Alleged land grab: Imo communities accuse govt of ‘economic genocide’

The people of Mbaishii in Ngor/Okpala Local Government Area of Imo State have raised an urgent alarm over what they described as a state-sanctioned “economic genocide,” accusing the Imo State Government of forcefully taking over 30,000 hectares of their ancestral farmlands for the benefit of a private religious organization, Zion Ministry, led by Evangelist Ebuka Obi.

Addressing a world press conference in Abuja, on Wednesday, representatives of the affected autonomous communities — including Umuchie Eziama, Umulu, Umuegirige, Umuogba Eziama, Umuocham Ntu, Umuokpo Ntu, Umuhoko Ntu, and Alatia-Amala — claimed that armed personnel from the Nigerian Army and Police have been deployed to occupy and enforce the controversial land seizure.

The military presence, the spokesman of the communities, Dr. Ugo Jim-Nwoko said, has persisted for over nine months, effectively preventing farming activities and leading to the destruction of crops and economic trees.

“This act can best be described as an economic genocide,” the group said, lamenting that their only means of survival — agriculture — has been wiped out by bulldozers and caterpillars working under military watch.

“While we concede to the right of the Imo State Government to compulsorily acquire land within the state, we also insist that such compulsory land acquisition must be for demonstrable overriding public purposes with strict compliance with the due process of law in consonance with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and the Land Use Act 1978.

“We wish to state categorically, that the Imo State Government, at no time acquired the 30,000 hectares of land or any portion thereof in respect of which the Imo State Governor, hiding under the cover of the Government of Imo State has deployed the Men of the Nigeria Army, Police and other security personnel to parade and occupy, as no such documents to such purported acquisitions exists anywhere”.

They recalled that, sometime in 2006, the Imo State Government under the Governorship of Chief Achike Udenwa had indicated an interest in compulsorily acquiring about 2,000 hectares of land for a certain Chinese village, but the move was aborted following the insincerity of the handlers of the so-called acquisition and the consequential widespread opposition and multiple litigations by indigenous land owners and all other stakeholders against the perceived fraudulent acquisition.

They added that two villages namely Umuokpo Ntu and Umuhoko Ntu, in the old Ntu autonomous community in Mbaishii, got two separate judgments wherein the Imo State High Court declared the purported acquisition as unlawful and unconstitutional and made orders of perpetual injunction restraining the Imo state Government and her agents from trespassing into their lands.

The said judgments of the Imo State High Court were in suit numbers HOW/624/2006 delivered on 24th May 2010 and HOW/627/2006 delivered on 26th July 2011, both judgments were delivered by Justice C. M. I. Egole.

“We also further state that since the failed compulsory acquisition in 2006, nothing else was heard about the intended acquisition, and that our people had since continued exercising full and unencumbered possession, carrying out our farming and cultivation as well as palm oil processing until late 2024, when Imo State Government brought in a certain Evangelist Ebuka Obi and his Zion Ministry to take over an entire 30,000 hectares of farmland belonging to our clients, citing a non-existing acquisition that purportedly took place in 2007.

“We wish to reiterate categorically that no form of acquisition of land took place, either of the 30,000 hectares or at all and challenge the Imo State Government or anyone to present documentary evidence to the contrary”, Dr. Jim-Nwoko said.

The land in question spans over 30,000 hectares and forms the agricultural backbone for the affected communities. According to the group, the 2024 farming season had already seen widespread cultivation of crops including cassava, yams, potatoes, vegetables, and plantains.

The military occupation, he said, began in early 2025 and brought with it the destruction of farms and economic disruption for thousands of local families and argued that no lawful process of compulsory acquisition was followed by the state, contrary to the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution and the Land Use Act of 1978.

“We challenge the Imo State Government to provide any valid legal document showing that our land was ever lawfully acquired,” they said and referenced multiple court rulings from as far back as 2010 and 2011 that declared similar land seizures by the state government illegal, citing series of recent lawsuits currently pending in Imo State courts, where injunctions have been granted to restrain the state government from further encroachments — orders which, they claim, are being flagrantly violated.

The spokesman of the communities said, under the Nigerian Constitution, only the President and not a state governor, has the authority to deploy the military for internal operations, and only under specific legal conditions such as war or insurrection, alleging that the deployment of armed forces was orchestrated to silence opposition to the land grab, and to facilitate the takeover by Zion Ministry, which plans to convert the land into a massive religious facility.

The communities argued that allocating public or communal land for a private, profit-making religious institution does not constitute public interest or purpose as required by law and appealed to President Bola Tinubu, the Chief of Army Staff, and the Inspector-General of Police to order immediate withdrawal of military and police forces from their land, and for urgent investigations into what they called the “illegal and unconstitutional actions” of the Imo State Government.

“We are law-abiding citizens. We do not seek conflict. But we must defend our heritage and our children’s future,” they declared.

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