By Austin Chuma
Enugu – Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has waded into the land dispute between the people of Ndiagu Owo community in Nkanu-East Local Government Area of the and the traditional ruler of Mbulu Owo, Igwe Okeke Arum.
Ugwuanyi stated this when he met indigenes of Ndiagu Owo community during their protest march to Government House, Enugu on Tuesday.
Ndiagu Owo on peaceful march
The governor who called for calm told the angry villagers that he has summoned the leaders of the warring leaders to his office on Wednesday with a view to finding a lasting solution to the crisis.
Governor Ugwuanyi, however, warmed that no Enugu State indigene should refer to other Enugu State indigene as slave, stressing that he would not tolerate discrimination of any sort in the state.
Earlier, the President of the Ndiagu Owo community, Michael Mbah, said they were at the Government House, Enugu to express their anger over the treatment of the Mbulu Owo ruler, adding he had invaded their ancestral land.
Ndiagu Owo on peaceful march
He recalled that prior to the Tuesday protest, they had formally petitioned the state governor on the matter, appealing to him to stop Igwe Arum from taking over their land through force which would result in violence in the locality.
“We the good people of Ndiagu Owo in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State hereby wish to alert your Excellency the peace loving Governor of Enugu State of the Igwe Arum invasion with a view to forcefully annex the ancestral land of Ndiagu Owo”, he told the governor.
According to him, “The intending forceful annex of our land is by HRH Igwe Okeke Arum of Mbulu Owo Autonomous Community and his cronies from Ashishi Owo with the intent to cause violence and bloodshed thereby jeopardizing the hard earned peace we enjoy for over 300 years in Owo town in particular, and Enugu State in general.
“We wish to state that there is no portion of land of Ndiagu Owo that is for sale”, he further said.
It was observed that hundreds of indigenes including women and children as well as elderly were at Government House, House, Enugu with plards to stage the protest. (GMTNews)
