Umuneri Village in Isuaniocha Community, Awka North Local Government Area, staged a peaceful protest at the Anambra State Light House to register their displeasure over what they described as a violation of a consent judgment by the Anambra State Housing Development Corporation (ASHDC).
The protesters, led by their Village Chairman, Chief Joeferry Ude, carried placards with inscriptions such as “Governor Soludo, provide us justice,” “Soludo, Umuneri wants peace,” “ASHDC, stop selling our ancestral land,” and “Our land, our life, our right,” among others, as they appealed to Governor Chukwuma Soludo to come to their aid and settle the age-long issue.
Narrating their ordeal, Chief Ude, who spoke through the Umuneri Village Spokesperson and Chairman of the Peace Committee, Engineer Francis Ude, pleaded with Governor Soludo to implore ASHDC to restrict its activities to the already agreed 54.27 hectares of land and desist from demolishing their buildings.
Addressing the protesters, the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Solo Chukwulobelu, on behalf of the Anambra State Government, promised to transmit the matter to the Governor, who, according to him, will invite all parties involved to seek a lasting solution.
Speaking in an interview, the Managing Director of the Anambra State Housing Development Corporation, Mr Chike Anyaonu, while expressing surprise over what he described as an unnecessary protest, said the entire land demarcated as Green Valley Estate, Awka Capital Territory, is owned by three villages in three communities of Awka, Enugwu-Agidi, and Isuaniocha, and wondered why Umuneri Village is the only one aggrieved.
Mr Anyaonu, who affirmed that conflict does not pay, as dialogue and negotiation should precede any confrontation, advised them to allow the ongoing peace process initiated by the corporation to progress, noting that all factions within Umuneri Village should speak with one voice, as the protesting group represents only a faction seeking compensatory plots.
The group later took their protest to St Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral, Awka, where the Diocesan Chancellor, Reverend Father Charles Ndubuisi, received them on behalf of the Bishop, the Most Reverend Paulinus Ezeokafor.
