The people of Issele-Azagba in Delta State are calling on Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to intervene in a land dispute, fearing it could escalate into violence similar to the Okuama incident.
At least 17 military personnel were killed by youths during a communal clash over land in the Bomadi and Okuama communities in Delta State.
In a petition signed by their lawyer, Mr Larry Olisa, and made available to journalists on Friday, the community accused land grabbers from Okpanam of forcibly taking over land in the Akpoma quarters, destroying homes, and displacing residents.
Previous efforts to maintain peace, including a boundary agreement and peace committees, have failed. The community is now urging the government and police to enforce the agreed boundary lines and take action against those causing trouble before the situation worsens.
The petition read in part: “The people of Issele-Azagba, being peace-loving, even ceded parts of their land to the Okpanam community in 2010 as a way of ensuring peace between the two sister communities.
“Representatives from both communities signed the agreement. However, some members of Okpanam have breached the agreement, forcibly seizing Issele-Azagba land with the help of armed thugs.
“Lives have been lost due to this. Recently, some indigenes of Akpoma in Issele-Azagba were brutally attacked and wounded by gunshots from armed thugs from the Okpanam community. They are currently receiving treatment in a hospital.
“The Delta State Government had previously set up a peace committee to address the issue, but instead of submitting to the authorities, these land grabbers filed a suit against the state government (marked No: HCI/27/2024 at Issele-Uku High Court), clearly indicating their refusal to submit to any authority.
“Even the Senator representing Delta North, Ned Nwoko, had to establish a committee, headed by Mr Dan Okenyi, a former commissioner in Delta State, to resolve the crisis.
“The committee concluded that the people of Okpanam should respect the agreed boundary lines, but they have refused to do so.
“Recently, they secured an order from the Issele-Uku High Court (via suit No: HCI/23/2021) permitting them to enter the disputed land area for the purpose of developing a litigation survey. However, instead of conducting the survey, they began bulldozing and erecting a perimeter fence in the middle of the Issele-Azagba community.
“While the people of Issele-Azagba are being rendered homeless, and others live in fear for their lives, unless the relevant authorities step in quickly and nip the crisis in the bud, the situation may degenerate into an inter-communal war.”
According to Olisa, Chinedu Okere, a business mogul with vast investments in real estate, is also a victim of the land grabbers. They seized the land he purchased from the people of Akpoma in Issele-Azagba while branding him a criminal through a petition to the IGP.
The petition urged the state government to delineate and enforce the existing boundary lines agreed upon between the two neighbouring communities, adding that the land grabbers from Okpanam have breached the terms of a consent judgment reached and delivered by Justice Philomena Obanor at the Issele-Uku High Court on 19th June 2012 in suit No: HCI/5/2012.
The petitioner also appealed to the IGP to use his office to bring the perpetrators to justice to prevent a looming communal crisis between the two communities.
It is worth recalling that the people of Ogbeozoma, Okpanam community in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State, last week petitioned the governor and IGP, demanding a probe into the invasion of their land by gunmen from Issele-Azagba who allegedly shot and brutalised their people.