By Chukwudi Ebele
Leaders of Umuoba Anam under the aegis of Federated Association of Umuoba Anam Council, have petitioned Governor Chukwuma Soludo to restrain Aguleri youths and people from further attacks and encroachment on their fish ponds and farmlands at Omagu Umuoji near Egbeagu Eziagulu Otu Aguleri in Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State.
The petition dated January 31, 2025 and jointly signed by Chief S.N. Okoye and Comrade C. Mmehie, Chairman and Secretary respectively, accused their neighbors of using false claims to unleash violence and war over its property at Omagu farm settlement.
“On January 25th, 2025, armed men from Egbeagu Eziagulu-Otu with Ak-47 invaded Borrow Pit and Onumonu-Akpatieyi fishing pools belonging to Umuoji Umuoba Anam. They fired gunshots indiscriminately, endangering the lives of innocent people for more than two hours.
“As if their heinous crimes above are not bad enough, on January 26th, 2025, these groups of miscreants from Egbeagu Eziagulu-Otu community brandishing Ak-47 set ablaze properties within Omagu Umuoji, including a community school, houses and farm land.
“The joint team of Nigerian Police and the Nigeria Army arrested some of these miscreants with AK-47 whom are presently in detention at State Criminal Investigation Department, Awka. The video evidence of the said barbaric and despotic acts is all available and ready to be shown to the public.”
The petitioners also dismissed claims made by the Eziagulu-Otu Town Union, on the 28th January 2025, as false and a calculated attempt to divert attention from their acts of aggression against the people of Umuoji, Umuoba Anam following a confrontation over their illegal fishing activities on the Umuoji fish ponds at Omagu.
“We deny the allegations of violence, kidnapping, and arson against our sons as contained in their baseless press conference statement. These claims are designed to frame our peaceful community as aggressors.
“It is a well known fact that the people of Umuoba Anam are known to be peaceful in all their affairs with neighboring communities, hence the allegations made by the Egbeagu Eziagulu-Otu community are made to taint and destroy every good image of our community, and we will not sit back and allow them drag our names to the mud.”
According to FAUDACO, Omagu Umuoji has been under the ownership and control of the Umuoji people since time immemorial and have been peacefully farming, fishing, and utilizing the land for a long time now without interference until the most recent provocations by some hoodlums from Egbeagu Eziagulu-Otu community led by one Mr Ejimofor, also known as Okwuluoka.
“This criminal act has been on for some time now, it becomes petinent to reproduce the advice of the divisional police officer on 29th January, 1969, as contained in file No 527/1/5, flowing from the review judgement delivered in 1949 by Mr. J. R. Duncan at the Native Court of Umuleri in Suit No 64/39. DECISION
“After considering all the review judgements relating to all the pools in dispute it was clear to me that all the actions of trespass and damages brought by Aguleri people were rejected.
“It is worthy of note to state that the aggressors are not all the Egbeagu people but those criminal element from Egbeagu Eziagulu-Otu that launched the unprovoked attacks on our community, including the destruction of our farmlands, fish ponds, and other valuable properties”, FAUDECO stated.
They further disclosed that besides carrying out destruction of school building which was recorded and circulated in the social media, the miscreants from Aguleri-Otu also torched other properties belonging to Umuoba people at Ukwu-Okpo camp, Omagu Umuoji, as well as abduction of two persons from Umudora and Umueze Anam respectively after January 28 despite calls for restrain from local government authority.
The statement read in parts: “This group of miscreants has committed various atrocities against the people of Umuoji only to mention a few, this group from Egbeagu and other criminal gang from Eziagulu – Otu brutally murdered three of our sons namely, Sunday Okoye, Boniface Okechukwu and Okechukwu Akwoba.
“The Egbeagu Eziagulu-Otu people deliberately set ablaze Mr. Udoji Ekwenze’s vehicle, Umuoji Community Primary School, Bus Stops, they also went further to destroy medical materials for the construction of Omagu Umuoji Health Centre worth Millions of Naira. There are video recordings to prove same.”