… Calls For Govt Intervention
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BY SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
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Scores of Indigenes of Ugwuto, Nsude Community in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State last Sunday, staged a peaceful demonstration over the alleged land grabbing by a company called “Enpower Energy Ltd”
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The angry villagers marched through the community’s civic centre with placards, chanting solidarity songs, “We no go agree ooo”, “Nooo to land grabbers’.
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Joined in the protest were elderly men, women, youths and children from the community.
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Some of the placards read: “We Say No To Land Grabbers”, Enpower Leave Our Land Alone”, “Enugu Governor, Peter Mbah Save Us From Land Grabbers”.
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Addressing journalists after the demonstration, an Elder in the Community, Vincent Ukwuani, said that the plot by Enpower Energy Ltd to unlawfully take over their land began as far back as 2019, pointing out that the land tussle is already in court yet the Managing Director of the company has continued to encroach on their land with impunity.
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“The people called Enpower came to our land without authorization and began to destroy our crops. They came with bulldozer. The land is called “Ugwuto Land” and the invasion on the land started six years ago. We reported the matter to the state government and there was no response.
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“We do not know them. They came from backyard. What prompted today’s protest is that they came again last month and destroyed our land even when the matter is still pending in court”, he said.
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Another protester who gave his name as Linus Ugwuoga corroborated the statement of elder Ukwuani, saying that they will resist the company from taking over their land illegally with their last blood.
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“The matter which is pending in court was adjourned to December 19, 2025, yet they are still in our land destroying our crops. We have other government projects in our land such as Water Reservoir, International Market but we are not complaining. But these people called Enpower, we don’t know them.
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Also, Hon. Emeka Joshua Ozochi, an indigene of the Community and former LG candidate said, “They will come and arrest innocent people just to intimidate them with 9th Mile police and DRS”.
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“The land we are talking about, government approved it for us. There is master plan and survey plan. The government gave us numbers with which is known as “Ugwuto Hilltop Layout” and all the fees needed to be paid were paid by this community to the government of Enugu State.
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“This is a community that is peace loving. We do not want to take laws into our hands if not, the story won’t be same. This matter is in court and the Enugu State SSG Prof. Chidiebere Onyia asked the Enpower people to commence work on the land even when there’s a court order barring them from working there.
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“But there are some people in government who are in the know of what the man is doing. The local government chairman Hon Hyginus Ogbonna Agu is aware of it because the life of our President-General is at risk. They have threatened him and the last was at 9th mile corner where they pursued him and it was by the grace of God that he escaped.
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Also corroborating with other speakers, Mrs Evelyn Richard Onoh, an Evangelist, said that the Enpower Energy Ltd came in another way by inviting some of them.
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“We do not need them in our land. They called us to Udi and when we reached there, they said, they are En-Power. And that Enpower, I do not need them, their money and we do not need anything that concerns them.
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“We, women of Ugwuto community, we stand at the back of our husbands. Anywhere our husbands stand, we are there and any fight they fight, we are there to fight for them. Let Governor Peter Mbah tell them to leave our land.
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A letter from the office of the SSG to the Managing Director of Enpower titled: “FREEDOM TO OPERATE (FTO) AND COMMENCEMENT OF OPERATIONS”, dated April 2, 2025, reads in parts:
“Sequel to the meeting with ENPOWER representatives and the Ugwu-Uto community in Nsude Udi LGA, at the office of the Secretary to the State Government on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. Having considered the presentations by the parties present and reviewing the submitted documents, the Enugu State Government has come to the decision that the project should proceed immediately.
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“ENPOWER is accordingly granted freedom to operate and directed to commence operations forthwith. Note that this office must be apprised of the work plan, schedule of tasks and timelines in operationalizing this approval.
“Accordingly, all necessary support as outlined in the agreement will be honoured by the government, especially the pacification of the host communities, security and other assistance necessary for the successful completion of the project.
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“Finally, the company is required to mobilize to the site and adroitly deliver a quality project.
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“The above letter was issued by the SSG without recourse to his promise of reviewing the circumstances of the matter and getting all the parties to have a common ground. The so-called agreement was neither seen nor shared with any member of the community, only to invade the community with the 9th Mile police and DRS without any prompting and whisked innocent youths away
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“May it also be noted that Ugwuto Community has donated vast land to Enugu State government without any compensation till date. Ugwuto donated land for Enugu international market, twin tank that supplies water to Enugu metropolis, Ebeano bypass, ancient Igbo pyramids and Virgin forest (Ọshụa Uto).
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“All these land were donated by Ugwuto community without any compensation yet from the government.
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“It may interest you to also know that even though the twin tanks supplying water to Enugu metropolis are located on our land, the community does not have a tap water after over four decades of donating the land for the project”, one of the indigenes said.
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