Re-mapping: We will resist any attempt by Government to cede our lands to Ikot Abasi – Eastern Obolo people tell State Government
The coastal people of Amajaaba in Eastern Obolo have accused the Akwa Ibom State Government of using gimmicks in an attempt to have them hand over their ancestral lands and waters to other local government areas in the state using “Mapping” as a guise, vowing to resist such moves with all their might.
The remark was made by Chief Gogonte Nglass, Village Head of Amanglass on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, while speaking with our correspondent on their stance over the proposed mapping of the state which has sparked protests at the local government headquarters in Okoroette and other communities in the local government area.
Chief Nglass who is the Chairman of Amajaaba Traditional Rulers Council decried what he described as “ill-treatment of the Obolo people in the state, in terms of infrastructural development, and political appointments”, noting that it was a well-orchestrated plot to delineate and deprive the Obolo people of enjoying their God-given resources as passed down to them down by their ancestors.
He pointed out that Amajaaba and Obolo people remain the most, marginalized and neglected people in Akwa Ibom State based on the bad treatment meted on them by the Akwa Ibom State Government by keeping mum and not granting approval for them to return to lands they had deserted due to land dispute.
Findings made by TheMail Newspaper reveal that the Amajaaba community which comprises 8 villages have been taking solace and shelter in other communities for 14 years now due to a communal clash that led to the loss of lives and properties.
A communal clash between Ikot Akpan Udo people in Ikot Abasi Local government Area and Amajaaba in Eastern Obolo broke out on August 28, 2008, and led to the unsettlement of Amajaaba people while the Ikot Akpan Udo village had since returned to their community afterward, laying hold and making use of the Amajaaba community farmlands to yield for themselves.
Investigations also reveal successive governments did not do enough to find a lasting solution to the matter, until the Amajaaba people decided to visit their “long-lost” land in preparation to return only to discover that their neighbors were encroaching on their farmland, planting crops like cassava and pumpkins.
The matter got to the attention of the Commissioner of Police in Akwa Ibom State, CP Olatoye Durosinmi who called for peaceful negotiations between the two communities which hearing happened on December 19, 2022, at the State Police Headquarters, Ikot Akpan Abia with village heads of the affected communities, the council chairmen of the two local government areas involved, and paramount ruler of Eastern HRM Ubon Etetor and other stakeholders in attendance.
The deliberations are said not to have yielded positive results but got to a part where the Office of Surveyor General of State had to send representatives to the affected communities to ascertain the boundaries and make recommendations.
Aides from the Office of the Surveyor General arrived Amajaaba community on January 19, 2023, for boundary tracing and demarcation as instructed, and to calculate coordinates for the boundaries between the two communities only to be attacked by a group of boys chanting war songs said to be from the neighboring village of Ikot Akpan Udo leaving even the heavily armed security personnel to retreat while other personnel scampered for safety.
Prior to these events, the Akwa Ibom State Government had just disbursed 51,000,000 naira to the Amajaaba community as part of their share of the 1Billion naira compensation for siting Sterling Petrochemicals & Fertilizer Plant in Eastern Obolo, an act carefully plotted to quell the agitation in the area as at then.
The Eastern Obolo people say they are very uncomfortable with the ideas behind the proposed “Mapping” by the state government, despite gaining support from other local government areas in the state, noting that they seem to sense some ulterior motives behind the actions gaining sudden interest from government, especially in the dying minutes of Government Udom Emmanuel’s administration and in the manner and speed in which the bill for mapping was passed by the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Nglass said they are keen to protect their ancestral lands with all their might.