•Hoodlums take over abandoned FG land, killing, maiming innocent persons
•We record 25 to 30 deaths here monthly, community leader, others cry out
•CP: If they say people are being murdered, where are the bodies?
From Paul Osuyi, Asaba
Anwai, a suburb of Asaba, Delta State capital, is under siege. Hoodlums have invaded the area, killing innocent dwellers almost on a daily basis. And the sad development has been going on for about eight years.
At the moment, residents of the once bubbling community, known for its refreshing palm wine and bush meat spots, are living in fear, as the hoodlums continue to strike with reckless abandon, beheading their victims.
Sources claimed that the heads of the victims are usually carted away into the forest ostensibly for rituals purposes, alleging that there is a “big juju (shrine)” located deep into the forested mountain called Ugwu Nwosu where the perpetrators of the killings drop the heads.
Security agents are not spared. On the eve of the presidential election, a police officer was beheaded. His headless body was set ablaze right in the middle of the road. As a result, the police no longer deploy patrol teams to the area.
Fear-stricken residents believe that criminal elements have hijacked the agitation of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to perpetrate the killings, in a disguised plot of enforcing the sit-at-home order.
The people initially resisted the attempt to foist the sit-at-home order on them but they soon succumbed to the superior threats from the enforcers, who razed businesses and vehicles. A Dangote cement truck was burnt.
Local sources told Saturday Sun that security agencies, including the police, military and DSS were aware of the heightened spate of insecurity, particularly within the Mile 5 area, adding that they were not doing enough to curb it.
Two years ago, it was gathered, the military carried out aerial bombardments after condoning off the area, giving the criminal elements enough time to temporarily relocate before bombs were dropped on isolated spots.
The resident Obi in Anwai, Mohammed Nduka Elunor who said more than 80 per cent of the victims were of the Hausa/Fulani ethnic stock, traced the genesis of the insecurity to a failed housing estate project of the Federal Government.
A distraught Elunor stated that in 2007, the state government acquired about 100 hectares of land from the community for overriding public interest, and thereafter allocated it to the Federal Government to construct 700 units of low cost houses.
According to him, agents of the Federal Government came in 2012 with bulldozers to demolish the structures of the people with the promise to commence work on the housing project with immediate effect.
He added that the Federal Government agents never came back till date, leaving the land desolate and overgrown with bushes, a development that has now made it a hiding place for the criminals.
“For the avoidance of doubt and for clarity sake, the acquired 100 hectares of land by the Delta State Government from our community was subsequently granted to the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development in 2007,” a letter by Elunor to the state Ministry of Lands and Survey, stated.
The letter stated that the same land was plotted out and granted to private contractors and developers engaged by the Federal Government to construct the proposed 700 low cost housing estate within a period of ten years beginning from 2012.
“We thought they had commenced operations in 2012 when they came and demolished private properties and commercial premises of the original occupants of the aforesaid land.
“It is quite shocking that from 2012 till date, no form of development has been commenced by the Federal Government or the developers on our ancestral family lands.
“Up till date the land has remained underdeveloped and overgrown with weeds and presently constitutes a huge security threat to our community, residents of the area and commuters plying the road.
“IPOB fighters and other criminal elements have now found a safe haven in the aforesaid 100 hectares of land and the shanties around, to prosecute attacks and cause mayhem on innocent individuals as well as enforce the Monday sit-at-home in Anwai/Ugbolu area which has led to loss of lives and properties and disruption of economic and business activities in the area,” it stated.
In an interview during a protest to the Government House, Asaba, Elunor said the security challenge appeared to be beyond the capacity of the state government because of the apparent interest of the Federal Government on the said land.
He painted a grim picture of the situation in the community, saying that every month, “we record between 25 and 30 killings in the community which is just a few poles away from a military post.
“Last week, a Fulani man was killed and his head removed. We went to GRA police station to lodge the complaint. That is not as if the police can do anything, it was just for formality’s sake.
“Surprisingly, GRA police station declined jurisdiction, saying they were not the ones covering this area. I have been here, it is GRA that used to cover here. They referred us to A Division and when we got there, they also declined jurisdiction.
“As it is presently, there is no police station covering the area. If there is anything, we have to go to police headquarters and you know the distance.
“The IG is aware, everybody is aware of what is happening here. In the entire South-South, there is no place where they have criminal activities like this place.
“We have urged the 63 Brigade of the army, which is just about a mile away, to come and see what can be done about the situation, but nobody wants to bell the cat.
“I once met the Brigadier in charge. He told me that they don’t want any casualty, that I am a lawyer and at the end of the day, we will file for fundamental rights. So I don’t know what to do, the place is becoming ungovernable.
“We have even gone to the National Assembly, myself and Seriki Hausawa, because about 90 per cent of the people they are killing are Hausa/Fulani people. So at a time, Seriki Hausawa came and we did a strongly-worded letter which we presented to the NASS about seven years ago. All to no avail.
“I have written more than 20 letters of complaints to the state government, I have written to the police, the DSS are aware but nobody wants to bell the cat. Nobody wants to go up there, which is Sambisa Forest in Asaba,” Elunor said.
He urged the state government to revoke the land allocated to the Federal Government for the failed housing project, and either de-acquire it for the community to re-possess or re-allocate it to individuals and entities with commitment and capacity to develop.
“That place must be possessed, that place called Sambisa Forest in Asaba, the best thing is for that place to be opened up. If it remains this forest, nobody goes in there, it must be opened up, that is the only solution. The place is less than one mile from Delta State Government House,” he contended.
Also speaking, Mr. Adizue Jude Nwokobia said residents now sleep with both eyes open for fear of the unknown, adding that they are now forced to stay at home on Mondays.
Nwokobia advocated that the land should be re-allocated to security agencies since the housing estate project has failed, insisting that the place cannot continue to remain fallow for the benefit of criminal elements.
On his part, Mr. Idowu Awodu lamented that commercial activities have nosedived since the reign of terror started.
“You can see that the place is not developing. Check the left hand side where they have declared their republic, is it developing? Is anybody occupying there? Was it not occupied before 2012?
“If you are familiar with Asaba, don’t you know Mile 5 where they were selling palm wine and bush meat? Was it not a developed and bubbling community of its own? You juxtapose that period and now, are we making progress? What do we have now? Killings everyday and nothing happens about it. Nobody talks about it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Asagba of Asaba, Obi (Prof.) Chike Edozien, described the invasion of a part of his kingdom by hoodlums as unfortunate, but noted with dismay that his palace was not aware of the land acquisition.
The nonagenarian paramount monarch of Asaba, stated that the routine processes of acquiring community land was not followed in the 2007 transaction. He however threw his royal weight behind the suggestion to revoke, de-acquire and return the property to the original owners.
Reacting to the development, the state Commissioner of Police, Ari Mohammed Ali, an Assistant Inspector General of Police, said there has been no formal complaint about the criminal activities.
“If you say people say there are daily killings, where are the dead bodies of the daily killings? I am not aware of what you are saying. Nobody has either come here or written any complaint to any police unit,” he said.
Ali said the policeman that was killed on the eve of the presidential election was “at Ugbolu, not Mile 5. That was when this IPOB threatened that nobody should come out for election.”
He insisted that the command was not also aware that the people in the area have been coerced into observing the Monday sit-at-home.
Nevertheless, the residents are yearning for intervention, and hoping that the state government would activate its 2021 State Executive Council resolution to revoke the Certificate of Occupancy for any undeveloped land.
The state government had, in 2021, issued a three-month ultimatum for owners of allocated plots of lands within the capital territory to commence development or risk losing it.
The government had explained that the move would not only help curb insecurity but also give vent to the urban renewal drive of the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa-led administration.
