Anambra govt bars Ezi-Ubulu indigenes from rechanneling Ekula, Oja River in bid to reclaim land

~ ASHDC MD, Anyaonu accuse community of damaging perimeter fencing of Hill View Estate

By Ifeizu Joe

Anambra State Government has stopped indigenes of Ezi-Ubulu community in Nkwelle Ezunaka, Oyi Local Government Area from rechanneling water away from River Ekula and Oja River, just close to Hill View Estate, Nkwelle Ezunaka.

The Managing Director of Anambra State Housing Development Corporation (ASHDC), Mr Chike Anyaonu made the order, when he visited the area to inspect the level of damage on the environment by the indigenes, who Re the host community of the estate.

Anyaonu suspected that the rechanneling of the two rivers by the indigenes may be an attempt to reclaim land, a development he described as damage to the ecosystem, which is capable of causing erosion in the area.

During the inspection, the MD expressed amazement that the community has gone ahead and damaged the perimeter fencing of the Hill View Estate, all in a bid to reclaim part of it. He said the community had previously applied for boundary readjustment, having previously complained that their land had been grabbed.

During the inspection Anyaonu spoke to journalists saying: “This is Hill View Estate, Nkwelle Ezunaka. This estate was established in 2005 under the Governor Chris Ngige and has progressed over the years and government after government has been working on it. It was previously with a development partner called Master Holdings, and fortunately, as at December Last years we can say the place has been completed to 95 percent and we have asked the development partner to sign off and give way so that we can manage the estate by ourselves.

“It is being managed for the state government by Anambra State Housing Development Corporation. But recently so many things have been happening here and we have been trying to manage it, until we started seeing what we can call a damage to the ecosystem, which can endanger the lives of people living here.

“The host community is re-channeling the course and natural flow of River Ekula and Oja River all of which have been tampered with. We have said stop until we resolve all issues pertaining to this. So we have stopped them from continuing, and we brought you people, members of the press today to come and see what is happening here.

“Some days back, the commissioner for environment came here on inspection, the Managing Director of Erosion Control and Watershed, Prof. Phil Eze also came. They all made observations and ordered that work should stop and that work must not go on again until all issues pertaining to this estate and the host community is resolved. But yesterday, we got information that they have started again, working to rechannel, alter the natural cause of the river and that is what we are primarily here for today, so that the people will see what is happening.

“In the course of doing this we have also noticed that walls, fences of the perimeter fencing if the estate has been removed by these people. So we are asking the host community concerned to stop what they are doing until all matters relating to what they are doing are resolved.

“I have it on good authority that sometimes in the past, they had issues concerning the appropriate or proper boundary of the estate and they applied for the boundary to be re-established, and we agreed. That re-establishment can not come from my office alone, it must come through the Surveyor General’s office. So we wrote the Surveyor General’s office for their request to be granted. They sent a bill concerning the amount it will take for them to come and do this job and we quickly forwarded it to the community and they agreed to pay into the government coffers.

“But all of a sudden, they started this, and I don’t know why they are in a hurry now, apparently to start re-establishing the said boundaries, without waiting for the surveyor general to come and assist in doing that for all of us. That is the problem.

“After doing this, are they going to continue with the boundary adjustment or boundary reestablishment? The problem is that when you tell them to stop, they will stop momentarily and when you leave they continue. I have never seen where this kind of thing is done, and that is why we are here to show the world what is happening. You can see how they are destroying the ecosystem, trying to rechannel water unjustifiably. It is even a crime to do this without letting the people in charge of erosion control to see it. This is certainly going to cause erosion and damage, and that is why we are here.”

Anyaonu recalled that the community had previously accused him of allocating plots of land to some individuals, a claim he said was utter falsehood.

“I also remember that in September 2024, this community had a press conference where they alleged that ASHDC under my leadership as the Managing Director gave out SPO plots. SPO plots are special purpose plots to private individuals and we responded and said we never did. We never gave out SPO plots to anybody, instead we recovered some plots and gave to state governments to establish schools, hospital, and playgrounds in the estate.

“State government under Prof Chukwuma Soludo gave free education at primary and secondary school levels, and the entire people living here, nobody is benefiting from that, principally because there is no public school in this estate. So we deemed it fit to deserve some spaces in the estate, where government can come and build public schools and that was the extent we have been able to go. We also reserved some spaces for primary health centers and others for playing grounds.

“So what we are saying is that to Ezi-Ubulu, we do not owe you any land. If you doubt it, you go for audit, survey and others. I think that is the reason why they want the boundaries to be re-established. We are not against that, but doing it by themselves is what I think is not proper and that is our complaint.

“We have gone beyond asking that this should stop, what we are doing instead is to know what can be done appropriately that will resolve all these issues, so that all parties can go home and relax. But essentially, the damage being caused to the ecosystem here is what must stop immediately,” Anyaonu ordered.