The people of Umuanekeode in Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State have accused the police of allegedly clamping down on them, following the land matter they were having with their neighbouring community.

The chairman of the family union, Mr. Ikechukwu Ngwu, who briefed newsmen in Enugu, yesterday, alleged that the state police command had unleashed its Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, on them following the land dispute which was purely a civil matter and not criminal and asked the Inspector General of Police, IGP, to intercede on their behalf by ordering the release of the police cells forthwith.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Superintendent Ebere Amaraizu who reacted over the issue told newsmen on telephone that although the police had no right to get into land disputes, it could intervene when lives were threatened or when there were possibilities of breach of the peace.

He however promised to investigate the allegation and get back to Vanguard.

However, Ngwu said that the police “swooped on members of their family weekend, arrested and brutalized two of them before throwing them into their cells. According to him, the police action was reminiscent of what led to the death of a 27 year old man, Nnabuike Nnaji at Ibagwa-Nike in 2014.

Ngwu further said that the alleged offense of the traumatized members of the family bothered on dispute over a parcel of land between the Umuanekode family and neighbouring Edem-Nike community at Akparata, and wondered when a civil land dispute had become criminal case that would warrant the involvement of the anti-robbery squad.

He also, gave the names of the assaulted and detained as Onyeka Ugwuekete and Ikechukwu Nwekwe, pointing out that soldiers from the 82 Division of Nigeria Army had earlier ordered all parties to the disputed land to stay clear from the land, which he said his people complied with but that Edem community refused to obey the order.

“Edem-Nike and Igwe Emma Ugwu are yet to comply with the order; they keep on taking people to buy the land, using their surveyors in defiance of the security ban.

 Edem-Nike youths, as we learnt, gathered, went to the farm and destroyed properties there and turned round to write petitions against the Umuanekeode family.

They are using it as an alibi to justify the unwarranted clampdown and rights violation against the Umuanekeode family.

“We call on the IGP to as a matter of urgency to intervene in this matter against lawful citizens of Nigeria who have committed no crime.

We can’t understand why SARS in charge of criminal matters are usually drafted to our community over civil matters to brutalize, our people.

 We don’t want to believe that the police cannot protect us as law-abiding citizens of Nigeria.,,