Leaders of Abagana, the headquarters of Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State, have asked Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris to prosecute Prince Arthur Eze, the Chairman of Atlas Oranto Petroleum, for unleashing violence on the town.
The request is contained in a petition dated August 29, and signed on behalf of the Abagana Welfare Union by Barrister Emma Ifeadike.
The union also urged Mr. Idris to sanction the Anambra State Commissioner of Police Mr. Samuel Okaula, Area Commander Longe, as well as the Divisional officers for Njikoka and Dunukofia local government areas, whom they say have been heavily compromised by Prince Eze.
The petition faulted Mr. Okaula’s recent claim that 23 persons he recently paraded in Awka were terrorists. On the contrary, it said, it is Mr. Eze who has been using the police to terrorize the law-abiding residents of Abagana.
It said the police officers, instigated by Prince Eze, were forcibly trying to take over the ancestral land of Abagana community, and thus constituted a threat to the peace.
“The aforementioned police officers, who ought to be officers of the law have, quite regrettably become pawns on the chessboard of this moneybag whose cliché is “every man has a price” and that “when money talks, bullshit works.”
According to the petition, the issue stems from a lingering land dispute between Abagana and Ukpotowns.
“Even though the expanse of land historically belongs to Abagana, the people of Ukpo led by Prince AurthurEze and his brother, the traditional ruler of the town, Igwe Robert Eze, have been laying claim to the land - the same way they have been falsely laying claims to lands belonging to Enugwu-Agidi and Abba towns.”
The elders noted that that while the High Court of Anambra State had earlier given judgment in favour of Ukpo, the Abagana community filed an appeal which is before the Court of Appeal, Enugu.
“Despite the pendency of the appeal, Prince Arthur Eze, with cover from the heavily compromised COMPOL Samuel Okaula and over 200 armed policemen and vigilante from Ukpo, moved bulldozers and allied earthmoving equipment into the disputed land,” they said. “As Abagana people watched helplessly, the machines bulldozed their homes, graves, farmlands and economic trees. To secure the captured territory, Prince Arthur Eze built a police post thereon, and with illegal police protection hurriedly began building up the place, apparently to frustrate the upcoming appeal.”
Detailing developments in the past few weeks allegedly involving Prince Eze, the petition narrated how Police Commissioner Okaula on 20 August addressed a world press conference at which heparaded 10 workers of EM Guest Inn, Abagana, owned by High Chief Emmanuel Nwude, following an attack on properties erected by Prince Arthur Eze on the disputed lands.
“Without any shred of evidence, and in clear departure from what had originally been dubbed “Case of Conspiracy and Murder”, COMPOL Samuel Okaulatagged the arrestees “terrorists”, just to appeal to his financier Prince Arthur Eze. Quite laughably, COMPOL Okaula has manufactured “dangerous weapons” including arms and ammunition, which he claimed the “terrorists” used to attack the police post.”
The petitioners pointed out that Mr. Okaula has since ordered the release of all of the suspects from Ukpo,Prince Eze’s town, who were arrested in the Abaganaraid, which they say confirms his partisanship.
They appealed to the police boss to “order COMPOL Samuel Okaula to immediately release all persons arrested in the wake of the latest round of clashes between Abagana and Ukpo youth, as the youth of Abagana are becoming restive with each passing day,” stressing, “alternatively they should be charged to court.”
They are also urging the IGP to direct the take-over of investigation into the most recent bout of violence on the Abagana-Ukpo border, asserting that the Anambra Commissioner of Police and the other mentioned officers have largely compromised their positions and can no longer be trusted to conduct an impartial investigation.
