Police, Awka Community Clash Over Communal Land Dispute

The people of Awka, the capital city of Anambra State, have clashed with the police over a communal land dispute.

The Awka natives, including men, women, and youth numbering over 200, clashed with armed police operatives stationed yesterday at the Agu-Nawgu communal land.

The Awka natives in Awka-South Local Government Area have been at loggerheads with their neighboring Enugwu-Agidi community people of Njideka LGA over the ownership of the Agu-Nawgu communal land.

An attempt by the police to stop the Awka natives, who stormed the entering gate into the communal land by shooting at them, sparked stiff resistance from the youths.

Some of the Awka natives, including Hon. Richard Onuorah from Ezinano village, Chief Arinze Ekenem from Umuokpu, Mrs. Gloria Ezunuike from Amikwo, and Mrs. Chineno Emesina from Umuanaga village, accused the people of Enugwu-Agidi of trying to take over their communal land.

Onuorah and Ekenem claimed that they were the original owners of the large expanse of land and that the people of Enugwu-Agidi were paying their people royalties on the land before but suddenly stopped.

They said that they decided to recover their land and had built houses with their women farming on other parts of the land. However, they claimed their Enugwu-Agidi people started destroying their building materials and destroying their farm crops.

They accused the police of helping their Enugwu-Agidi people take over their community land from them by trying to stop them from entering to take over their land.

Mrs. Ezunuike and Emesina claimed that they cultivated cassava, maize, yam, etc., on the farm but that the people of Enugwu-Agidi have destroyed them and were chasing them away from their farms.

When contacted, the commissioner of police in the state, CP Aderemi Adeoye, stated that he did not deploy any police personnel to the disputed communal land. But one of the 14 policemen who spoke to newsmen off-camera at the disputed land said that they were deployed to secure the land by the CP.

“We were sent to come and secure this place by the commission of police. They say that we should not allow anybody to enter here. You know that we cannot say no to our oga,” one of the police officers said.