By Praise Chinecherem
Palpable tension has enveloped Awkuzu community in Oyi Local Government Area, Anambra state following alleged take over of disputed Nkpan land, said to belong to Okwesi family by heavily armed soldiers.
Residents were said to be departing the area in droves to avoid being victims especially as the soldiers reportedly parade the community posing threats to the area.
Addressing newsmen on the development, chairman of the family, Charles Okwesi recalled that prior to the presence of the soldiers, police from Rapid Response Squad, RRS, Awkuzu, earlier, stormed the disputed Nkpan land and arrested six of the land owners but were later released.
“In a petition by the Okwesi family to the inspector General of Police, IGP, the family appealed for protection disclosing that they are tagged kidnappers and unknown gunmen by Pineleaf Estate Chief Executive Officer, Bishop Onyeka Nzekwesi, in a bid to detain them and their land taken away from them by the estate management,” he said.
In a swift reaction when contacted, Nzekwesi denied all allegations of land grabbing or oppressing as alleged by the family stating that rather the Okwesi family was part of the land deal but she turned around to use another family to make demands on him when he had already given them monetary settlement.
Recounting the ordeal the family went through, Charles Okwesi, disclosed that, “They want to take our land by force because they have money,” The land at Nkpan Akwuzu belongs to our forefathers, the Okwesi family. Others still have their land around here, but ours is the biggest, and they want to take it from us” he cried.
Throwing more light on the disputed land, Charles Okwesi added that some individuals allegedly sold the Okwesi family’s land to Pineleaf Estate without properly verifying ownership.
“When the estate owner discovered that they had paid the wrong people, they approached us to sell the land to them, but we refused, as we were already negotiating with another estate owner,”
“Bishop Nzekwesi told us that whether we like it or not, they would take the land. They began trespassing, using bulldozers to clear the land. Last week, while we were on the land, they brought a truckload of police officers from RRS Akwuzu, accusing us of being kidnappers and unknown gunmen terrorizing the area.
“They detained six of my brothers and refused to grant them bail. It was days later that they were released.We are not criminals; we are victims of money bags,” he stated.
Okwesi further explained that when the RRS team arrived at the land and arrested his brothers, they were brutally beaten with gun butts before being whisked away to the station.
“The estate owner boasted that he would take the land by force and was trying to intimidate us by branding us criminals to seize our property”
“He claimed that no one would speak for us and that he would use his connections to deal with us and take the land. But he forgot that there is God.” he said.
Okwesi expressed disbelief that someone with money could use it to intimidate and forcibly seize other people’s property, disclosing that when they got to Akwuzu, they didn’t even discuss the land issue with them again..
Contacted, the Chairman of Pineleaf Estate, Bishop Onyeka Nzekwesi said he bought the land in question from three communities of Awkuzu, Ifitedunu and Umunya and made sure he settled all concerned to avoid issues.
“Surprisingly, the Okwesi family who were part of the deal went behind to introduce another buyer into the property. They invaded the place with dangerous weapons, destroyed and looted things worth over N7 million but still I decided to let them go scot-free after police arrested and detained them. Unfortunately, they mobilized about 20 of their people to invade the land again with guns” he said.
On the presence of the soldiers Nzekwesi further clarified that drafting soldiers into the land for security was the sole arrangement of the concerned villagers who decided to protect their own against invaders and to prevent serious security breach.
Contacted, Police Public Relations Officer, Tochukwu Ikenga confirmed that police made some arrests following a petition written against the invaders but those arrested have been released on bail.
While calling for peace, Ikenga said the matter was being investigated, warning that whoever forment trouble would not go scott free as the state needed peace like never before.
