The people of Abagana in Njikoka Local Government Area in Anambra State have petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, alleging that the police was taking side in a land dispute case that was already a subject of litigation in the Supreme Court.
In a letter dated March 4, Abagana people under the aegis of Abagana Welfare Union, informed the police boss that neighbouring Ukpo, with the protection of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) officers, forcefully took over portions of land belonging to Abagana, even when the matter was before the apex court. The letter was signed by the town’s President General, Sir. Remigius Ikedimma Onwuadi.
Entitled “Community Conduct Likely to Provoke Communal Conflict and Bloodshed”, Abagana community alleged that the Ukpo monarch, Igwe Robert Eze, on March 4, led a team of artisans with construction equipment “and trespassed Abagana community land under dispute in the Supreme Court.”
“On Thursday March 5, a band of about 50 youths from Akaezi village, Ukpo, and a good number of SARS officers in a police patrol van trespassed Abagana land using a bulldozer to demolish walls and structures of Abagana sons behind the Olympic Beverage factory,” they said.
The group said that the Anambra State government had set up a peace panel to mediate, and that “the panel advised the warring communities to desist from constructing on the disputed land until all matters concerning the disputed land had been settled in court”.
The town union appealed to the IGP to use his office to call to order the Ukpo monarch and the police officers used in carrying out the illegal operation.