Senior Correspondent, OKEY MADUFORO, looks at the rising tension between Aguleri and Umueri communities in Anambra State, wondering if the two neighbours are sinking back into dark days of bloodletting.
Two weeks ago, the dreaded war song was chanted along the plains of Omambala River when the Aguleri and Umuoba Anam communities in Anambra East Local Government Area were up in arms against each other.
Trouble started when a collapsed culvert was contracted for reconstruction by the state government in a bid to construct a jetty at the Omambala River. Allegation of refusing the contractor to carry out work on the culvert snowballed into crisis which led to the death of an Aguleri son who was hit by stray bullet.
Despite the intervention of Governor Willie Obiano, who incidentally hails from Aguleri, the two communities had angled for a showdown.
However, more deployments of officers and men of the Anambra State police command were promptly made. The governor also warned that government will not take kindly to any plot to frustrate its programme of improving transportation in the state waterways.
The governor, told the two communities: “We are desirous of improving transportation on our waterways, and this prospect would be to the benefit of our people who are farmers and need to transport their produce. We shall not allow the interest of some people to distract this project, as the law would certainly come into play. I hereby sue for peace in these communities and urge their leaders to ensure that there is no breakdown of law and order.”
Our reporter gathered that while security operatives have taken over key spots in the two communities, the youths in the area are still restive, plotting reprisals over property destroyed during the last clash.
One of the community leaders from Aguleri, Awande Onyejekwe, who told TheNiche: “Umuoba Anam people came from the other side of Omambala River and they still have their ancestral homes over there. They came over as farmers and we gave them land to settle. So they cannot be laying claims to our land. A visitor cannot come to our house and begin to assume the position of a landlord.”
Umuoba Anam community has, however, dismissed the claims of Aguleri people as lacking in historical accuracy.
One of its leaders who would not want his name on print insisted that the people are not strangers to the land, adding that Aguleri community is only trying to appropriate their land from them because their brother is now governor of the state.
It is feared that as the crisis continues to brew, the age-long cold war between Umueri and Aguleri communities is being resurrected.
Between 1998 and 1999, these two communities were involved in a bloody communal war that led to loss of lives and destruction of property. It took the intervention of the then President Olusegun Obasanjo and Emma Anosike, then representing Anambra East and West Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, for the fratricidal war to be brought to a halt.
Determined to avert another outbreak of the communal war, government had to take over the land in dispute and announced the payment of compensation to the two communities. While Aguleri accepted the payment, the Umueri turned down the compensation, alleging bias in the manner the conflict was resolved.
The community also accused government of taking sides with the Aguleri community, insisting that some parts of the land in dispute were ceded to Aguleri town when the land actually belonged to Umueri.
According to a letter by Ikenga Umueri to Governor Obiano, the community contended that the manner the dispute was settled smacked of irregularities.
The letter, which was also signed by the Traditional Prime Minister of Umueri, Mike Ekweonu, and the Regent of the community, Chuma Okey, raised many allegations.
It stated: “We have found a lot of flaws in that acquisition and allied issues. For one thing, the land acquired exclusively belongs to Umueri. It includes the premises of Umueri Lions Club, which was wrongfully identified by government as Otu-Ocha Lions Club. It comprises a large chunk of Aguakor land, Obinnetiti Umeri, etc. If this extra-ordinarily large expanse of land is excised from Umueri land, we wonder where our children and children’s children will live, farm and carry out other activities in future.”
The leaders also alleged that there was a deliberate effort to short-change Umueri in the acquisition process and payment of compensation, adding that a lot of documents were fraudulently brought at the 11th hour, while the memorandum earlier submitted by their lawyer was ignored.
“Specifically, Barrister Ngangah Okey was not known to us and should not have been foisted on the exercise at a time the document had been brought to Your Excellency for your signature,” the community fumed.
Signatories to the letter further argued that payment of compensation for land acquisition by government is usually determined by the economic trees and commercial crops found on the land and enumerated, stressing however that in this particular case, there was no prior enumeration of such crops and trees belonging to Umueri people.
“We wonder how the amount kept for Umueri was determined,” they lamented.
“Fourth, compensation is usually paid to boards of trustees of communities whose land is acquired. On the contrary, in this particular case, no such board was requested; none was set up, even an earlier memo had already stated the need for one.
“Your Excellency, we therefore wonder from where those who negotiated the compensation derived their authority and power to do so.” the letter.
Umueri community also alleged that a substantial chunk of the compensation sum was cornered by different people who operated as facilitators and government officials.
The community, thus, implored the governor to cause a thorough investigation to be carried out into the manner in which the acquisition of land and compensation was done with a view to redressing all anomalies that characterised the exercise, adding that the step will help to douse the tension created by the exercise.