News Desk
No fewer than six families of Obosi community, Idemili North Local Government Area, Anambra State, Thursday, protested alleged attack by their traditional ruler, Igwe Chukwudubem Iweka 111, over plan to build a Mega Smart City in the community.
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The families included, Umu Ogbunamili, Umu ekwulugo in opi, umu Agu, Umu oduga, umu ora akposim, umu ilokwe in agbaja, umu chiakwelu, and umu ejimuche.
They called on the state government, security agencies and relevant stakeholders to save them from the hand of thugs and hoodlums over ownership of their ancestral land in Obosi.
The family members made this known during a protest to demonstrate their grievances over what they described as attempts of land grabbing of their ancestral land by some unscrupulos land grabbers who claim they have bought the land from the traditional ruler of Obosi, Igwe Chukwudubem Iweka 111.
The protesters who carried placards with various inscriptions such as “Gov Soludo save our Soul”, They are killing us , Obosi must be great again, We are for Soul city”, said they had entered a contractual land agreement with a Real estate developing firm, Soul City Integrated Resources limited, for the purpose of construction of a Smart Mega City estate.
Speaking on behalf of one of the family members, a septugenarian Emeka Anyaefulu, noted that they have been prevented several times by thugs armed with matchet and guns from gaining access to the land .
“The Igwe of Obosi and the so called Obosi land committee have prevented us from access to our land ,and we are being threatened ,our lives are in danger, meanwhile our land is being sold off to the highest bidder ,this is injustice in the highest order so we are hear to cry to Gov Soludo and all security agencies of the state and federal government to come and save us from the hands of our oppressors ,enough is enough”
The director of Soul City Integrated Limited, Mr Michael Nnamdi Nwokoye, also accused the traditional ruler of disrupting plans of building a mega smart city on the contested land mass of over 273 hectares known as Ogbodogbo along the second Niger Bridge.
According to him the project which has been approved by the Nigerian Inland WaterWays Authority and the state government for take off, has been stalled following the incessant attack on the owners of the land by thugs being sponsored by the traditional ruler of Obosi.
“We are gathered here today because Igwe Chukwudubem Iweka and his cabal have been frustrating our efforts to get the Mega smart city project underway. This has been going on here for over three years now. He said he was going to settle boundary dispute between the original owners of the land who are all here with me now, at the end of the day they have not done anything instead they planted hoodlums to scare away the owners of the land.
“The Igwe has no plot of land here and it’s not communal land but he wents to bring one Ralph mart into the project ,they went to NIWA to get a right of way but the agency told them that they had already issued the right of way to Soul City Integrated Limited and out of disappointment he decided to engage thugs to threaten and harm us. So we are calling on the Gov. Soludo , Federal government and NIWA to stand firm in this matter and save us from the hands of Igwe and his cohorts”, they pleaded.
They alleged that the Igwe has sold several plots of land to unsuspecting buyers in the site marked for construction and he was fortunate to have escaped a kidnap attempt led by the erstwhile palace secretary over his resistance and interest in developing the land but was lucky to escape unhurt.
In a swift reaction when contacted, Igwe Iweka denied all the allegations describing them as allegations of fraudulence.
The Igwe who spoke through his counsel, Barr. Mega Ikegwuonu, said that the protesters never met with the real land owners but connieved with extended relations of the families to protest.
He advised that Mr. Nwokoye should get to renegotiate with the authorized family heads that own the land rather than parading renegades posed as land owners in the name of Soul City Integrated Resources limited.
