Residents of Enuagu Akpugo Autonomous Community in Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu State have raised the alarm over an alleged plan by the Nigeria Police Force to forcefully take over 36.15 hectares of their ancestral land, despite a court judgment in their favour.
Members of the community, mainly from the Umuedenwoko Family Union and the Umuedenwoko Farmers Cooperative Society Limited, staged a peaceful protest on the disputed land on Thursday, accusing the Police Property Development and Construction Company Limited of trespassing on the property in defiance of a 2023 Enugu State High Court ruling.
Clad in protest attire and carrying placards, the residents decried what they described as an erosion of the rule of law, alleging that powerful interests were overriding valid court orders.
The disputed land, known as Ngeneugbugbo, was the subject of a prolonged legal battle in Suit No. HAGB/1/2011. On June 14, 2023, the Enugu State High Court ruled that the land belonged to the Umuedenwoko family, declaring any purported acquisition by the state government or the police illegal.
Speaking to journalists at the site, the Chairman of the Umuedenwoko Family (Akpugo Branch), Chief Ikechukwu Nnamoko, expressed shock over the erection of police signposts on the land.
“We came here to access our ancestral home. My uncle’s house, which stood here, was demolished by these land grabbers,” Nnamoko said.
He added, “They claim the land was allocated to them for a police secondary school. We were in court from 2011 until 2023, when judgment was delivered in our favour. We have not negotiated with anyone, yet we see clearing activities going on. We are here to warn trespassers to stay away.”
Another family member, Chief Ikem Okenwa, traced the history of the land, noting that it was surveyed in 1978 and that a Customary Right of Occupancy was obtained in 1993. He alleged that the land was targeted during a previous administration through what he described as a conspiracy involving high-ranking officials.
“Justice A. O. Anidi delivered the judgment in 2023, annulling the purported acquisition. It is unheard of that the police, who are meant to enforce the law, are using force to take over land and destroy homes in defiance of a court order. This is undemocratic,” Okenwa said.
The family said it had erected a warning signpost at the entrance to the land to alert the public to the subsisting court judgment.
Reacting to the allegations in a phone interview with our correspondent on Thursday, the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, maintained that the Nigeria Police Force followed due process in the acquisition of the land.
“That land was acquired for the construction of a secondary school. The Nigeria Police Property Development Company has written to inform the Commissioner of Police in Enugu of its intention to commence work, and the relevant documents are available”, Hundeyin said.
He dismissed claims of illegal acquisition, stating that the police were acting based on documents provided by the Enugu State Government.
“The issue is between the state government and the landowners. If there is a valid court judgment, the police would have been duly served,” he added.
Efforts to reach the Enugu State Commissioner for Information, Mr Malachy Agbo, were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report, as calls and text messages sent to his phone were not returned.
For the Umuedenwoko family, the situation represents a wider threat to communal land rights. “If this can happen to us despite winning in court,” a family member, identified simply as Nnaji, said, “then no community land is safe.”
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