Akpu community in Orumba South Local Government Area, Anambra State, has appealed to President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, to revisit their exclusion from Orumba North Local Government Area, by the Federal government of former President Ibrahim Babangida.
The community claims to be the owners of the land where the headquarters of Orumba North Local Government Area is located, but was included in Orumba South Local Government Area, with Umunze as its headquarters.
The passionate appeal was made by Pastor Anthony Nwafor of Assemblies of God Church, Akpu, while addressing newsmen in Onitsha, on the lingering complain of Akpu community over their exclusion from Orumba North Local Government Area on August 27, 1991 by Babangida’s administration.
Pastor Nwafor, had severally in conjunction with
other notable members of the community, made similar appeals to successive Presidents of Nigeria after the exit of Babangida administration, including the administrations of former President Goodluck Jonathan and that of Mohammadu Buhari, to revisit what they described as anomaly.
The community while addressing newsmen through Pastor Nwafor, said that they were like people living in exile, staying in Orumba South council area, when their land is housing Orumba North Council Area headquarters.
He said that excluding Akpu community from Orumba Morth Local Government Area, was like collecting their land from them and sending them and and constructing a house and sending them on an exile after the building was completed, adding that former President Babangida, was deliberately deceived by his close friends from the Council Area then in his government, to remove Akpu from Orumba North.
Pastor Nwafo said: “Your Excellency and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Sir, your attention is mostly needed to put things in the way they should be, for the present arrangement made by former President Babangida’s administration is like a time bomb waiting to explode.”
“Akpu and Ajalli are two communities that are interwoven that no one can delineate their boundaries and must therefore, belong to one local government area. Putting them in different Council Areas is an error that must be corrected.
“Akpu community has remained law-abiding in anything we do. When the error of removing us from Orumba North, was made, we wrote many petitions to former President Babangida, explaining to him about our relationship with Ajalli community, he made headquarters of Orumba North and placed Akpu community in Orumba South with Umunze as headquarter.
“We made him understand that removing us from Orumba North LGA, and making Ajalli our neighbours as headquarters of the Council Area, while placing us in Orumba South with Umunze almost ten kilometers to us as headquarters, whereas our land is housing the headquarters of Orumba North was wrong.
“We made newspaper publications concerning this misnomer in National Newspapers including Concord Newspapers of Sunday October 20, 1991, page 24, with the caption: SOS to IBB on Orumba Notth /South in National Concord of Thursday March 1992, page 10: SOS to IBB, on Orumba North/ South Time Bomb, National Concord of Monday October 26, 1992 page 22 and other newspapers, in all these former President Babangida settle the problem he created.
“I personally made a full page advert letter to former President Goodluck Jonathan, published in Vanguard Newspapers of April 2015, Page 36, where we appealed to the then Federal government to return Akpu community to where it rightly belong, as no community in Nigeria or any where in the world, will be housing a Council Area headquarters and be excluded from being part of that LGA.
“The first military Governor of Anambra State, Navy Captain Joe O Abulu’ on assumption of office set a panel of inquiry into the complain of Akpu community and on the basis of the recommendations of the panel headed by the then State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, wrote to the Vice President in November 1991 on the exclusion of Akpu community from the then newly created Orumba North LGA, endorsing the recommendation of the panel that Akpu community be included in Orumba North.
“The first civilian Governor of Anambra State, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife, also set a panel to investigate the complain of Akpu community, by appointing on April 28th 1992 a committee headed by His Royal Highness, late Igwe P.C.Ezenwa, Eze Okpoko 1 of Oba, to investigate the complain of Akpu community and the committee came up with a recommendation that Akpu and Ajalli are two communities that are juxtaposed and cannot be delineated to show a clear boundary.
“Igwe Ezenwa’s committee also disclosed that the Federal government was misinformed about the situation of things in the area when it placed the two interwoven communities of Akpu and Ajalli in separate local government areas created out of the former Orumba LGA.”
“We, therefore, make this passionate appeal to your Excellency, President Ahmed Bola Tinubu on the need for you to revisit the creation of Orumba North LGA and the subsequent removing of Akpu from it and placing it into Orumba South.”
