Over eighty aged women from Ishinkwo autonomous Community in Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, early hours of Monday, staged a peaceful protest over an alleged fraudulent activities by the Government officials involved in the ongoing land demarcation exercise between their community and their neighboring Abaomege community.
Recall that Ebonyi State government in its efforts to permanently end the intractable land dispute between Ishinkwo and Abaomege communities in Onicha LGA, which has claimed scores of lives and properties worth millions of naira, commenced demarcation of the disputed land as part of terms of settlement contained in the released government white paper.
The women who stormed old Government house, Abakaliki,to register their displeasure over the alleged flawed demarcation exercise, carried placards with different inscriptions, such as: "Gov Nwifuru, father of the State, please, come to our aid; where is the map attached to the white paper?; enough is enough to land grabbing, follow the white paper; Ekeroku, stop taking sides and be neutral; return Ugwuekuma Primary School to Ishinkwo, it's our ancient land mark; return Uda Iyiocha to Ishinkwo, it's our land; Ogboffia is out to grab more lands to his community, it's unfair; Ishinkwo Military pin down ceded to Abaomege is an injustice, among others.
The women who also marched to the State House of Assembly complex Nkaliki to register their complaints before the State Lawmakers, accused the Council Chairman of Onicha LGA, Mr Ikechukwu Ogboffia, of allegedly colluding with the land demarcation committee, to allegedly grab Ishinkwo land for his Abaomege Community.
In an open letter addressed to Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, signed by National President, Women Wing of Ishinkwo Community Development Union (ICDU), Mrs Fidelia Nworie and 12 others, which they made available to Journalists, the women alleged that the ongoing demarcation exercise is fundamentally flawed, totally skewed, and was capable of breaching the peace building efforts of government and called on the Governor to intervene.
They accused the deputy Surveyor General of the State, Mr Ekeroku of executing the demarcation exercise without reference to the white paper, the legal basis of the exercise, which according to them, renders the exercise illegal, null, and void, as no one can place something on nothing and expect it to stand.
"The demarcation is being executed without reference to the White Paper, the legal basis of the exercise. Which renders the exercise illegal, null, and void, as no one can place something on nothing and expect it to stand.
"The Survey Map, which is a critical component of the White Paper, has also been disregarded by the Deputy Surveyor-General of the State, Mr. Ekeroku. Despite all our entreaties, Mr. Ekeroku has blatantly refused to make the Map available to guide the demarcation, choosing instead to rely on intuition.
"If Mr. Ekeroku decided to hide the map from both communities, we would not have bothered much. However, Mr. Ikechukwu Ogbofia, Chairman of Onicha Local Government Area, an Abaomege native, is indisputably in possession of the said Map. But, not even our Traditional Ruler has the document! If this is not partiality, we wonder what is.
"The six(6) swamplands in dispute are captured in the White Paper with their names mentioned therein. However, the demarcation has been extended to our uplands, ancient buildings, ancient landmarks, and Old Primary Schools, all of which have been fraudulently ceded to Abaomege by Ekeroku in conspiracy and active connivance with the Onicha Local Government Chairman, Mr. Ikechukwu Ogbofia.
"The Onicha Local Government Chairman, Mr. Ikechukwu Ogbofia, occasionally goes to the site to arbitrarily decree the boundary locations. It was on one such occasion that he and Mr. Ekeroku drove into our interior and marked our old Primary School and the Military PIN-DOWN we built with our community resources in our Efiom village for allocation to his Abaomege community.
"We appreciate Mr. Ikechukwu Ogbofia's gospel of peace, but we would like to remind him that our community has remained cut off from the National Grid by his Abaomege Community for years now. Where then is the peace he preaches?", the women stated.
The visibly angry women demanded that the survey map as captured by the White Paper be produced for both communities to eliminate doubts about the demarcation and to enable them to monitor compliance, even as they called on the Governor to replace Mr Ekeroku who is the leader of the Demarcation Committee, for transparency and credibility and to restore their confidence in the demarcation exercise.
The women also demanded that their ancient buildings and landmarks, Primary School, and the location of the Military Pin-down ceded to Abaomege, possibly in error, be reversed; the Local Government Chairman be prevailed upon to be impartial in his supervision of the exercise going forward ; and should advise his people to reconnect us to the National Grid if he is sincere with his gospel of peace.
"The actions of Mr. Ekeroku and Mr. Ogbofia have not only undermined the peace process but have also created an atmosphere of mistrust and suspicion. We request Your Excellency to intervene to reinvigorate the peace building", the Women concluded.
Reactiing to the allegations, the Chairman of Onicha Local Government Area, Mr Ikechukwu Ogbofia, said that he is not part of the demarcation committee, and not in possession of neither the copies of the white paper nor the survey plans, noting that all those documents are in the possession of the state government and the demarcation committee.
Ogboffia noted he was only interested in ensuring that peace is restored between the two brother communities as initiated by the state Governor, Francis Nwifiru.
He lamented the uncountable souls and property that has been wasted as a result of the age long communal war that had lasted over one hundred years, and called on the two sister communities to join hands with Government in putting a permanent end to the war.
"⁴This crises started since 1912, and a lot of souls has been wasted both in Abomege and Ishinkwo. Property worth million have been destroyed. During my campaign one thing I promised the people of Abomege and Ishinkwo is that if by God's grace I am elected the Executive chairman of Onicha Local Government Area, I will do all i can to make sure that Abomege and Ishinkwo boundary is demarcated. By his Grace, before I became the chairman of Onicha Local Government Area, His Excellency, the Governor has already set up white paper and demarcation committee. I am not the one carrying out the demarcation, the state government through the Attorney general and Commissioner for Justice and that of Commissioner for border peace and conflict resolution are the people in charge.
"I don't have the white paper or the survey plans. All those documents are with the State Government
"I am begging the people of Abomege and Ishinkwo to embrace peace because we're brothers. Peace is better than war and I believe after the demarcation is completed, the people of Abomege and Ishinkwo will have reason to thank God and Governor Francis Nwifiru", the chairman stated.
Post a Comment