FAMILY BATTLES CATHOLIC CHURCH OVER PLOTS TO FORCEFULLY TAKEOVER LANDED PROPERTY

– Vows To Drag Priests, Others To Court

{“…It is sad, we will not allow this to happen and we want the Pope and the entire Catholic community in Nigeria and the world to know this, that their clergies want to forcefully takeover what does not belong to them”, said the family}

Charles Otu, AJM NEWS
Tuesday 14/04/2020

The matrilineal lineage of Nde Abagha Ota, Ibe Anuma maternal family of Ehugbo in Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State has petitioned the Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Afikpo to the Police Command in the area over plans by some Catholic Priests acting for and on behalf of the Church to forcefully takeover landed property bequeathed them by their fore-fathers.A document made available to this medium on a letter-headed paper of the mission hospital dated 9th May 1977 certified that the grandfathers of the Nde Abagha Ota lineage of Ibe Anuma maternal family represented by Messers Oko Ezeali and Michael Otu both of Ugwuegu and Egwu Idam of Egeburu had reached an agreement to lease the parcel of land West of the Maternity Hospital and Laundry to Mater Hospital, Afikpo at the rate of N40.00 per annum.The said lease agreement according to the document was subject to review every ten years.In 2003 however, a Lawyer, Ben Iguh Esq. writing on behalf of the Nde Abagha Ota branch of Ibe Anuma maternal family reminded the then Sole Administrator of the hospital on the urgent need for it to renew its agreement which had expired the previous year, 2002 after 15 years beginning from 1977 when the lease agreement was initially entered. A member of the Abagha Ota family, Mr. Joseph Otu Chukwu noted however that their tenant remained silent on their demand till February this year when the Ekpuke Essa Traditional Ruling Council of Elders in Afikpo, replied them through their legal counsel, Oko Nnachi & Co. Esq, curiously citing a 2014 decision that the community no longer collect royalties for lands acquired for the general public use.Mr. Chukwu further alleged in an interview that the Priests, Reverend Fathers; Moses Alu, Jude Otu Onwa and Charles Otu working to actualize what they claim to be the interest of the Catholic church have not only gone beyond the actual space allotted them at the West end of the hospital but have in their desperation to takeover the entire landed property been harassing, molesting and intimidating their land owners.”We gave them our land to build their facilities with a clearly-spelt agreement. Now, they are not willing to renew it but wants to takeover our entire land. They have threatened to deal with any of our family members or land owners who attempts entry into our own lands.
It is sad, we will not allow this to happen and we want the Pope and the entire Catholic community in Nigeria and the world to know this that their clergies want to forcefully takeover what does not belong to them because I know it is not in the culture of the Catholic church to be at war with their host communities needless to talk of threatening them with violence”, Chukwu alleged.
He said they have fenced off the roads leading to the land in a bid to prevent them from gaining access.He added that they are prepared to approach a court of competent jurisdiction to seek justice over the matter.A petition by their counsel to the Nigeria Police, Afikpo Area Command against the afforemntioned priests claimed that on Wednesday the 18th of March, 2020 at about 7 a.m, the family had taken some workers to their maternal family land to commence excavation for fencing and discovered that the said hospital has tipped trips of sand on their maternal family land.”That as the workers were about to start work, the afforemntioned persons came and stopped them and threatened to deal with them including our clients if they don’t leave the place”, the petition submitted while urging the Command to urgently in the interest of justice and security of lives commence immediate investigation into the matter.The petition added that the family has enjoyed the said land from time immemorial having partitioned same and allotted part to individual members of the family and sold part to individual members of the public while leasing part to the hospital.Even as many had wondered the reason for the desperation of the Priests acting on behalf of the Catholic church to illegally and forecfully acquire the said land, it was however gathered that it is not unconnected to the plans by the Catholic church to give a Diocese to Ebonyi South Senatorial zone since it has operated with only one Dioceses in the State.A source stated in confident that whereas, other parts of Ebonyi South are demanding for the new Diocese to be located in another area outside Afikpo north which currently houses the hospital and a Nursing school, clergies under the Church’s umbrella from Afikpo north are selfishly lobbying intensely to again have the Dioceses situated in their area.”Catholic faithfuls in places like Edda (Afikpo South LGA) have already promised to donate some massive plots of land for the building of the new Dioceses but their brothers in Ehugbo (Afikpo north LGA) wants everything for and by themselves”, claimed a top source in the Catholic church who reasoned that since the zone comprises of Afikpo South, Ohaozara, Onicha and Ivo LGAs, it is in the best interest of the Catholic Church to site the new Diocese in any of the other four LGAs.When contacted, one of the accused Catholic Priests, Rev. Fr. Jude Otu Onwa said he can’t react because he is not authorized to speak on the matter.”I was only mentioned in the matter in my capacity as a Catholic priest working in the Parish. I will give you a number of the person who can talk to you on the matter”, he said.Reacting on behalf of the Ekpuke Essa Traditional Ruling Council, the Spokesman of the council, Okabue Christopher Abagha Egwu said the claims of the petitioners were borne out of selfishness as he alleged that Mr. Chukwu in particular has refused to honour their invitation in seven Eke market days running.Said he, “The rest of the other members of the Matrilineal lineage have come to Ulo ubi Essa and informed us that they are not part of the actions of that Chukwu. They have washed their hands off the matter and said he is alone and on his own.”He claimed that the land no longer belongs to the family having been given out to the hospital a long time ago and alleged further that Mr. Chukwu was a land grabber who is interested in grabbing lands that doesn’t belong to him.Reminded that the hospital had been paying royalties to the Abagha Ota family where Mr. Chukwu belongs to, Okabue asked, “how much is that amount they complain of compared to the lives that Mater Hospital has saved in Afikpo and it’s environs?Photos And Video Clip Show::
•The Disputed Parcel Of Land.
• Attached Documents Regarding The Land Dispute

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EBONYI STATE GOVERNMENT RECEIVES DONATIONS FROM INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS TOWARDS THE FIGHT AGAINST CORONAVIRUS:

AJM NEWS

The Speaker Of The State House Of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Francis O. Nwifuru Made The Following Address In Appreciation Of The Donors::

COVID-19 DONATION UPDATE

“On behalf of the Ebonyi State COVID-19 Fundraising Committee, I wish to thank the following persons for their selfless donations to help us in the fight against Corona Virus in the State.

They are:

1. United Bank of Africa (UBA) – Twenty-Eight Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira (N28,500,000.00).
2. Distinguished Senator Michael Ama Nnachi – Five Million Naira (N5,000,000.00)
3. Service Chiefs – One Million Naira (N1,000,000.00).
4. Distinguished Members of Ebonyi State House of Assembly – Fourteen Million, Seven
Hundred and Ten Thousand, Eight Hundred and Seventy-Seven Naira, Twenty Four Kobo
(N14,710,877.24).
5. Pastor Wilberforce Oti – Sanitizers and Nose Masks.
6. Leaders of Building Materials Market, Abakaliki – 72 Veronica Buckets.
7. Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria, Ebonyi State Chapter – 300 locally made nose
masks.
8. NYSC Ebonyi State – 201 Hand Sanitizers
9. Environmental Health Officers Association Ebonyi State – 11 Packets of Hand Sanitizers
10. EEDC Ebonyi State – 60 cartons of Sanitizers
11. Divine Mandate Pastors – 27 Cartons of Sanitizers
12. Ebele and Anyi Chuks Foundation – Ten Million Naira (N10,000,000.00)
13. Prof. Fidelis Ogah (OON) – N172,000.00
14. Distinguished Senator Sam Ominyi Egwu – One Million Naira (N1,000,000.00)
15. All Members of House of Representatives – One Million, Two Hundred Thousand Naira (N1,200,000.00)
16. HRH Ebonyi State Chapter – Five Hundred Thousand Naira (N500,000.00)
17. Justice Aloy Nwankwo – Five Hundred Thousand Naira (N500,000.00)

We thank them in a very special way and pray God to replenish their pockets a hundredfold.

We continue to call on all well-meaning Ebonyians, Politicians, Private Sector Businesses, Christian Organizations, SMEs and Contractors of the State to come to our aid by donating to help us combat this global menace and pandemic called Corona Virus designated by WHO as COVID-19.

The Ebonyi State COVID-19 Support Account Number is 1022752287, UBA.

Thank you and God bless you as we anticipate your support.

Happy Easter to you all”.

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http://ajmnews.blogspot.com/2020/01/article-one-good-thing-is-lacking-in.html

http://ajmnews.blogspot.com/2020/01/hope-uzodimma-meets-with-bihari-in-abuja.html

30 houses razed in Benue communal clash

January 31, 2020
Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

NO fewer than 30 houses have been burnt down in a Tiv suburb of Makurdi, the Benue State capital, The Nation has learnt.
It was gathered that the two groups have been fighting since 2015 over Tyo-Mu, a rich stretch of land where they have inhabited for decades.
The land on the bank of River Benue is said to be suitable for fadama farming, yielding bountiful harvests of yam, cassava and rice in the wet season.
It is also said that the inhabitants excavate soil used to make burnt bricks there.
But since 2015, The Nation learnt, one group called Ihyarev or indigenous people has been uncomfortable with another group called Kparev or settlers, who have been moulding bricks at the bank of the river for over 100 years.
An eyewitness, Terna Aker, told The Nation that on Wednesday the Ihyarev attacked the Kparev, demanding that they leave Tyo-Mu.
“Before we could pack our buckets and clothes and leave, they pounced on us (Kparev) and cut some of our people with machetes,” said Terna.
Terna said he narrowly escaped death, but his house was set ablaze as the attackers moved the fight from the riverbank to the main land where they burnt Kparev houses.
Smoke could be seen billowing from burning houses in Tyo-Mu located along Makurdi-Gboko Expressway. Residents were seen leaving the settlement with their household items, including mattress and kitchenware.
Women were seen carrying their children on their backs as they fled.
Since the 2015 general elections when the crisis escalated, there has been no peace in the Tiv community of Tyo-Mu as hardly a week passed by without one or two persons being killed.
Police spokesperson Kate Sewuese Anene confirmed the crisis, saying a police team has arrived at the embattled community.
A community leader Chief Dogo Ugo expressed shock that two Tivs groups could be at each other’s throats.
He called on security agencies to ensure peace in the community.

Serie A: Cristiano Ronaldo faces 2-year match ban after Juventus’ 1-0 win over AC Milan
dailypost.ng

Juventus superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo faces a two-year match ban for leaving the stadium before the end of the match against AC Milan on Sunday.
Juventus defeated AC Milan 1-0 on Sunday night to reclaim the top of the Serie A table from Inter Milan, however, it was not a great evening for their star player, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Juventus boss, Maurizio Sarri replaced Ronaldo with Paulo Dybala in the 55th-minute with the score still 0-0 and the Argentine went on to score the only goal of the game.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner didn’t look happy as he muttered something under his breath in the direction of the manager and walked straight down the tunnel.

Sky Sport Italia confirmed that Ronaldo had left the Allianz Stadium before the match had even finished – in the 87th-minute to be exact.
According to former Italian footballer, Antonio Cassano, Ronaldo could be facing a two-year ban.
“Did he leave before the end of the game?” Cassano asked on the Italian television show, Tiki-Taka.
“You can’t do that because there is an anti-doping control.
“I had to go back to the stadium urgently to avoid a two-year ban.”

Insecurity: Details of
Buhari’s meeting with
Security Chiefs emerge
NEWS
Published 1 hour ago on January 30, 2020
By Nsikak Nseyen
RELATED TOPICS:
The National Security Adviser (NSA), retired
Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno, has
dismissed speculation that Thursday’s
meeting of the National Security Council
discussed the fate of the country’s service
chiefs.
Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari
had on Thursday presided over the 2020
maiden meeting of the National Security
Council with Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo,
Secretary to the Government of the
Federation, Boss Mustapha and the security
chiefs in attendance.
The meeting came amidst calls in some
quarters for the removal of the service chiefs
due to the ongoing security challenges in
some parts of the country.
Speaking to State House correspondents at
the end of the security meeting, Monguno
said the council which is the highest security
body in the country chaired by the President,
did not discuss the issue of the service
chiefs.
“The issue of the National Assembly
resolution did not come up at the meeting,’’
he said.
The NSA said the quarterly meeting focused
on appraisal of the security situation across
the country with a view to finding lasting
solutions to the problem.
He said: “The meeting basically made an
appraisal of the current security situation in
the country and took a look at the
possibilities, the opportunities available to
government in addressing most of the recent
challenges.
“There were discussions and at the end of
the day, the most important thing that we
came up with is the need for collaboration,
both between governmental agencies and
the larger Nigerian society because of the
type of the insurgencies we are faced with,
the complexities, the multiplicity of all kinds
of issues.
“There is a need for both parties,
governmental agencies on one hand and the
larger society to collaborate more vigorously.
There is a need for us to deal with these
problems in a comprehensive manner.
“Therefore, council has decided to take a
closer look at issues that will help us not
just at the federal level or at the state level,
but right down to the local government level.
“But this is going to be done after due
consultations with the relevant stakeholders,’’
NAN quoted him as saying.