A community leader from Anambra has spoken out about being kidnapped after refusing to sell land, following a dispute involving his community and neighboring groups.
During a meeting led by the community leader, a decision was made to suspend and ostracize Okeke and others for their role in undermining the unity of the community.
Okeke had aligned with the Ezinano Awka community in a controversial peace deal with Obunagu-Achalla village in Enugwu Agidi Community over land rights.
In his statement, the community leader clarified, “Well, I don’t have any contact with any kidnap syndicate, I don’t even intend to. I am only saying that he (Okeke) should change his way of life; he has been known for this over the years.”
He further explained that the community had merely taken precautionary steps to suspend Okeke from meetings and other activities due to his actions.
“The decision was taken at a general meeting, not personal to me. So, I wouldn’t think and I never thought about that. Why would I kidnap him, for what?”
The leader expressed disbelief at the allegations of kidnapping, describing the accusation as a fabrication.
“I have never heard of this kidnap of a thing. It is him forging this kidnap thing. It’s like a drama to me; it’s a forgery and I have not heard of it anyway. But Okeke has been known for this kind of behaviour.”
On the matter of the disputed land, which is at the center of the ongoing conflict between Ezinano Awka and Enugwu Agidi communities, the leader explained the historical context.
“The land is called Agu-Nawgu because Nawgu people were living there before and were part of it. After Nawgu was removed by the six communities of Awka, Isu, Enugwu Agidi, Nawfia, Amawbia and I think Okpuno. It’s a land got after a conquest and shared into six, everybody has theirs. Awka has its own and so are other communities.”
He continued, “So, a major part of that land is where the Awka people are now contesting with us in court. The whole of that land, part of which is our ancestral land, they are joining both the ancestral land and that of Nawgu to the place they are dragging with us in court.”
The community leader pointed out that the courts had ruled in their favor, stating, “The court in its unanimous decisions gave it to us in three court sessions, the Awka court, High Court and the Appeal Court.”
He also called on the state government to intervene in the matter, adding, “We are now asking the state government to use its good offices to intervene because Enugwu-Agidi has suffered so much.”
