Due to contested land in the area, many leaders, women, and young people from the Ezinano Community in the Awka South local government area of Anambra state are said to have escaped death.

The land dispute was between inhabitants of the village and Umuzuocha village, both in the same council area.

It was reported that armed members of the state police command’s Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) besieged the area, presumably in an attempt to prevent any kind of collapse in law and order.

The Ezinano indigenous people caused trouble when they stormed their ancestral property, which the Umuzuocha community claimed to have been caused by their indiscriminate citing of buildings on the disputed land.

It was said that the Umuzuocha natives began erecting perimeter fences, gutters and erosion channels, and other structures on the property without waiting for a court matter to be resolved.

According to information obtained by our correspondent, the Ezinano people were told by the security personnel to either leave the land or apologize for their behavior upon arrival. This led the people to become alarmed and request that CP Obono Nnaghe Itam investigate the situation and save their lives.

It was also discovered that the tale would not have turned out the way it did if the CP had not stepped in quickly and ordered everyone involved to leave the scene right away.

During the impasse, the Ezinano indigenous people had objected to the police encroachment on their territory.
In response, state police spokesperson Tochukwu Ikenga invited community leaders and members of the Ezinano people to come forward with their grievances.

“You and I have lived in this Anambra for a long time, as you are aware. He remarked, “The Ezinano people can come to the command and file complaints if they have any issues; they have my number and the Commissioner of Police’s number.”
A petition against a senior police officer for alleged meddling in the same land was previously written by elders and leaders of the Ezinano Community on September 11, 2024, and it was copied to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the Presidency, the Complaint Response Unit of Police Force Headquarters Abuja, and the Commissioner of Police of Anambra State.