuries inflicted on him by the mob, stating that he was hospitalized for a long time.
Pointing at his burnt motorcycle he said: 'It is this okada that I use to take care of my family, but they came here and burnt it; they also destroyed my house and other items of property and stabbed me severally on the back.
I did not do anything; when they were beating me they said I should stop going to the Igwe; that we are supporting the Igwe against giving the land to Fr. Ede. They also took away my money, N160, 000, that I was saving to store palm oil. In fact, they stripped me of all I had."
For the chairman of the Igwe's palace, Mr. Emmanuel Igwesi, life has not been the same again after the youths set fire on his three drums of palm oil and also took away the sum of N200, 000 part of the money people deposited for oil.
'They said that my position that the issue of the land was a matter for the Igwe and the elders, and not the youths was my offence. They inflicted machete cut on me and even broke my head which has been stitched," Igwesi said.
All attempts to reach Rev. Fr. Ede failed, but one of his associates, who would not want his name in print, told Daily Sun on phone that the reverend father would not want to comment on the issue.
He noted that Fr. Ede had already paid a large amount of money to the youths, which he has asked them to return as he would not want to be involved in land controversy with the community.
However, the deposed President of the town union, Mr. Richard Nnaji, was reached on his mobile phone, but he quickly switched off the phone when he learnt the caller was from Daily Sun. A text message was subsequently sent to him to react to the allegations that he led the youths on the attack, but he refused to reply.