The Obeagu Awkunanaw community in Enugu South Local Government Area of Enugu State has raised the alarm over the forceful acquisition of its communal land.
They made the outcry in a statement issued on Thursday, signed by Chief Andy Egbo, Chief Chiene Chiene, Chairman of the Community’s Litigation Committee and Igwe Mike Nnukwu, the traditional ruler of Obeagu Awkunanaw.
The community is accusing Private Estates International West Africa Limited (PEIWA) of unlawfully taking over its ancestral land.
They were reacting to a publication issued by PEIWA in which the company asserted legal ownership of 1,097 hectares of land.
However, the community maintained that the land in question forms part of their ancestral heritage, passed down through generations, and encompassing areas such as Agbana, Ugwuorie, Onususu, Akparata, Isi Oke, Ofia Ogonogo, and several others.
“All that PEIWA did was to parcellate our lands and, in a most egregious manner, begin to sell. While we groan in pains and sorrow, they selfishly smiled to their banks.
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“We have become aware of this notice circulating on social media, emanating from the management of PEIWA Limited, who claim to be the sole legal and beneficial owner of 1,097 hectares of our ancestral land.
“This includes their undignified threat and warning to buyers and potential investors against purchasing land or having any dealings with our people or those who derive title from us.
“We reiterate the contents of our earlier public notice where we demonstrated our ownership by inheritance of all the parcels of land known as Agbana, Ugwuorie, Onususu, Akparata, Isi Oke, Ofia Ogonogo, Ofia Aru, Ururo, Orji, Ngene Uchoo, Ngene Ogwe, Iduru, and Ihu Odeje, among others.
“Being our prized ancestral lands, and in protest of this provocative land heist by PEIWA, we have continued to follow due process to recover our land, believing that justice, equity, and good conscience will prevail above all their chicanery.
“We, therefore, advise the general public to ignore the malicious, misguided, and deceitful claims made by the company in the said publication, and treat the same as hallucinatory, delusional, and wishful thinking of land-grabbing merchants,” the statement said.
The community further alleged that PEIWA had failed to provide any meaningful benefit to the original landowners or to the Enugu State government in terms of revenue or statutory payments.
They insisted that the company’s claim to exclusive legal rights over the land was “misguided, deceitful, and hallucinatory”
