From Obinna Odogwu, Awka
The traditional ruler of Nimo community in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State, Owelle Ike Oliobi, has raised the alarm over alleged plots by some hoodlums in his community to kill him over land issues.
Igwe Oliobi said assassins once stormed his palace to kill him, but could not carry out their mission on their day of visit because the killers confessed that he was an upright man who didn’t deserve a violent death.
But the monarch, yesterday, told journalists that those who wanted him dead were still after his life because of the decision taken by the community concerning their land.
Security operatives were in the community earlier in the week to stop a protest by some youths over the activities of a few rich people in the town which they found unacceptable. The security operatives, who accosted the youths at Oye Nimo, stopped them from marching round the community with their placards, insisting that they did not get clearance from the police to hold a protest.But the protesters, who spoke to journalists, insisted that they duly received protest permits, and that the protest was against the sale of a large parcel of land in the community, known as Ana Ama.
The monarch of the community, while speaking to journalists in his palace, yesterday, alongside other leaders of the town, said the youths were misguided.
He said a certain lawyer, who was power drunk, was misleading them. Igwe Oliobi said the community unanimously agreed on what to do with the said land for years even before he was crowned the king of the town.
He said: “It was not a decision made by me, the Owelle Nimo or the Onowu, rather the decision was taken at a general meeting at our community square called Egwe-Egwe Nimo, and whatever decision taken at that place is binding on every indigene of Nimo.
“The traditional ruler that I succeeded discussed over this particular land at Egwe-Egwe, and they set up a committee and, thereafter, my predecessor died and the committee became moribund.
“The Chairman of that committee was Barr Peter Afuba (SAN), so when I came on board, they came up with the same decision during their handover to me. In that new Obodo Oma Nimo Estate, we have high density, medium, lower densities and executive plots.
“The agreement at Egwe-Egwe was that we should not sell to outsiders at present, and the ones that we are going to sell to outsiders should be the industrial plots because you can’t develop a community without investors from outside.
“For the industrial plots, we considered that when people buy them and build industries, 60 percent of the employees must be indigenous to Nimo and the financial accruals have a relative impact on our market, thereby, developing our town.”
The monarch said the allegation by some disgruntled persons against leadership of the community was false, wicked and unfounded, adding, “before you sign out any money, three people that are signatories to the cheque must append their signatures, and any money realised from that estate goes to the Nimo Town Development Union (NTDU) account.
“Also, in every other meeting, Barr Afuba gives a rundown of where they stopped and any other person involved comes and gives his own records. Now, where is this issue of embezzling communal funds coming in?”
“The issue of N1.2 billion or whatever they are approximating, I can’t tell you the exact figure because, as the traditional ruler of the community, I don’t receive alerts of payments. My only job is the oversight function. But these hoodlums, knowing this very well, continued to be mischievous. On one occasion, they sent assassins here to come and kill me in my palace because of land.”