From Jude Chinedu, Enugu
Some farmers in the agrarian community of Umugwu Nwede Orube in Omulor Mgbuji, Isi-Uzo Local Government Area of Enugu State are currently counting their losses as armed hoodlums destroyed their crops running into millions of naira
The farmers, mainly widows received the shock of their lives on Saturday, July 3, 2021, when their attackers who shot sporadically into the air scared them away before destroying crops on the seven-hectare farm. Mrs Regina Ebe is a widow and mother of five children. She is yet to come to terms with having to lose her farm, her source of livelihood. She feared her children might now drop out of school:
“What they did to us was painful. Nobody will be happy that his or her farm is destroyed for any reason. What shall we eat tomorrow? What shall we train our children with?
“Government is encouraging people to go into farming but these people are here destroying our farms, what do they want us to do?” She sought help to her rescue to repay the loan she used in investing in the farm business.
Chief Silas Omi, whose farm was also destroyed said he and his colleagues were traumatized to learn that their labour of many years were gone: “On Saturday, July 3, we were in our farms when we saw people with guns coming towards us.
“We ran away when they started shooting at us. They began to destroy everything in the farm including rice, cassava, yam, maize, beans and others. They destroyed everything, leaving nothing behind.”
He accused some prominent individuals from the area, including a serving commissioner and president general of the community, Chief Chukwuma Ede, of instigating the attack: “One Emeka led the boys that destroyed our farms.
“We want the whole world to know that they are chasing us out of our livelihood. This is injustice. Some of us obtained loans to buy inputs and seeds for our farm including fertilizer. Some used the money they saved from daily contributions to farm.”
Omi alleged that trouble started when Chijioke Edeoga, Commissioner for Environment, encroached on Umu-Ugwu Nwaebe Orube family land. He said his kinsmen took the matter to the traditional ruler of the community who issued directives on where the layout should stop. “My people accepted the directive of the monarch for the sake of peace.
“We were surprised when the commissioner continued parcelling out the land beyond the agreed area, encroaching on more than seven hectares of land. That is part of our farmland. We continued farming on the land because it belongs to us. We also took the matter to court and it is still pending there. Instead of waiting for the court to decide on the matter, the commissioner arranged boys to destroy our farm.”
In their search for justice, the angry farmers on July 7, 2021, marched round the community protesting. They called on Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to come to their aid. Some of their placards bore such inscriptions as: “Government save us; they want to kill us with hunger”; “They have driven us out of our livelihood,” among others.
But Edeoga, who hails from the area, said he did not know anything about the issue, wondering why they linked him to such dastardly act: “Those women hired to carry those placards know that they have no case because they have no plots there. These are properly allocated plots in the government-approved layout.
“They didn’t encroach in the portion of land allocated to me. Those women orchestrating the smear campaign against me know why they are doing that. They also know who would have destroyed their crops. The matter does not concern me at all. It is a smear campaign.
“In fact, the Ministry of Lands warned them to steer clear of the government approved layout. Their sponsors knew when government was preparing the layout.
“They didn’t apply and so didn’t own any land there. What they are doing is meaningless. My only concern is that they should stop dragging my name into a matter that doesn’t concern me. They should square it up with those who entered their land.”
Edeh also denied any involvement in the destruction of farmlands. He told Daily Sun: “I was surprised to have my name associated with a thing like that. I have no boundary with anybody I have no land dispute with anybody.
“As I speak with you, because of the embarrassment I felt, I took an action legally to redeem my name because my character was defamed. The matter is presently a subject of litigation.
“I was not aware of the said destruction until I saw it on social media. If the people who are defaming my name did not act in malice, they should have come to me to ask whether I knew about anything like that. Presently, my life is under threat. They have said they want to kill me.”
Spokesman of the family whose farmlands were destroyed, Silas Omi, said the matter was reported at the Isi-Uzo Divisional Police headquarters through a petition dated July 9, 2021.
But the Police Public Relations Officer (PRRO), Daniel Ndukwe, said he was not aware of the issue. He promised to verify the information and revert to our reporter.