The indigenes of Umunenweze in Okaiuga Nkwoegwu, in the Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State, have appealed to Governor Alex Otti, to intervene and protect them from alleged land grabbers targeting their ancestral Okpuijikara land.
During a peaceful protest, the spokesman for the community, Mr Onyekachi Igbojionu, accused the traditional ruler Eze Paul Onuigbo Uzuegbu of spearheading the illegal sale of the communal land.
The community member displayed placards with the inscription, ‘Our Collective Patrimony is not for sale or grabbing,’ ‘The land belongs to the people not to criminals,’ among others.
The protesters warned prospective buyers that Okpuijikara land could not be sold legally as the matter was still pending in court.
Igbojionu said since 2017 the residents had been resisting the unauthorised sale, lease, and donation of the land.
He said, “The individuals involved in the illegal sale of land have no customary mandate, administrative office, or legal authority under the village constitution to represent Umunenweze (village council) or alienate its land. Such powers reside strictly with the executive body of the village.
“In March 2018, following a resolution at our annual conference, we published a Caveat Emptor notice in the media. The notice defined the boundaries of our land and declared that no individual or group had the mandate to sell, lease, or pledge any part of it.
“The land that stretches from Okaiuga Nkwoegwu Secondary School through Nnewo and Okpuijikara to our boundary with Umu-Ohuru, down to the Obohu River, and across the Port Harcourt–Enugu Expressway is not for sale.”
The community disclosed that the Abia State High Court had granted a subsisting injunction restraining Onuigbo, Emereuwa, Nwokorie and their agents from selling the land, adding that only seasonal farming was permitted.
The residents, however, alleged that in defiance of the court order, Onuigbo and others sold Okpuijikara land last year to Onduk Real Estate Builders and Construction Limited.
They further alleged that in May 2025, the company invaded the land with armed police and army personnel to intimidate villagers and commence construction.
The community described the ongoing erection of structures and re-sale of the land as “a continuous crime against the judiciary” and “open contempt of court.”
The community also raised the alarm that the same group was also targeting the adjacent defunct secondary school land, vowing to resist any attempt to take over the land
The residents called alleged intruders to immediately cease all work, demobilise equipment, and vacate Okpuijikara in strict compliance with the subsisting court order.
They also warned prospective buyers that “any money paid is a complete loss” because they would be buying into a lawsuit.
The community appealed to the Abia State Government and Ministry of Lands to intervene, as well as disregard letters from any fictitious body concerning the land.
Lending their voices, the Chairman of Umunenweze, Obinna Okwulehie, as well as Nwabueze Emereuwa, and Mrs Janet Nwagboso decried the activities of the alleged land grabbers, saying they were flouting the subsisting court injunction on the matter.
They said Umunenweze stands united across all the four kindred and would soon deploy every legal, judicial, and peaceful customary measure to enforce the court order and protect their ancestral heritage.
When contacted the traditional of the community Eze Paul Onuigbo Uzuegbu, denied the allegations of land grabbing levelled against him, adding that the land was initially donated to the government for a secondary school project.
He said, “I’m not selling any community land to any developers. The land in question was donated to the community union over 40 years ago, the union in turn donated the land to the government to build a secondary school.
The Okaiuga Nkwoegwu secondary school was built on the land, but it was later relocated to another site because of constant vandalism in the school.
He added, “Now the government has decided to develop the land into an estate. They came to us on a fact finding visit and the four traditional rulers from Okaiuga Nkwoegwu and the people supported the government to build the estate, who am to stop the government from developing the land that was originally donated to them over 40 years ago? “
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