…says ownership claim of the school land by a section of Ekwueme family not only mischievous but an attempt to rewrite history

The leaders of Amozalla Uwenu kindred in Ibute Egede autonomous community in Udi local government area of Enugu State rose from a meeting on Saturday, 9th November 2024, with a call on Governor Peter Mbah to disregard attempts by some unscrupulous elements and land grabbers, who are on a mission to deny the people the benefits of the modern school, which the government has graciously approved for the community.

They showered praises on Governor Mbah for considering Egede community(as part of Egede/Umoka Ward) as one of the benefiting communities of the special school, and pledged their loyalty and unalloyed support for his government.

The community leaders explained that the ancestral land presented to the government for the project, which has already commenced, rightly belongs to Amozalla Uwenu, explaining that the children of late TMT Ekwueme who recently raised an objection to siting the school in the area, did so out of ignorance and a move to illegally acquire the ancestral land belonging to Amozala Uwenu community.

• Amozalla Uwenu kindreds and village heads during their meeting on Saturday

According to the community, the children of late TMT Ekwueme and the rest of Ekwueme family have no basis of laying claim on Amozalla Uwenu land.

“The historical truth is that in 1937 late Stephen Ezenwude Ekwueme was having serious problems with late Jacob Enuife Ekwueme which prompted his age grade mate, out of love and to avoid shedding of blood between two brothers, late Ezebuilo Akanaezigwe of Umuokolo Amozalla Uwenu gave him (Stephen Ezenwude Ekwueme) a small portion of land to settle as a ‘refugee’ in Amozalla Uwenu away from the Ekwueme ancestral home in Amozalla Uwani,” the community leaders explained.

The Advocate reports that the family members of late Chief Prince TMT Ekwueme and the father of late Dr. K.U.K Ekwueme and late Chief Ezenwude Ekwueme recently in a voice note circulated in the social media, called on Governor Mbah to come to their rescue by rejecting the land given to the government for the construction of the SMART school, claiming that the land was in dispute.

“Nothing can be farther from the truth because there is just no dispute over the land as the ownership has never been in doubt,” Amozalla Uwenu countered.

Leaders of Amozalla Uwenu community at the site of the Enugu SMART School project under construction at Egede

The Ekwueme family had also accused some natives of Ibute Egede of allocating the land which was part of their late father’s cashew plantation to the government for the SMART school project without consulting the family and other stakeholders in Egede.

Dismissing the accusation as totally false, the Amozalla Uwenu leaders said: “The truth is that the two staff of Commissioner of Education, Presidents General of Ibute Egede and Ikehe Egede communities and PDP Ward Chairman Egede/Umuoka Ward, were in the team that presented and inspected 3 sites in Egede and decided that our land met all their requirements for the project. We are very happy to offer the land for the progress and development of Egede.”

The natives of Amozalla Uwenu in Ibute Egede comprising Umuokolo and Umudinaneke, who own the ancestral land, Ishiagu Amozalla Uwenu, further refuted their claims saying the Ekwueme family has no legal right to any land in the area given to the government for the construction of the school and urged the government to ignore them.

Speaking with newsmen after the community’s meeting, on Saturday, November 9th 2024, Secretary of Ibute Egede Autonomous Community, Elder Ben Eze Amuha, said: “We are very grateful that the Governor of Enugu State, His Excellency, Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, the State Commissioner for Education, the Commissioner for Works, Our Distinguished Senator Ngwu, Speaker of Enugu State House of Assembly and Chairman of Udi local government area are all aware of this project and they are very happy. We are thanking them for finding Amozalla Uwenu (on behalf of Egede) worthy to host the SMART school.

“We are thanking them immensely on behalf of Amozalla and Egede in general, and Egede-Umuoka Ward in particular since this is a Ward project. We are extending our gratitude to all Egede people for their belief in the strength in unity. We trust that this project which has taken off will have all the enabling environment to be completed on schedule to enable our children reap all the associated benefits.”

Giving the historical background of the Ishiagu Amozalla Uwenu land and the circumstances that led to allocating a portion of the land to late Stephen Ezenwude Ekwueme by some members of his age grade from Amozalla Uwenu, Elder Amuha said: “It is very important to note that there was crisis between late Chief Jacob Enuife Ekwueme and his younger brother, late Chief Stephen Ezenwude Ekwueme. That case was between two of them regarding who will take control of the vacant seat of Igwe of Egede community.

“Jacob Enuife was the elder brother but was illiterate while his younger brother Stephen Ezenwude Ekwueme was more literate than him and because of that he wanted to take the throne from him. Based on the disagreement, the senior brother Jacob Enuife wanted to assassinate him, consequently Stephen ran away from their ancestral home in Umuezeunu and was looking for refuge. He ran to some members of his age grade in Amozalla Uwenu namely late Ezebuilo Akanezigwe, late Ifeagwu Anosike and late Anukaenyi. These are his age mates that helped to habour him in Amozalla Uwenu.

“Thereafter they showed him a portion of land to build a hut, a mudhouse to stay there as a refugee. That was the only history of land transaction between Amozalla Uwenu and Ekwueme family and in particular with Stephen Ezenwude Ekwueme, whom we helped as a refugee.

“As for late TMT Ekwueme, Amozalla Uwenu has never had any land transaction with him and he has practically no locus standi to lay claims to the land of our ancestors. Therefore Amozalla Uwenu kindred of Ibute Egede Autonomous community has never had any land dealings with late T.M.T. Ekwueme and the Ekwueme family in general. It is our own land that we freely offered to Enugu State Government and Egede-Umuoka ward in general to build the SMART School for our children.

“We are therefore so grateful to His Excellency, Governor Peter Mbah and all the government officials who made this school project possible. We must not forget to thank all the stakeholders in Egede-Umuoka Ward such as the Community leader of Amozalla, High Chief Christian Obinna Nganga, Ugwunye Ezedike of Enugu State; Ichie Nicholas Amechi Udeh, Ezedike ne echlibe of Egede; Dr. Barrister Cosmas Agu, Managing Director of COMAG Engineering; Engr. Banabas Okafor, Igwurube I of Egede, Chairman PDP Egede/Umuoka Ward, Hon. Elder Ben Eze Amoha, Agunachouzo I of Egede, Engr. Ephraim Agu, Chairman Amozalla Uwenu and many others too numerous to mention for their unalloyed support for the project”

Elder Amuha further explained that the cashew plantation being claimed by the Ekwueme family was actually the project of the early missionaries, who settled in THE REST HOUSE at Agu Ugwueke in Amozalla community and left it behind for the host community, stressing that the Ekwueme’s have no legitimate claim to the plantation.