Flowerbud News

Year: 2026

  • 4 in police net over alleged defilement in Adamawa

    4 in police net over alleged defilement in Adamawa

     

    By Nafeesa Vandi

    Yola:   The 31-year-old man, who sexually assaulted his neighbour’s 3-year-old girl and three others, has been arrested by the police in Adamawa.

    SP Suleiman Nguroje, the Adamawa Command’s Spokesman, made this known to the  newsmen on Thursday in Yola.

    Nguroje said that the suspect, a resident of Tingno in Lamurde Local Government Area, was arrested for defiling a three-year-old baby.

    “He is a neighbour to the baby’s family and when he discovered the parents were away, he took advantage of their absence to defile her.

    “The other suspect was also arrested for taking advantage of a five-year-old girl in Yolde Pate.

    “The remaining two suspects were equally apprehended for luring a 17-year-old girl to a hotel in Yola and unlawful had canal knowledge of her,” the Spokesman said.

    Nguroje, however, said that Mr Kabir Hassan, the state Commissioner of Police had directed the Family Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to investigate the matter and charge the suspects in court.

     

    Nguroje said that the police had put modalities in place towards tackling all forms of Gender- Based- Violence.

     

    The Spokesman, who called on parents and guardians to properly protect their children at all times, urged residents of the state to report cases of rape and abuse to the security agencies. (NAN)(www.nannew.ng)

     

  • NAPTIP secures life imprisonment of two security guards for serial rape of minor

    NAPTIP secures life imprisonment of two security guards for serial rape of minor

     

     

    By Aderogba George
    Abuja:   The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) says it has secured the conviction and life imprisonment of two security Guards, James Sule, 30 and Adamu Yau, 25, for serial rape of a six year old girl.
    A statement by NAPTIP Press and Public Relations officer, Mr Vincent Adekoye, in Abuja on Friday, disclosed that the convicts were based in Abuja.
    Adekoye said that the convicts were handed life imprisonment, without the option of fine, by Justice S.M. Mayana of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court 46, Apo, Abuja, following their arraignment by NAPTIP.
    He said that the convicts were arraigned in line with the provisions of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) (VAPP) Act, 2025.
    The spokesman added that the development was hailed by a cross section of stakeholders and members of the Civil Society Organisations (CSO) across the country.
    According to Adekoye, the development is in furtherance of the renewed commitment and determination by the present management of NAPTIP to step up the implementation of the VAPP Law and ensure commensurate justice for victims of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) in the country.
    Adekoye stated that the victim, was constantly raped when she was six years old in 2016 till 2022, when she was 12 years
    when the matter was reported.
    The victim recounted that in 2016, her grandmother engaged the service of James Sule, who was then their family security guard, to repair a broken toilet in their residence at Penthouse Estate, Lugbe, Abuja.
    The victim recounted that while her grandmother returned to the kitchen, Sule remained in the toilet, adding that she was crying on the bed in the room over a cello tape she had spoiled when Sule called her into the toilet.
    The victim said that Sule assured her he would help prevent her grandmother from punishing her, then locked the door, forcibly removed her pants, and raped her while covering her mouth, and later brought out a knife and, threatened her not to tell anyone.
    She said that this marked the beginning of repeated sexual abuse, fear, pain, and trauma that continued for six years.
    Meanwhile the NAPTIP Press Officer stated that in a move by this victim to share the sexual pleasure with his friends, Sule, later recruited two other guards in the Estate, Adamu Yau, who is the second convict, and one Muhammed, now at large.
    The NAPTIP Press Officer said that they all together had sex with the victim whenever opportunities arose, threatening to kill and wipeout her entire family if she spoke to anyone about their act with her.
    He said that the victim endured this traumatic abuse in silence for about six years before her parents noticed troubling changes in her behaviour, and became visibly agitated whenever Sule entered the house and refused to let him escort her to school or pick her up from the school bus.
    “In a bid to get an explanation for the sudden, strange behaviour of the little girl, her parents took her to a prayer house where she confided in the Pastor that Sule, Yau, and Mohammed had been sexually abusing her, particularly whenever she returned from school before her parents arrived home.
    “The parents immediately reported the matter to the Association for Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH), which subsequently transferred the case to NAPTIP and the convicts were immediately arrested.
    “Following further investigation, charges were filed in court on Feb. 9, 2023. Sule and Yau were arraigned on Oct. 23 of the same year on two counts charge under Section 1(1), punishable under Section 1(2), and Section 5 of the VAPP Act 2015,” Adekoye said.
    He stated the convicts pleaded not guilty, when the trial commenced on Dec. 5, 2023.
    The prosecution presented five witnesses, including the victim’s mother, who testified tearfully.
    The NAPTIP Press officer said that seven Exhibits were also tendered to support the case, including a medical report showing that the victim’s hymen was breached.
    He said that all witnesses were cross-examined.
    Speaking on the conviction, the Director General of NAPTIP, Hajia Binta Adamu-Bello, commended the judiciary for the landmark judgment, which she described as a clear warning to all offenders across the country.
    She said, “I am excited that indeed, adequate justice, which is commensurate with the magnitude of the crime committed by the convicts, was duly served on them.
    “This will go a long way to assuage the pain and traumatic experience of the victim and her family.
    “It is important to point out that this is one of the fallouts of our improved strategies aimed at tightening the noose on violators across the country through stringent implementation and enforcement of the provisions of the VAPP Act to ensure the protection of all Nigerians.
    “It will no longer be business as usual for them.
    “I want to use this medium to appeal again to all Nigerians, especially parents, school owners, and other stakeholders, to ensure that they carry out due diligence and strict profiling on any service providers before employing them.
    “The service providers include drivers, Security Guards, Home Lesson Teachers, babysitters, Cooks, and others. This is to avoid any unpleasant situation of this nature”.
    “NAPTIP appreciates the support and collaboration of the judiciary in the fight against SGBV, as well as the partnership from ARFH and other stakeholders,” Adamu-Bello stated.
    On her part, the mother of the victim (name withheld), in her response, thanked the Management of NAPTIP, especially the Counsel, for ensuring that justice was served on the violators of her daughter.
    Adekoye however, said that  the convicts have since been taken to the Kuje Correctional Centre as directed by the Court, where they will spend the rest of their lives. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
  • AfDB approves $200m BoI facility

    AfDB approves $200m BoI facility

     

    By Lucy Ogalue

    Abuja:  The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has approved a 200 million dollar financing facility for the Bank of Industry (BoI).

    The intervention is designed to support Nigeria’s industrial growth and strengthen private sector productivity across strategic sector

    The bank disclosed this in a statement issued on Friday in Abuja.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the facility will provide medium- and long-term financing for businesses seeking expansion capital

    The funding targets infrastructure, transport, agro-food processing, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and green industrialisation sectors.

    The bank said the intervention aligned with efforts to deepen industrial capacity and improve economic competitiveness in Nigeria.

    It added that at least 30 per cent of the facility would support small and medium-sized enterprises.

    The bank noted that women-owned businesses and youth-led enterprises would receive priority support under the arrangement.

    It said inclusive financing remained critical to sustainable growth and wider economic participation.

    “The package also includes a 650,000 dollar grant from the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance.

    “The grant will strengthen SME capacity and support climate-smart business initiatives across productive sectors,” the statement read

    The bank said an additional technical support component would complement the financing package.

    It said the support would be delivered under the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa initiative.

    According to the bank, the initiative will improve financing access for women-led enterprises.

    “The intervention is expected to promote job creation, boost exports and strengthen local manufacturing.

     

     

    “It will also reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported industrial products,” the statement also read.

     

     

    The Director-General of AfDB’s Nigeria Country Department, Abdul Kamara, said the approval reflected the bank’s confidence in Nigeria’s industrial potential.

     

     

    Kamara said the institution remained committed to supporting industrialisation and private sector development across the country.

     

     

    He said the financing would support SMEs, women entrepreneurs and youth-led businesses driving economic diversification.

     

    Kamara added that stronger local enterprises would contribute to sustainable industrial transformation.

    The Managing Director of the Bank of Industry, Olasupo Olusi, described the facility as another milestone in BoI’s partnership with AfDB.

    Olusi said both institutions had maintained a productive relationship focused on economic development.

    He said the financing would unlock investment opportunities, create jobs and promote inclusive growth nationwide.

    Olusi added that the intervention would strengthen local manufacturing and support Nigeria’s long-term development goals. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

     

     

     

  • AXA Mansard, Lagos DSVA intensify campaign against domestic, sexual violence

    AXA Mansard, Lagos DSVA intensify campaign against domestic, sexual violence

    By Taiye Olayemi

    AXA Mansard Insurance Plc has partnered with the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA) to intensify awareness and prevention of domestic and sexual violence against children through community-based sensitisation campaigns across Lagos State.

    The initiative, which forms part of the 2026 AXA Week for Good themed “Being A Child Shouldn’t Be A Risk,” is designed to strengthen public enlightenment, encourage reporting of abuse cases and reinforce child protection systems at the grassroots level.

    Under the partnership, employee volunteers of AXA Mansard will engage in door-to-door sensitisation activities in selected communities, with technical support, training and guidance provided by the Lagos State DSVA.

    The programme builds on the 2025 edition of the collaboration, which focused on school-based interventions aimed at educating pupils and teachers on domestic and sexual violence.

    Speaking on the initiative, Chief Marketing Officer of AXA Mansard, Mrs Adebola Surakat, said the 2026 campaign would place greater emphasis on families, parents, caregivers and community leaders.

    She noted that most abuse cases occur within familiar environments.

    Surakat said statistics indicate that more than 60 per cent of domestic and sexual violence cases involving children were perpetrated by individuals known to them, underscoring the need for stronger community awareness.

    She explained that the campaign would cover six communities, where volunteers would educate residents on identifying abuse, reporting mechanisms and safe parenting practices.

    According to her, AXA Mansard’s sustained advocacy against domestic and sexual violence reflects its commitment to building safer communities in which it operates.

    She further noted that in 2025, about 96 per cent of the company’s employees devoted at least 30 minutes of their work hours to volunteer activities focused on creating awareness on domestic and sexual violence.

    In her remarks, the Executive Secretary of DSVA, Ms Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, said domestic and sexual violence thrived on silence, ignorance and fear, stressing the need for continuous public education and community engagement.

    Vivour-Adeniyi commended AXA Mansard for sustaining its partnership with the agency, adding that protecting children required the collective effort of government, private sector organisations and the public.

    She said bringing advocacy directly to communities would empower parents and caregivers to identify warning signs early, protect vulnerable children and report cases promptly.

    AXA Week for Good is the flagship initiative under AXA Mansard’s employee volunteering platform, AXA Hearts in Action, through which staff reportedly contributed over 20,000 volunteer hours in 2025.

  • Ex-VP Atiku in no position to belittle President Tinubu’s reforms, TMSG insists

    Ex-VP Atiku in no position to belittle President Tinubu’s reforms, TMSG insists

     

    By Danladi Ahmed
    The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has said that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is in no position to fault the ongoing global
    applauded economic reforms of President Bola Tinubu.

    The reforms are widely acclaimed as necessary tools to put the country on a firm economic footing.

    In a statement by its Chairman Emeka Nwankpa and Secretary Dapo Okubanjo, it argued that the former Vice President and his media handlers do not know better than global ratings entities which have endorsed the reforms as timely, sound and well thought out.

    The statement reads in full: “We are not totally surprised that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in his hurried bid to gain political traction has continued to dish out to the public statements to rubbish the high-value economic policies of the President Bola Tinubu administration since he once cited the Argentina model as best for Nigeria.

    “We recall that in February 2024, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who was still smarting from his sixth record loss at the presidential poll, argued that the Argentine model of economic reforms was better for Nigeria.

    “He claimed at the time that what President Javier Millei was doing was similar to his plan to rescue Nigeria.

    “But today, the economic situation in that country is so volatile that it remains the largest borrower from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with significant debt outstanding including a recent $20 billion bailout.

    “Nigeria, on the other hand, to Atiku’s chagrin, does not have any debt obligation to the Fund.

    “Besides, we are aware that a few months ago, the World Bank described President Tinubu’s economic reforms as a frequent global reference point for reform conception, implementation and measurable results.

    “Anna Bjerde, World Bank’s Managing Director of Operations, was specifically quoted by the international media as saying that Nigeria was frequently cited as a global case study example of a steady, credible reform leadership model, while praising what she described as the Tinubu administration’s dogged consistency over the past two years.

    “Instructively, this is the same reform that the former Vice President and his media handlers are painting as one driven by ‘policy confusion, weak leadership, and a dangerous detachment from the suffering of ordinary Nigerians’,” the group said.

    The TMSG maintained the existence of sufficient indices to prove that the former Vice President is fundamentally wrong on the Tinubu reforms.

    “We make bold to say that Atiku does not know better than the reputable non-partisan experts and global entities which have variously affirmed that the reforms have yielded positive results in restoring macroeconomic stability, boosting investor confidence in several sectors of the economy, with foreign reserves increasing to about N50 billion in just two years, the highest in 13 years.

    “The IMF had recently warned that Nigerians may face tougher economic conditions in the near term as rising food and transportation costs are not new especially in the face of the lingering global shocks which continue to squeeze household incomes.

    But, shockingly, a former Vice President who hailed an Argentine economic model which brought more pain to Argentines is seeking to weaponise an innocuous comment by an IMF which has had nothing but praise for the Tinubu reforms.

    “It beggars belief that an Atiku Abubakar who was very vocal during the 2023 campaign about the need for reforms, including fuel subsidy removal and exchange rate unification is now demonising the same policies even though he knew they would come with some pains.

    “We are aware that because he is eyeing an African record as the highest decorated perennial loser in his seventh attempt at the presidency, the former Vice President has gone berserk, often going out of his way to rubbish everything the President Tinubu administration has done.

    “Even more troubling is his claim that ‘at the grassroots, people are pulling children out of school because education is now a luxury’.

    “But we are gratified that President Tinubu has affirmed that his government will not look back on reforms which are aimed at long-term economic growth, despite the initial difficulties.

    “It is also worth noting that the federal government is working hard to ensure that vulnerable Nigerians are not left to the vagaries of the global cost of living crisis by launching a new “Grant for Vulnerable Groups (GVG).

    “It is a new initiative under the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA) to provide direct financial support and starter inputs to the poorest and most vulnerable households across all 774 local government areas to stabilise their livelihoods and enable them to progress towards self-reliance,” the group added.
    AZ
    TMSG maintained that the Nigerian economy had since turned the corner, noting that the worst days were over.

    It urged Nigerians to continue to keep faith in the capacity and sincerity of the federal government to deliver on its promises and that no amount of jaundiced posturing of the former VP and his fellow power-mongering crew would stop the nation from reaching the desired destination of attaining the greatest good for the greatest number.

     

  • ANAN HONOURS ONIKEDE KAMIL AS NEW BURSAR OF FEDERAL SCHOOL OF SURVEYING, OYO

    ANAN HONOURS ONIKEDE KAMIL AS NEW BURSAR OF FEDERAL SCHOOL OF SURVEYING, OYO

    The Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), Oyo 1 State Branch, on Thursday honoured Mr. Onikede Olabode Kamil, FCNA, following his appointment as the new Bursar of the Federal School of Surveying, Oyo.

    The recognition ceremony, held at the Adamasingba Sports Complex, Ibadan, attracted professionals, administrators, academics, and dignitaries from different parts of Oyo State.

    Chairman of the Association, Dr. Esanju Samuel Olaoye, presented the congratulatory honour to Mr. Kamil and commended him for his career achievements, professional discipline, and dedication to financial integrity and institutional development.

    Speaking during the presentation, Dr. Olaoye described Mr. Kamil as a competent and visionary professional whose appointment reflected the confidence reposed in him by the Governing Council of the Federal School of Surveying, Oyo. He stated that the honour by ANAN was a recognition of hard work, consistency, credibility, and professional distinction.

    He added that Mr. Kamil’s emergence into the strategic office of Bursar would inspire younger accountants and professionals within the association to remain committed to diligence, integrity, and continuous professional growth.

    Responding to the honour, Mr. Kamil expressed appreciation to the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), Oyo 1 State Branch, for the recognition and support. He described the honour as a motivation to remain committed to professionalism, accountability, integrity, and dedicated service. He also pledged to justify the confidence reposed in him through effective financial management, transparency, and responsible leadership in his new role as Bursar of the Federal School of Surveying, Oyo.

    The event also featured the recognition of Mrs. Alakunle Funmilayo Janet, FCNA, on her appointment as Director of Audit, The Polytechnic Ibadan.

    Among dignitaries present at the occasion was the Vice-Chairman of ANAN, Oyo 1 State Branch, Abdulazeez Malik Afolabi Ph.D, former Acting Bursar of Saki Polytechnic, Oyo State, who described Mr. Kamil’s appointment as a well-deserved elevation earned through years of dedication, sacrifice, and excellent service delivery.

    Also in attendance was Alhaja Onikede Olaide Idayat, the wife of Mr. Onikede Olabode Kamil.

    Mr. Onikede Olabode Kamil, FCNA, has over two decades of experience in public sector finance, institutional administration, banking, auditing, and financial management.

    He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Finance and Management, a Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting, Higher National Diploma (HND), and National Diploma (ND) in Accounting. He is also a member of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) and the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants (ICMA).

    Before his appointment, Mr. Kamil served as Chief Accountant at Adeseun Ogundoyin Polytechnic, Eruwa, where he played key roles in financial planning, treasury management, institutional coordination, and fiscal policy implementation. He also served as Acting Bursar between June 2019 and August 2020 and received a Letter of Commendation from the institution’s Governing Council Chairman.

    He has also participated in budget defense sessions, Treasury Single Account (TSA) implementation, audit engagements, and institutional financial reforms.

    Beyond administration, Mr. Kamil has contributed to academic research in banking operations, taxation, financial management, and organizational administration.

    Stakeholders at the event described his appointment as a victory for merit, professionalism, and integrity, expressing confidence that his tenure would strengthen fiscal discipline, accountability, transparency, and institutional growth at the Federal School of Surveying, Oyo.

    The recognition by ANAN Oyo 1 State Branch further highlighted Mr. Onikede Olabode Kamil, FCNA, as a respected financial expert and administrator within the accounting profession in Nigeria.

  • Justice Crack’s bail plea suffers setback as defence lawyers clash in court

    Justice Crack’s bail plea suffers setback as defence lawyers clash in court

     

    The bail application filed by the detained Chidiebere Justice Mark, popularly known as Justice Crack, on Thursday suffered a setback at the Federal High Court in Abuja after his lawyers clashed over representation.

    Justice Joyce Abdulmalik had, on May 4, fixed today for hearing of Mark’s bail request shortly after he was arraigned by the Department of State Services (DSS) and pleaded not guilty to a three-count charge.

    The adjournment followed an application by Mark’s lawyer, Marshall Abubakar, who told the court of the need to admit his client to bail pending trial.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the DSS had, in the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/253/2026, sued Crack, a social media influencer, as sole defendant over alleged cybercrime offences linked to a viral video concerning the Nigerian Army.

    Mark was alleged to have circulated a false information and publication of materials capable of causing public unrest.

    The defendant, who was reportedly arrested by the Nigerian Army, was accused of publishing the viral video and accompanying statements through his X handle, @JusticeCrack, alleging inadequate feeding of Nigerian soldiers.

    When the case was called on Thursday, Leyii Abueh, from the Federal Ministry of Justice, informed the court that the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) had taken over the matter from the DSS in line with the relevant section of the law.

    However, Femi Balogun and Abubakar stood up to announce apperance for the defendant.

    Balogun told the court that he was briefed by Mark’s family to take up the case.

    He notified the court about the defence bail application already filed.

    But Abubakar insisted he was the defendant’s lawyer, who had been appearing in the case and he had not been disengaged to handle the matter.

    Justice Abdulmalik then asked the defendant to identify his lawyer and Mark pointed at Balogun.

    Against this development, Abubakar applied to withdraw all the processes he filed in respect of the case, including the bail application which Balogun had relied on.

    The judge struck out the processes filed by Abubakar and adjourned until May 18 for hearing of the fresh bail application.

  • FG Reaffirms Commitment to Tourism Growth as NIHOTOUR Honors Stakeholders

    FG Reaffirms Commitment to Tourism Growth as NIHOTOUR Honors Stakeholders

    The Federal Government has restated its commitment to building a globally competitive hospitality, travel and tourism sector, as the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR) inducted professionals and conferred fellowship honours on distinguished stakeholders in Abuja on Thursday.
    Abuja ceremony
    The event, held at Merit House, Maitama, also featured the inauguration of the Governing Boards of the Hospitality and Tourism Sector Skills Council of Nigeria (HTSSCN), in what organisers described as a major step toward formalising and professionalising the industry.
    It brought together government officials, regulators, tourism operators, development partners, cultural institutions and industry leaders.
    Minister’s position
    Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, said no sector can achieve sustainable growth without structure, standards, institutional coordination and skilled professionals.
    She said Nigeria’s cultural diversity, heritage assets and tourism destinations could only be fully harnessed through professionalism, accountability, standardisation and competence.
    Musawa added that the NIHOTOUR Establishment Act had strengthened the institute’s mandate beyond training to include regulation, certification and standards-setting for practitioners in the sector.
    NIHOTOUR’s reform drive
    NIHOTOUR Director General, Dr. Abisoye Fagade, described the ceremony as a historic turning point for the industry, saying the induction, fellowship conferment and council inauguration marked a new era of competence and institutional governance.
    He said regulation and standardisation were now economic necessities if Nigeria intends to compete globally in hospitality and tourism.
    Fagade said NIHOTOUR is being repositioned as a facilitator and strategic partner focused on workforce development, competency-based certification and industry collaboration under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
    Sector backing
    President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mazi Afam Osigwe, said effective regulation remains the only sustainable path for scaling the hospitality and tourism industry in Nigeria.
    He said strong standards, licensing and accountability help build investor confidence and improve service quality.
    Other stakeholders, including the Director General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority, Olayiwola Awakan, and the Executive Secretary of the National Institute for Cultural Orientation, Biodun Ajiboye, praised NIHOTOUR’s reforms and called for stronger professional standards across the value chain.
    Honours and significance
    The ceremony also saw the conferment of fellowship honours on several prominent Nigerians, including Musawa, Fagade, Awakan, Ajiboye, NCAA Director General Chris Ona Najomo, former tourism officials and other industry leaders.
    According to NIHOTOUR, the inductions and honours are part of a broader effort to institutionalise professionalism, ethical practice and globally accepted standards in Nigeria’s hospitality and tourism space.
    Stakeholders at the event said the reforms could help unlock the sector’s potential for job creation, cultural diplomacy and economic diversification.

  • Ubahu community in Enugu decries alleged massive land grabbing, urges Enugu Govt intervention

    Ubahu community in Enugu decries alleged massive land grabbing, urges Enugu Govt intervention

    Ubahu community in Enugu decries alleged massive land grabbing, urges Enugu Govt intervention

     

    The people of Ubahu Community in Nkanu East Local Government Area in Enugu State have decried alleged massive land grabbing on their ancestral land, appealing to Enugu State Government to intervene to forestall unrest.

     

    The people, who said this during a peaceful demonstration with placards held in the community on Thursday, purported that their ancestral land had been taken over in various axis of the community by people with no identity.

     

    The placards read: “We Have No Place to Farm; Due to Activities of Unknown Land Grabbers” and “Our Land Is Completely Taken Over By Alleged Different Government Officials Without Due Consultations”.

     

     

    Others read: “Our Houses Are Mapped Out for Demolition, Farmlands Forcefully Taken and Plan to Chase US Out from Our Ancestral Land” and “We Have No Place To Farm and Hunger Is Taking Over Ubahu”.

     

    Speaking, acting Youth Leader of the community, Mazi Chukwuebuka Nnaji, said that the entire community had been through into confusion due to massive land grabbing activities on the community’s ancestral land.

     

    Nnaji noted that the massive land grabbing had been carried out by persons, whose “mission and identity are not clear.”

     

     

    He noted that when a group, organisation and government wants to acquire land for developmental purpose, it is done in an organised, coordinated and people-informed manner, leaving no one in doubt of their intention.

     

    “The present development, seeing several unknown people occupying several land portions in different locations of the community is unacceptable.

     

    “We are worried as nobody or authority is talking to us or explaining issues to us. The entire land takeover, if geninue, it is not done in an organised, coordinated and people-informed manner.

     

     

    “We know by the Constitution, all land belongs to the government; but before the government, there are people who owns the land by ancestral heritage that needed to be carried along.

     

    “As a government, you cannot come to take a communal or ancestral land without formerly informing the traditional ruler, the President-General, prominent elders and other stakeholders of the community,” he said.

     

    A women leader in the community, Ma Ugochi Uzoma, lamented that the pieces of land most household cultivate each year had been forcefully taken over, while most women, including widows, forced out of their farmlands.

     

     

    Uzoma noted that recently some of their houses were marked for demolition by the alleged land grabbers so that they get an expanded and massive land portions.

     

    “The people doing this only have the intention to kill us through hunger and sickness following it or we permanently relocate from our ancestral homes/land and they take over.

     

    “We are pleading for help from everybody. Some people are planning to wipe us out from the face of the earth. Our ancestors will never allow them to succeed,” she said.

     

    Ubahu community is an immediate neighbouring community to Owo community, which is the community that Gov. Peter Mbah of Enugu State hails from.