Deputy gov. Ibezim, Chief of Staff debunks allegation of bias on land depute between 2 communities in Anambra

By Cyprian Ebele, Onitsha

The deputy governor of Anambra State, Ifeanyichukwu Ibezim and the Chief of Staff, Chief Ernest Ezeajughi at the weekend debunked the allegation of bias over the land dispute between Umuenu Umuawulu community, Anaocha Local Government Area and Abo Ani community, Orumba North Local Government Area.

The Nations News Nigeria reports that the land dispute resulted in protest by the Umuenu Umuawulu community and the duo; Ibezim and Ezeajughi were accused of biased on the dispute.

Ezeajughi was equally accused of using his good office as Soludo’s Chief of Staff and as an indigene of Awgbu community to influence the state Deputy Governor, Ifeanyichukwu Ibezim who is the Chairman of  the state boundary committee to suppress Umuenu villagers of Umuawulu who are the rightful owners of the land in favour of Abo-Ani villagers of Awgbu.

In their sperate reactions, Ezeajughi who spoke to newsmen in the state, debunked the allegation of bias, by the Umuenu villagers, describing it as very spurious.

“I am not even aware of any meeting holding nor was I part of the team that went for land inspection or demarcation at the disputed land between villages in Umuawulu and another village in Awgbu community. Only the Deputy Governor has the authority to preside over decisions on land matters brought before the Anambra State Boundary Dispute Commission, ”  Ezeajughi disclosed.

In his own reaction, the Deputy Governor, Ibezim declared: “I brought in a change in our boundary committee. I took my time to go to these disputed areas physically and verified all sorts of claims. At least, we would be able to see every sign of demarcation like trees, rivers and landmarks that keep communities together,” he stated.

“In the case in question, I went there and walked kilometres inside the bush and stood there. The two villages and a community – because it is between Enugwu village in Umuawulu, Umuenu village in Umuawulu and Abo Ani in Awgbu, all of them for the case in my office and we fixed a date to go there. Shockingly, Umuenu did not come there.

“There, we didn’t also want to take our own decision, so I called the leader of Umuawulu and the lawyer representing them, only to find out that after all of us agreed to meet there, he went back, because he was part of the decision that we will go physically there, he told me that he decided later to go to court again” he stated.

Asked if the Supreme Court judgment the people of Umuenu referred to was in favour of the village, the Deputy Governor said, “People lay claims to all sorts of things. Let them bring the Supreme Court judgment. You have this judgment and that judgment, we have lawyers”.

“We, as the executive arm of the government, our statutory responsibility is also to protect the judgments of the judiciary. To even protect the laws put in place by the legislature because we control the forces to do that” he stressed.

Earlier, Umuenu Umuawulu community who protested over the alleged bias by the chief of staff, Ezeajughi, carried placards with various inscription; “Governor Soludo come to our rescue, Abo Ani encroached on our land, we have supreme court judgment in our favor on the land,  Deputy Governor Onyekachukwu Ibezim is biased, Deputy Gov has been influenced by Chief of Staff who hails from Awgbu, Deputy gov writes scripts of Chief of Staff and former director of Anambra State Boundary Commission, Chief Davidson Nkala, Soludo intervene before they take over our land, we have no other land where we cultivate except the disputed land”, etc.

The former chairman of Umuenu Umuawulu community, Chief Humphrey Obi, who spoke to newsmen during the protest, recalled how the land dispute started in the 60s and how Umuenu won all the three court cases that included the Court of Republic of Biafra, Onitsha Judicial Division, the Supreme court of Nigeria and others which ruled against Abo Ani Awgbu community.

The court judgement in suit No. 0/41/1963, and delivered by Justice Egbuna declared: “I have monitored the evidence led by the plaintiffs and I am satisfied that this Aguofu land in dispute belongs to Umuenu people of Umuawulu and not to Abo-Ani Awgbu, the defendants”.

In a petition by the President and secretary of Umuenu Umuawulu, Nze Okoye Godwin and Mr. Nwafor Tochukwu, respectively to Governor Soludo, they reminded him of his belief in the supremacy of law stating that as such should not allow any influence from any quarters to cede the land or part of it to both Abo Ani Awgbu and Enugwu Umuawulu as they were trespassers stopped by the courts of the land.

Reiterating the danger inherent in ceding the land to the unauthorized communities, the duo urged Governor Soludo to rather invite the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice to interprete to them the implication of disobeying court order.

Among those that spoke during the protest included, Tochukwu Okoye, aged 94 years, who said “I am surprised that someone that signed witness for another now claims to be the owner of the land, let’s just think twice. I am calling on Soludo as a peaceful man to intervene in this situation.”