Anambra community leader decries his ostracisation for trying to make peace over disputed land
A member of the Enugwu-Agidi community in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State, who is also the former Vice Chairman of Obunagu-Achalla village in the community, Ozo Ozoemena Obiora Okeke, has decried his ostracization from the community.
Okeke said his problems began when he insisted on a peaceful resolution over a land dispute the community has with their neighbors, the Ezinano community in Awka.
The village leader, who spoke to journalists, said the leadership of his town’s sole interest was to sell off the disputed land, despite the troubles the dispute had caused the community.
He said: “I was excommunicated from the village, just because I insisted that we need to settle peacefully with our neighbors over a land matter we had.”
“It first started on October 17, 2023, when they accused me of selling land to our opponents. They even sent some Fulani boys to attack me.
“The kidnappers came to my house and took away several things, including food items. They tried to take money from my account but discovered that I had only #22.00, and they wondered where the money they claimed I made from the land was. That was how I was freed.”
“During a second attack in August 2024, after the peace meeting with my people, the Fulani kidnappers invaded my house again around 4 pm that day and took me into the bush to Urum in Awka North Local District before proceeding towards a shrine in Ukwulu. I stayed three days in the bush before they released me.”
He accused his kinsmen, Comrade Ementa and his brother, Johnbosco Umera Okeke CVC Okekenta, of being behind his ordeal.
Emeka Ementa insisted that Okeke was lying, saying that they had no hand in his ordeal.
“I don’t have any contact with any kidnapping syndicate, and I don’t even intend to.
“Our people have been peaceful. We have written letters to the state government to give us peace because we have suffered. So, what kind of peace would these local people bring when we already have the government’s support?”
He exonerated himself from the ostracization of Okeke, saying it was the decision of the entire community and could not be blamed on a few individuals.
