By EGUFE YAFUGBORHI

PORT HARCOURT— EIGHT communities in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State have vowed to resist, even with their blood, alleged forceful acquisition of their farmlands by the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency, RSSDA.

The communities, yesterday, complained that RSSDA was mapping out the land for farming purposes under the Fa-dama Project without recourse to an acquisition agreement earlier reached between parties.

At an emergency meeting in Olakwo Village, the landowners said they would not allow the Rivers agency to encroach on their land until acceptable compensations were paid.

Spokesperson for the landlords, Chizoba Ibegbulam, said no amount of force would make them relinquish their land to the government when nothing had been paid to them, following the movement of RSSDA’s equipment into the land.

Ibegbulam said: “We have agreed to fight back. Somebody cannot take our land for free. We know what the government is looking for. They want crisis and we are going to give it to them since they prefer anarchy to dialogue.

“At our last meeting after rejecting the proposed compensation of N50,000 per plot of land, we told government to pay us same way they paid other communities in the neighbouring local government areas also affected by public acquisition.

“Ours will not be different. We are farmers. For God sake, if they want to take our land, let RSSDA pay compensation.”