Tension In Akwa Ibom Community Over Alleged Land Grabbing 

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Tension has enveloped  Mkpa Eto Community in Onna Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, South South Nigeria, as the natives on Thursday staged a peaceful protest against what they described as “a forceful grabbing of our ancestral land by one Mr. Donald Bob and a few accomplices”, calling on the state government to  intervene.

 According to the protesters, the move to forcefully take over Mkpa Eto people’s ancestral land for private use has been championed by the said Mr. Bob and Chief Godwin Obo who is the Village head of the locality.

Our correspondent gathered that today’s protest was triggered by the visit to the community by a team of private land valuers named LUXURY ESTATE DEVELOPMENT LIMITED, who Mr. Bob is conniving with to dislodge his people from their land for private use. 

According to the protesters, “Luxury Estate  Development Limited, without the knowledge of the landowners, visited the community with a team of 15 surveyors/Estate developers, to carry out what Mr. Bob called “land marking”.

On hearing the news that Donald Bob has led his team to start “marking” the people’s ancestral land without their knowledge, the entire community comprising men, women, and Youth of the community immediately embarked on a peaceful protest carrying leaves and Placards.

Some of the inscriptions on the placards read thus: “land grabbing ! hijacking  Of Farmland In MKPA ETO Community, Onna LGA, By Wicked politicians ”. “Our farmland is our only means of livelihood”. 

“Your Excellency, our dear Governor , Please  intervene And Drive these  illegal  land  grabbers  away from our Community”.

 “Governor  Umoh Eno, Please Intervene and  Save us from extinction ”. “Save our Souls, Our Dear Governor . Mkpa Eyo Women Love you”.

Speaking at the venue,  Leader of the protester, Chief Mathias Justine Charlie Amah, a community leader from the only royal family in Mkpa Eto (Ekpuk Ukpa) stated that Mkpa Eto is a very small community and if such large acres of land are forcefully taken away from the people, the community will not have where to farm and eat again.

He said “Should these evil land grabbers succeed, then the people will starve to death, as that is the only land to farm.

“He assured the state government that if they needs to do any development project in Mkpa Eto, there is a community land located at Edidim, which is Ikot Idung (community land).

“The state government can freely take that one for its development project” commending the state governor, His Excellency, Pastor Umoh Eno, Ph.D, on his people-oriented policy.

He however, made a passionate appeal to the governor to intervene and drive “evil land grabbers from the community before the situation escalates to an uncontrollable level.

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