The people of Umuocha Avu community in Owerri -West LGA of Imo State have appealed to the state Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma to urgently intervene and stop Land grabbers from forcefully taking their ancestral land.
The Chairman, Umuocha Avu family meeting, Mr Goddy Oparamba who made the appeal said the community being conscious of the pledge of the government of Senator Uzodimma to recover people’s land forcefully taken away from them and stop Land racketeering in the state has no other option than to draw the attention of the Governor and Commissioner for lands to this ugly development.
Narrating the community’s ordeal in the hands of the alleged grabbers, Mr Oparamba alleged that on Sunday May 19,2024, one Mr Chidi Okoye of Zenos, a company that specializes in Estate Management and property went with some hoodlums and armed police officers to destroy people’s property and land in Umuocha Avu.
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He further alleged that the same Chidi Okoye had on Saturday January 28,2023 with some armed security personnel and Caterpillar stepped into the land to destroy People’s property, but was resisted by the village which mobilized and chased them away.
According to him, they succeeded his time because they came on a Sunday when people were in the church to carry out his nefarious acts
Mr Oparamba pointed out that the land in question is the ancestral land of Umuocha Avu community which they have parcellated many years ago waiting for Government to provide them with water, electricity and other utilities for them to start moving in to the land.
He also claimed that there was no interaction or negotiation between Umuocha people, the land owners and any party or Governmental representation and warned that forcefully taking the land will likely cause breach of peace in the community. Mr Oparamba therefore on behalf of the Umuocha Avu community appealed to Senator Hope Uzodimma to urgently intervene and stop the ill
