Criminals (land grabbers and armed cultists) who claimed to be empowered by top security personnel and the governor of Rivers State, including first-class traditional rulers, to carry out land grabbing have illegally demolished the house I built on a plot of land I bought in 2016 at Umuazu Imeh, Igboetche in Etche Local Government Area in Rivers State. The land has been affected by no court case or communal clash since the day I bought it until today.
During chatting before buying the land, it was confirmed by the state housing authority that the land is not government-owned but is owned by the Igboetche people. The land was legally bought from Umuazu Imeh family that owned it, and proper documentation was carried out.
I started the process of building the property in 2018. On April 9, 2024, with all my lifetime savings, men carrying military-grade weaponry illegally demolished my property with bulldozers.
Though I don’t believe that His Excellency, Sir Seminilaye Fubara, will send criminals to illegally demolish people’s property without any compensation or adequate notice, I am also sure that no first-class traditional ruler from Rivers State will be involved in supporting criminals with such a level of weaponry to intimidate, molest, and kill those who attempt to resist the land grabbers. I also believe that the commissioner of Police is fully aware of these criminal activities that have consistently endangered life within the Igbo-Etche and other areas of Rivers State, but considering the level of dangerous weapons those criminals are possessing and probably applying for approval for a Joint Force to wade into the situation, has made him not to have acted since even when the Kings and chiefs around the area cried and protested to the state police headquarters.
It is imperative that the authorities, the governor, and the security agencies wade in urgently to put an end to the loss of properties and lives around the Igbo Etche and in general, the entire Rivers State. More so, it will be very necessary for these esteemed individuals falsely impersonated by these criminals to issue a public pronouncement condemning the evil act and denounce having any knowledge of collaboration with those criminals. Unless otherwise proven, I still stand firm in believing that those criminals are only impersonating the governor, the security agencies, and stakeholders in Rivers State.
Let the Inspector General of Police and the Chief of Army Staff be aware of this ugly situation. Let the National Assembly be aware. Let the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, be aware. I am a youth who made all efforts to see himself through the university in order to avoid crime. I am from Rivers State in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. I am a youth, and my tears are overpowering my firm belief in, and value for civility. Please come to my rescue!
I have even borrowed huge sums to get the criminals to stay away from my property. After collecting several amounts from me, they still demolished my house and said the person they were working for would pay a huge amount for the land they were grabbing.
My rent is due, and I thought I would enter my property before December this year. We have no money anymore; both the money I saved for my postgraduate school fees had been given to these criminals, and we are already in debt while trying to avert the situation.
My name is Abraham Ebini.
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