By Ngozi Uwujare
At the moment, all is not well at Ndiaga Amechi in Enugu South Local Government Area of Enugu State. Two families are engulfed in a bitter battle over the ownership of an ancestral land in the community.
The bitter war between the two factions in the community is led on one side by Chief Jasper Aga Okey and another man, Chinwuba Aga. Each of the two claims to be the duly elected chairman of the community that was inaugurated by the Ndiaga General Assembly of the community.
Chief Okey’s faction has accused Aga of illegally selling land in the community. But Aga insisted the claim is nothing but a pack of outright fallacies.
Chief Jasper Aga Okey, in an interview with Saturday Sun, told the reporter: “I was once the chairman of Ndiaga Amechi General Assembly while Chinwuba Aga was my vice chairman. In 2019 I contested for the chairmanship of Amechi General Assembly. I was re-elected as the chairman of Amechi General Assembly while Chinwuba Aga contested with me as chairman of the Amechi General Assembly but he didn’t win the election.
“He later took the election matter to court, but the court struck the case out on December 8, 2020, while I was still declared the authentic Chairman of Ndiaga Amechi General Assembly,
“Today, Chinwuba Aga and some other people are parading themselves as the executives of Ndiaga Amaechi General Assembly and selling land illegally in the community. The land belongs to Ndiaga Community. They have been selling the land illegally and sharing the money among themselves.
“We discovered that Chinwuba Aga and his members are selling the land illegally. We had sued the state government, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Land, and the case was at Enugu High Court. The judge told us the case was time bound.
“The governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has started negotiating with me as the Chairman of Ndiaga Amechi General Assembly. They have started to pay some families who are the owners of the land. They were paid through the staff of a private Estate Developer. We have warned Chinwuba Aga and his members who are parading themselves as executives of Ndiaga Amechi General Assembly to stop the illegal selling of land of the Century.
“But on November 9, 2021, Chinwuba Aga and others brought over ten militants from Port-Harcourt to terrorise us and threaten the peace of the entire Ndiaga Amechi Community. It was the timely intervention of our youth in Ndiaga that saved the day. They gave the militants a hot chase and arrested one man and a native doctor while the others ran away. We recovered some dangerous weapons and charms and we took the suspect and reported it to the IGP Tactical Squad in Enugu State. We have got experience in the past when some of this gang came and terrorised us in our Ndiaga community. In May 2021, the same gang beat up three policemen guiding the palace and the four suspects were charged to Enugu High Court. Some others are standing trial for beating and collecting the police gun from a Mobile Police Officer. As Chairman of Ndiaga Amechi General Assembly, we want peace in our community and we want Chinwuba Aga and his illegal team to stop selling our land.”
But also speaking with Saturday Sun, Mr. Chinwuba Aga denied everything that Agu said.
Hear him: “I am the authentic Chairman of Ndiaga Amechi General Assembly. I won my election in 2019. I was once a vice chairman under the former chairman, Ndiaga Amechi General Assembly, Chief Jasper Aga Okey. I am not parading myself and my members illegally. It is the court that will decide. All the allegations levelled against me as regards selling all the land in Century are not true. We only sell the land that belongs to the owners of the land. Did you know every family in the Ndiaga Community has its own land? I have never involved myself in any crime. We want the development of the Ndiaga Community. If anything happens, they will mention my name as Chairman of Ndiaga Amechi General Assembly. I cannot do any illegal thing against my community.”
Saturday Sun also visited the office of the President General, Amechi Uwani Community Development Union, Emmanuel Ifeanyi Nnaji. Nnaji also spoke with Saturday Sun but he claimed that Chief Jasper Aga Okey is the chairman of the community.
Said he: “Jasper Aga Okey is the chairman Ndiaga Amechi General Assembly. He is the authentic chairman recognized as the chairman of Ndiaga Amechi General Assembly. In 2019, I was the secretary of Enugu South Local Government. I was an observer, working with the police and other security agencies during the election. We conducted the election peacefully and the people re-elected Chief Jasper Aga Okey as their chairman, Ndiaga Amechi General Assembly. Whenever we have our council meeting, Chief Jasper Aga Okey must attend the meeting. If there is an issue in the Ndiaga Community, it is chief Jasper Aga Okey who comes and briefs us, especially on the issue of illegal selling of land in our Century. It is Chief Jasper Aga Okey with his members that are negotiating with the government to compensate some families and they have started paying them. The council never reckoned with Chinwuba Aga and his illegal members parading themselves as representing Ndiagha Amaechi Community
“The issue of Agabana known as the Century, which was given to a private estate developer that is busy selling illegally to some people. It was during the era of Chief Jim Nwobodo as the governor that the government acquired the land, as it wanted to build the University on it. That was in the old Anambra State. But in 1999, Chimaroke Nnamani moved the site to Agbani where the university is situated today as Enugu State University of Science and Technology. The then governor of Enugu State, Chime Sullivan gave out the land to the private estate developer. The private estate developer has never compensated the people who are the original owners of the land. The land developer collected security fees, development fees and shared the money among themselves. They didn’t send money to the community. We want the government to always remember the owner of the land for compensation. We want peace in this community” he said
Two senior citizens of the community, Chief Emeka Egbo, 68, and Chief Eze Udo 1 of Amechi Uwani also agreed that the chairman is indeed Chief Jasper Aga Okey.
“We have been waiting for the media to tell the world what is happening in the Ndiaga Amechi Community. The community has been peaceful. Today, the only person we recognise as Chairman of Ndiaga Amechi General Assembly is Chief Jasper Aga Okey. He is the one we elected. Since Chief Jasper Aga Okey is in charge the community has been moving to the next level.
“Our grandfather land is ‘Agabana’ known as Century. We have struggled for the land, but certain people are going there illegally and selling our grandfather’s land. We want the governor to compensate us, so that our labour shall not be in vain.”
Chief Ozo Jeremiah Nworie, Chairman Nze-Na-ozo titleholders in Amechi community, also insisted that Chief Jasper Aga Okey is the known chairman of Ndiaga Amechi General Assembly within the Igwe council. “The Century belongs to us. We are not happy that they have been selling our own grandfather’s land illegally. We want the Government to come to our rescue and compensate us for our own ancestral land,”
The IGP Special Tactical Squad, Enugu Commander, Supol Chidiebere Ijomah said that the Ndiaga Amechi Community had been assisting the police by giving information which led to the arrest of some criminals who terrorized the community. “Also, the Ndiaga Community worked hand in hand with the police and we tried to restore peace in the state.
“For instance, on November 9, when two suspects were arrested by the youth of Ndiaga Community, we brought the suspects to the station. We interrogated them and granted two of them bail when we found out that it was a civil matter.
“We are only appealing to them to allow peace to reign in their community. We have dialogued with youth and elders in the community. We preached peace to them and they have been cooperating with us through community policing,” he said..