Chinelo Obogo
Media Aide to former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, Valentine Obienyem, has condemned attacks on author, Chimamanda Adichie by some youth groups over a land dispute between Abba and Ukpo communities.
Adichie had some weeks ago written a letter which was published in a national daily, where she alleged that members of her hometown in Abba, were being harassed by the police over a land dispute with Ukpo. She alleged that despite the fact that the case has been in court for many years, some prominent members of Ukpo community had connived with the police to eject members of Abba community from the area in contention.
But in response to the attacks on her, Obienyem wrote in an opinion piece that Adichie letter is a ‘necessary buffer against environing principalities eager to control or appropriate Abba.’ In the article, he stated: “I read what Chimamanda Adichie wrote about the land dispute between her town, Abba and Ukpo – both in Anambra State, Nigeria. It was the lamentation of a deeply-troubled soul over the impunity of men. Her timely piece is a necessary buffer against environing principalities eager to control or appropriate Abba.
“Typical of her, she made her point clearly, and without denigrating anybody: Is justice up for sale to the highest bidder? Do we no longer have rule of law in this country? What are the actual duties of the Police — serving the nation or individuals? What wrong did she commit? All I saw was the disillusioned tenderness of a writer mourning the disorder in her country.