Umualor community in Isi-uzo Local Government Area of Enugu State have called on the government to urgently intervene and stop further attacks on the community over a massive portion of land measuring over 500,000 hectares.
The President General of the community, Chief Benjamin Uroko who made this plea while speaking with journalists on Friday in the wake of recent armed attacks on the community by hoodlums and land grabbers, said that if nothing was done to stop the attacks, his people could be forced to retaliate.
Narrating how the incident started, Uroko said that many years ago, the people of Umualor accommodated some farmers from Ezza in Ebonyi State to live and farm in their land, but some years after, they started demanding to establish an autonomous community in Umualor.
He said that, “This dispute has been there since before I was born. Three of our people in those days brought in people from Ezza to live with us as it was done in those days.
“They grew up in our place and have turned against us. They are now fighting us. Those who saw the shooters said that they are people who grew up here but are living in Onitsha. They were hired to come and fight us. What led to this case is the land where we accommodated them.
“They grew up and said that they wanted to have an autonomous community. We asked them how they can have an autonomous community while they are living with us. One of their leaders, Samuel Edeh, said that having an autonomous community is the only way they can get what they want.
“We told them that it was not possible for them to come from Ebonyi State to have an autonomous community in Isi-uzo LGA of Enugu State. They insisted that whether we liked it or not, they would recruit boys who would take the land from us by force.
“Because of that they now attached themselves to the people of Amankanu. The Chief of Amankanu, Offor Nweke, recruited them to come and kill Umualor people. This same man built a school in Odobdo and wrote that it is in Umualor community on the signpost. This happened under Governor Sullivan. Now he is the same man who has turned around to claim that the place is no longer in Umualor.
“When I went to the state Police command, I told the man who represented the Commissioner, I told him that if the government does not urgently intervene, it could lead to something very bad because these people are planning seriously for us. It’s just that two wrongs don’t make a right.
“We could have retaliated by attacking those who came to attack us but we didn’t do that because we are law abiding. We plead with the government to urgently come to our aid,” he said.
It was learnt that two members of Umualor community who received gunshot wounds and another who had machete cut were responding to treatment in a hospital.
When contacted, the Traditional ruler of Amankanu community, Chief Offor Nweke denied the allegation, stating that he knew nothing about the attack.
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