HURIWA Asks IG to Lift Siege on Enugu Community over Land

A rights and advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria has charged the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, to stop the arbitrary deployment of its SWAT officers against hapless natives of Ndiaga Awkunannaw, Enugu State in a bid to seize their lands from them.

HURIWA in a petition pointed out that the locals had cried out to them over the repressive activities of the said SWAT officers by the Force CID which allegedly laid siege on the community, violating their rights to freedom of movement and peaceful existence.

A statement from the Executive Director of HURIWA, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, citing a Save Our Soul appeal from the community alleged that the use of the police was to scare them from their land in a grab style.

“We the people of Ndiaga Amechi Awkunanaw have decided to cry out for help against the incessant harassment of the officers of SWAT, Force CID, Abuja who have laid siege on our community, and have been on a prowl, hounding every member of the community over an allegation which many members of the community know nothing about.

“We have however now become aware that this unfortunate vendetta was orchestrated against the community by a known land grabber, (name withheld) in order to assist the said land grabber to forcefully take over our communal/ancestral land.

“We now understand that the situation was borne out of a misunderstanding arising from the illegal use of some mobile police officers by the referenced land grabber.

“We are equally aware that the law permits us to defend our property, just like any other owner of a property, against any forceful or unlawful takeover of same, and we cannot therefore be annihilated, completely wiped off or jailed because we resisted abusive use of a few compromised mobile police officers on illegal duty, who were hired and gave themselves out as hirelings and whose presence on the land is clearly to support the greedy, acquisitive tendencies of a land grabber who has selfishly instigated and unleashed them (SWAT, FCID, Nigeria Police Force, Abuja) against the community.

“As of this morning, (04/08/2021), a contingent of SWAT, have invaded the land in question and have chased our members away from their land, apparently for the purpose of putting the land grabber in possession of our land. We are raising this alarm to appeal to the Inspector-General of Police, who has shown rare professionalism and respect for the rule of law and respect for human rights, to call these officers to order, bearing in mind that it doesn’t fall within the purview of the Police Force to dabble and decide issues bordering on land,” the statement said.

The rights group however confirmed that the community had reported to the office of the Inspector General of Police pleading for the withdrawal of the said police officers as they did not want their area overrun by the SWAT team