Members of the Njoku Chita family in Umuchima, Uburu, in Ohaozara local government area of Ebonyi State have petitioned the Department of State Services (DSS) and the inspector-general of police (IGP) over allegations of persistent grabbing of their ancestral lands.
The family called on the security agencies and the Presidency to investigate and protect the entire community from some suspected hoodlums who are also threatening to kill them if they don’t vacate their ancestral lands.
Part of the details of the petition by the family’s legal counsel, Silas Onu, Esq, Principal Consultant at Shield & Sword Consult, dated October 6, 2025, and sighted by LEADERSHIP, stated that the family had been cajoled into relinquishing a large expanse of land under the belief that it was their own sacrifice for the development of the community, including the present land where the David Umahi Federal University of Technology (DUFUTH) is presently situated.
While claiming that the DUFUTH was built on forcefully confiscated lands, a large part of which belongs to the Njoku Chita family, the family said they had accepted their fate for the good of the entire community.
They, however, lamented that despite their sacrifices, they were also cajoled
into surrendering more of their family lands for the university expansion in the interest of peace and “development”.
They are, however, calling for the federal government’s intervention as their only surviving ancestral home has been marked with a claim that a federal road will pass through it.
The community noted that the minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi had assured them that “Njoku Chita” lands are “Not part of” the annexure 1 road project.
They also alleged that due to the ongoing disagreements as shown above, youths from neighbouring villages and communities were deployed to physically attack persons who have legitimately owned or purchased lands in their community.
The family expressed fears that the hoodlums, who are not afraid of security agencies in Ebonyi State, will carry out their threats on them if the presidency, through the Police and the DSS, does not come to their rescue.
