From Geoffrey Anyanwu, Enugu
Governor Peter Mbah’s Owo community in Nkanu East Local Government of Enugu State, has called on the authorities of the Nigeria Army to obey a subsisting court order in their land case with the community.
The said court order by an Enugu State High Court asked the Army to vacate and remove truckloads of soldiers from a disputed land in the area.
Daily Sun gathered that yhe disputed land, share common boundary between Owo communities and Akpoga-Nike, Nkwubor Nike, Onuogba Nike, all in Enugu East local government area on one side; Amechi Idodo, Oruku, Ubahu (all in Nkanu East) and Umuhuaji, Nkalagu and Ama-Azu communities in Ishielu, Ebonyi State
On May 20, this year, Justice C.O Ajah of the High Court restrained the Nigerian Army, Defence and Enugu State government from entering the land pending the determination of the pending suit and adjourned the substantive suit for pretrial conference to September 29.
But the communities alleged at the weekend that officials of the Nigerian Army had despite the order, started “patrolling and surveying the disputed area,” an allegation they supported with video evidence that has gone viral in the social media.
In a statement by the Secretary, Owo Town Union, Ability Chukwuemeka Mbah, the communities noted that the land had been in dispute between them and the Nigeria Army since 2016 and urged the Military to obey the court order in the interest of peace.
The presence of the army on the disputed area he noted, was now creating fear and apprehension in the people of the area.
The town union scribe disclosed that the state government which intervened at some point with a joint inspection had discovered that “no beacons that correspond with the ones in the survey plans submitted by the Nigerian Army were found.”
The Nigeria Army in its response to the investigative committee submitted that the land was acquired around 1970, stressing that it had been encroached on by unidentified persons who were setting up beacons on it.
