Etiti Ngwo community protests, plead Gov Mbah to restore land ownership

The Etiti Ngwo community in Enugu South Local Government Area has staged a peaceful protest in Enugu government house, demanding for restoration of their land, allegedly hijacked by a state government agency in conivance with the Bureau for Public Enterprises, PBE, a neighbouring Akwuke community.

The over 1000 community-member protesters carried placards, indicating that the Enugu State Geographic Information System, ENGIS, carried out a demolition of their properties worth over N1.6 billion in the disputed land.

They therefore pleaded for Governor Peter Mbah's quick intervention to restore to them ownership of the lands that the supreme Court awarded them ownership in 2021.

But Governor Mbah, through his Senior Special Assistant on Mainstream Media, Mr. Dan Nwomeh, absolved ENGIS of any blame, stating that the area was a crown land acquired by the colonial government which Etiti Ngwo community wrongful went and sued Akwuke community, instead of the federal government represented by the Bureau PBE that he said is the present custodian of the land.

Unfazed with government explanation, the President General of Etiti Ngwo community, Engr. Daniel Eze, accused the Director General of ENGIS, Chiwetalu Nwatu, of conspiring with Akwuke community to reallocate the land to members of their opposing community.

"The matter has so long been resolved, but what came up now is the MD of ENGIS, Chiwetalu Nwatu, who we showed all our documents including the court judgment. We're part of government and can never fight government and we appreciate everything they have been doing for us.

"The problem is ENGIS, which came with BPE, but after some arguments, BPE stepped aside. This time around he went and brought the Chairman of Enugu South local government and said that they are building a smart school in the same land.

"The funny thing is that the properties they demolished were registered under his agency. The owners had paid 30 percent infrastructural fees that he demanded, yet without a court order, without a pre notice to the land owners, without any information of any kind, he went to the site and pulled down people's houses for the so called purpose of smart school he said he wants to build," Eze lamented.

He said that they were crying to Governor Peter Mbah to intervene on the matter, particularly as a lawyer who knows what it means to obey the law.

Eze accused Nwatu of trying to ridicule the law profession and urged the Nigeria Bar Association, the Attorney General of the state and the Chief Judge of Enugu State to look into the matter.

The protesters urged Governor Mbah to set up a high-powered committee to investigate the activities of the ENGIS Director, the Enugu South local government chairman and the BPE representative to ensure that the sanctity of the judicial system is preserved in Enugu State.