Ben Ezechime, Enugu
The Nchatancha community in Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, have embarked on protest over an alleged takeover of their ancestral land by the state government.
The community members in their thousands marched round markets and village halls within the agrarian community.
They carried placards with many inscriptions, such as ‘our house and land are not for sale,’ ‘Nchatancha Nike life matters,’ ‘Enugu State government, leave us alone.”
Our correspondent observed that Men, women and children chanted in Igbo language: “This is an abomination. Government has taken our land, all we have is gone. Nchatancha community is finished. We shall not agree. Let the governor hear us. Hunger will kill us.“
Speaking, the women leader of the community, Justina Nnamani, said: “We have already given them a large expanse of land, but they said it is not enough.
“Now, they told us to leave our community totally. I cry everyday. I don’t know where to take our children to.
“We have begged the governor to leave our land alone because we already gave them some, but he refused.
“Now, they have ordered that all our houses be removed. They sprayed teargas on us. I am asthmatic.
“They were shooting sporadically. We are now homeless. We need federal government’s intervention. Our farm plantations have all been destroyed. They deployed soldiers and police to force us out. They barricaded our roads. We did not commit any offence by voting Governor Mba.”
The Assistant Secretary of Nchatancha Nike Community, Anike Samsom Benjamin, also said: “The community is not happy over what the state government is doing to us.
“They want to take 80 per cent of our community land without the consent of this community.
“Almost 90 per cent of the entirety of the community is here and they want to take over the land without the due process.
“They want to allot the land to big politicians. They want to demolish our houses. Nobody consulted us. Our traditional ruler and the elders did not agree also.”
