Who owns the land? The Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) in Imo State claims the land belongs to it. Its host communities are disputing the claim. Last week, youths from the communities stormed the school, destroying and looting properties. There are fears that they may come back, reports Okodili Ndidi (Owerri).
A land dispute has pitched the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) in Imo State against its host communities. The communities are accusing the institution of reclaiming their land without following due process. Last Wednesday, youths believed to be from the communities stormed the campus, demolishing and looting properties.
The invasion may not be unconnected with the clearing of a land presumed to be owned by the university for the construction of staff quarters.
Eye witnesses reported that the youths, said to be from Umuchima, Ihiagwa, Umuanunu, Obinze, and Eziobodo besieged the university about 6.30am and overpowered the security men. Despite the presence of soldiers, the over 300 youths armed with machetes, axe and locally made guns were said to have destroyed the new structures being erected on the land.
A security personnel, names withheld, said the soldiers left the scene to prevent bloodshed.
He said: “It is by miracle that none of us was killed that day. When the youths arrived, there were about five armed soldiers around but they quickly left to avoid bloodshed because the youths were well armed. They surrounded all of us in security uniform and seized all our clothes; they equally made sure that none of the security men used his phone while the attack lasted.”
The youths were said to have attacked a security man, who answered a call from his family member, accusing him of calling the Vice-Chancellor (VC).
It was learnt that the soldiers informed the police and they swiftly moved to the scene to restore order. The police also arrested some villagers. When the news of the arrest spread, The Nation gathered that the youths regrouped and stormed the Old Registry where students’ results and records are stored. They smashed the louvres and torched the building. Students saved the building from being razed.
The contractor handling the 300-unit staff quarters, Chief Eric Ihejirika, said equipment worth over N20 million were vandalised and looted.
Following the attack, the university is seeking Federal Government’s intervention to protect its property.
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Chigozie Cyril Asiabaka, told reporters that the invasion was unprovoked and barbaric.
The university, he said, had been enjoying cordial relationship with its host communities until their recent demand that part of its land be ceded to them.
He said: “FUTO is not at loggerheads with the communities, why should they vandalise our property? The damage they unleashed on the university is massive and unprecedented. FUTO land belongs to the Federal Government, we have not encroached on their land.
“Their demand that the school should return part of the land to the communities is impossible because nobody here can approve that except the Federal Government. We have convened an enlarged management meeting and certain far reaching decisions have been taken; which include among others the immediate perimeter fencing to forestall further encroachment on the university land.”
He said the invasion and other distractions have not affected academic activities.
“The university is still moving on despite distractions. The students will commence their exams soon, we are not distracted by the activities that are going on,” he said.
The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, Dr Emma Enemuo, blamed traditional rulers of the host communities for the incident.
He alleged that the youths were incited to carry out the attackby some traditional rulers who had earlier demanded that the university should pay them monthly salaries and allowances in addition to returning a substantial portion of the land to the communities.
Enemuo explained that the land was duly and legitimately acquired by the Federal Government 30 years ago and compensations paid to the communities.
He said: “About two years ago, a group of youths invaded the university land with bulldozers, clearing and selling the land to developers who built houses just in the centre of the university. Also around December 2013, a band of youths stormed the university and disrupted a dredging work right in the centre of the university; and the number in which they carry out the attacks is such that the security operatives were almost helpless.
“It is saddening that traditional rulers who are supposed to educate the youths are now inciting them to attack a federal institution. In one of our meetings, we told them that we do not have the powers to negotiate with them on a land that was legitimately acquired by the Federal Government, with all compensations paid but they threatened that since we could not negotiate with them, they would send their youths to negotiate with us. I think the recent invasion and destruction of the university property was a fulfillment of that threat.
“There is no way the university can be paying salaries to traditional rulers. There is nowhere in the world where universities do that, and we are not going to do it. Where do they expect the school to get that kind of money?”
He appealed to the government to take steps to protect lives and properties.
“We need adequate protection against these invaders because no one knows their next line of action. Since they are enjoying the support of their traditional rulers they can go to any length to carry out their threat. I am calling on the Federal Government to come to our aid,” he said.
Some leaders of the communities blame the university for the crisis.
The traditional ruler of Ihiagwa autonomous community, Eze James Muruako, said the communities’ action might have been triggered by the non-conforming stance of the university management and the inciting statements.
The communities, he said, took FUTO to court over the land matter, adding that no adequate compensation was given to the communities after ceding over 5,000 plots of land to the Federal Government.
“There is a subsisting suit in respect of the land in question and instead of maintaining the status quo, the university management went ahead to build their staff quarter on the plot of land. This may have sparked the crisis, coupled with inflammatory statements made by high ranking members of the management staff.
“How can they call the host communities their neighbours instead of landlords? And the threat to use the military against the communities for making legitimate demands are most provoking. All the lies and blackmail about traditional rulers asking to be paid salaries are concocted by the management but we cannot be intimidated by cheap blackmail.”
The lawyer of the aggrieved communities, Mr. Sam Anukam who is from one of the communities, said the land the university claims to own covers a large percentage of the communities.
“If we allow this invasion, forceful and illegal acquisition of our land to stand, a community like Ihiagwa would eventually be swallowed by FUTO and thereby driven to extinction,” he said.
Reliving the genesis of the crisis Anukan said the university paid compensation for just 1,000 of the 4,580 hectares of land acquired from about 11 communities. He said the acquired land was not clearly made known to the indigenes at the time of acquisition. He said the efforts by Dr Achike Udenwa to resolve the crisis when he was governor (1999-2007) did not yield results because a report by a committee set up to resolve the dispute was rejected by FUTO.
Anukam insisted that the acquisition of land belonging to the communities is ultra-vires, null and void and of no effect, arguing that it did not comply with the provisions of the 1978 Land Use Act section 28.
He said: “We have contacted our lawyers and it was discovered that the land acquisition did not meet the three essential ingredients of a successful land acquisition. These include lack of direct service directly to the individual families over the land, non-declaration by the acquisition notice of the public purpose for the acquisition in line with section 28 of the 1978 Land Use Act, as well as non completion of compensation payment on the land so acquired.
“Since these ingredients have not been met by FUTO, the acquisition is null and void and of no effect and FUTO is a trespassers on our land.”
Anukan said the continued occupation of the land by FUTO compelled the communities to initiate legal action against the university at the Owerri High Court, adding that there is an injunction by Justice Ngozi Ukoha restraining the institution from taking possession of the disputed areas pending the determination of the motion on notice. He accused FUTO of disobeying the order.
“Apart from violating the court order, the Pro-Chancellor invited the traditional rulers, women and youth leaders from the communities on the 10th of April 2014 to address them on the hostility between the institution and the indigenes but ended up compounding the problem by suppressing all popular opinions and boasting that he has all it takes to deal with the aggrieved communities. All efforts by the National Universities Commission (NUC), Federal Ministry of Education and the Imo State Government to resolve the issue amicably have been frustrated by FUTO,” he said.
President-General of Ihiagwa community Mr. Emeka Nkwoada claims that the invasion was not by youths of his community.
“We had a peaceful demonstration to protest the arbitrary acquisition of our land by FUTO management after several efforts to settle the matter amicably failed. I can say authoritatively that contrary to what the management of the institution is feeding the public, about 80 per cent of FUTO land belongs to Ihiagwa community. The implication of this is that the community, which is known for its agrarian activities, no longer has farm lands or any place to build houses for its growing families,” he said.
He said all the communities want is a clear demarcation of the land.
“We are not asking the management to cede any part of the land. What we are asking them to do is boundary demarcation so that we know where the school’s land stopped and the little left for the communities. FUTO by the quantity of land acquiesced to them, extending to 11 communities, can be said to be the biggest university in Africa in terms of landmass.
“The university has over 4,000 hectares of undeveloped land within the school but instead of building on those plots the management chose the disputed areas within the boundary, even while there is a subsisting court order,” he said.
•Additional contribution by Emmanuel Ahanonu.
