By Tony Nwankwo

For over five years, Idima Abam, Arochukwu LGA, Abia State, has been enmeshed with stories of land grabbing and extortion.

In the quest for funds, people have been giving lands to wrong people, while many have capitalised on the poverty of the people to buy lands from the wrong families.  Issues have been raised of people whose ancestors served as palace servants who, now, due to lack of written history, had chosen to give away lands that belong to their benefactors.

The worse kind is that, in some instances, the culprits identify families that have lost prominent members and then corner whatever remains of their lands.

Families have had to disown extant members when they discover that there are surrogates and imposters whose fathers may have joined the family with the mindset of benefiting from farm lands, having none themselves.  The poverty, brought about by the poor economy of the area, has made land a gold mine for indolent people who otherwise would not know where the next meal will come.

There is the case in the community of Ikwu Umu Obie Royal family where some  elders allegedly sold family lands without the knowledge of the family head, an abominable act, where it not that modernity had changed things.

In a sworn affidavit, the family head, Elder (Chief) Simeon Orji Okorie Ottah, said the action  had brought shame  to the family of Ikwu Umu Obie.  According to Elder Ottah, “The leader of the elders selling family land should be refrained from this Royal Family’s properties, particularly, landed properties belonging to Umu Obie …”.  Ottah warned land speculators to desist from transacting any land business with him as those who do so were doing so at their own risk.

The elder revealed that the community was being invaded by land speculators, particularly from families whose ancestors had no land of their own, or had lands located in far-flung places they could no longer reach or farm.

Meanwhile, families affected are those whose ancestors had abundance of land, particularly farm lands located in prime sites.  Another case is the Ikwu Umu Orie, whose head is a  former autonomous head of the community, the late HRM Eze Atum Akwara.  The jig-saw puzzle surrounding the land speculation has kept the corpse of the dead king at the Catholic Madona Hospital, old Aba Road, Umuahia, for over five years since the king died.

A shameless cabal had been tossing the remains of the king from one community to another, after a local politician whose family has little or no lands whatever,  decided to empower thugs to farm the man’s lands, after imposters collected stipends on behalf of the Umu Orie Family to sell off the king’s lands.  The dispute has lingered because village elders, who collected money, do not know how the free themselves of the injustice, particularly, after they exiled the family members of the king on trumped-up charges.

Meanwhile, another elder, at Ndi Oloko Compound, was allegedly selling ancestral habitat lands of people who reside abroad.  Several times, he had been sanctioned by community chiefs-in-council, who tried to banish him from the area, describing his activities as unbecoming, considering his age. The evil in the sale of ancestral lands is that families who had never related from time immemorial are forcefully brought together, an abomination in a traditional local setting.  Summoned by the elders-in-council, he confessed he regretted his actions, but said he was poverty-stricken and could not determine where his next meal would come from.

As anger boils, there are fears that unless a police post is erected in the community urgently, to check criminal activities and the brazen sale of lands by unauthorised persons, the police in Umuahia may have to contend with land matters including murder cases in the near future.

In a recent statement, the leadership of the Lagos Branch of the town’s union  (IAPU)  called on the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to mandate his Commissioner in Umuahia to facilitate the creation of a police post for the thousands of Idima residents. They said they were prepared to provide housing and other basic requirements to facilitate the police location.