LAND ACQUISITION: OKOROCHA/OWERRI INDIGENES FACE-OFF ENTERS DAY 13

By Chidi Nkwopara
OWERRI - The face-off between Imo State Government and indigenes of Owerri municipality over the forceful acquisition of their land in Area K, World Bank Housing Estate, has entered day 13.

Owerri people, who renamed the area The Promised Land, made camp in the place, defying heavy rains, scorching sun, as well as cooking and playing all kind of games.

Reacting to the development, the leader of Renaissance Group, the pressure arm of Amawom Welfare Association, AWA, Sir Macdonald Ebere, and a United States-based attorney, Dr. Stanley Ozuzu, appealed to Governor Rochas Okorocha to listen to the heartbeat of the people.

While Sir Ebere recalled that the land had been the subject of a court suit since 1999, Ozuzu pleaded that acquiring the area would increase the economic hardship the people.

While acclaiming some of the good works of Okorocha in parts of the state, both were unanimous in their plea that Owerri people needed some land for expansion.

However, Special Adviser to the Governor on Technical Matters, Dr. Kachi Nwoga, reasoned that the issue of the land's acquisition could be settled peacefully, adding that there was no need to go to war with the people.