There was pandemonium in Idumugbe Village, Asaba, Oshimili South Local Government Area, Delta State, yesterday, as persons dressed as policemen stormed the community hall to arrest Ogbueshi Eugene Umunna, the spokesman (Onu-Diokpa) of 104-year-old Ogbueshi Amubosi Umunna, over land feud.
Consequently, the village has sought the intervention of the Asagba of Asaba, Obi Prof Epiphany Azinge as some identified land speculators were fingered to be behind the move to silence elders of the community.
Community sources told The Pointer that two marked motor vehicles, Police Crack Squad, and Vigilante Group drove into the premises of the Ogwa (community hall) and requested the Onu-Diokpa (spokesman), Ogbueshi Umunna to follow them.
He was said to have requested an arrest warrant before he could follow them, which the officers and vigilante members could not present. The situation escalated as the policemen made several attempts to arrest their target but were resisted by youths and elders who were present at the scene.
On noticing that members of the land committee were approaching the scene, the police and vigilante vans zoomed off with one Chuji Okocha, who they later allowed to return home after realising that he was not their target.
Speaking to The Pointer after the melee, Ogbueshi Eugene Umunna recalled that it was the third time some suspected land barons were using police to harass elders and leaders of the community, particularly himself.
According to him, the land speculators had used the police to ensure that lands that were illegally sold to unsuspecting buyers were protected against retrieval by the community, stressing that their style was to sell lands and use the police to threaten the elders and leaders.
Specifically on yesterday’s incident, he said that the sponsors of the arrest were known to the community leaders, adding that some of them mobilized the officers from the streets and gave them the assignment to execute.
He called on the Asagba of Asaba and the Commissioner of Police to intervene and stop the youths from harassing elders, after illegal land sales.
Part of the missive to the Asagba read: “…… came to arrest me with some vigilante group and Crack Squad of the Nigeria Police Force. I resisted that they could only invite me not to come into our Ogwa (community hall) to desecrate it. They saw that the land committee meeting members were coming after them and they zoomed off, taking Ogbueshi Chuji Okocha…”.
Efforts to reach the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Bright Edafe to comment on the development were unsuccessful.
