‘Top Politician Plotting To Take Over Land In Rivers Community’
Oroworhukwo Community in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area of Rivers State has raised the alarm, alleging that a powerful politician in the state is attempting to take over their ancestral heritage.
Naija News learnt that the community also alleged that some policemen accompanied the politician to chase workers on the land and called on the State Commissioner of Police, Olatunji Disu, and the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to intervene.
Speaking to journalists during a protest within the property in Port Harcourt on Saturday, the Chairman of the Land Allocation Committee, Buduburisi Ejeknu, said a popular politician in the state was moving to hijack their family inheritance.
Ejeknu said the plot to hijack their land was creating tension in the area, stressing that the community people were being harassed by policemen aiding activities of the land grabbers who allegedly hired operatives to chase away workers at the site.
He said, “We investigated the matter and found that it was one of our kinsmen, a powerful politician, that sent the policemen.
“We felt that reason would prevail, but unfortunately, Thursday, while our people were working, because we had planned to allocate the land today, the same policemen came here and started shooting sporadically.
“They arrested two of our workers. The police have no business in land matters. Anyone who feels he has a land problem knows that the courts are there.
“We want to sound a note of warning that the Nkpolu-Oroworhukwo Community will not allow anybody no matter how powerful he is to conquer our land. We have over 80 plots of land here and our community has made sacrifices to the state in the past.
“We are calling on the State Commissioner of Police who has received accolades for his performance in crime fighting, he cannot allow any individual to own any branch of police. The Peace of this community must be maintained.”
The Secretary of the Nkpolu Oroworhukwo Land Committee, Livingston Wechie, described the police action as an affront to the people of Oroworhukwo, noting that the people will remain peaceful in taking back what rightly belongs to them.
He said, “The politician is our kinsman, but he has made himself an adversary unprovoked to forcibly take our land. If he needs land he should go to his community and do the traditional right and get land.
“As a community, we have peacefully come to reclaim our land without any encumbrance. We make this message peacefully. We are not here to blackmail anyone. We will not take intimidation.
“We are sending a delegation to the politician’s community with a dry and fresh stick. We have faced enough humiliation. This is not about politics. ”
Speaking on the incident, the state command spokesperson, Grace Iringe-Koko, said she had yet to receive any case of police harassment.
She said, “If something like that happened and they don’t report it to the police how do we know?
“Though the command has not received any report on it we advise that the people concerned should make an official report at the nearest police state, we will investigate and action will be taken.”
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