It has been a bad day for commuters and Port Harcourt residents as indigenes of Koko Ama community along Eastern Bypass road in Port Harcourt barricaded the road, following an alleged forceful acquisition of their land by one Mr. Bola, through the influence of some persons in the state.
The youth leader of Koko Ama, Comrade Basoene Koko and other youths who spoke with our correspondent alleged that Mr. Bola has been using military personnel to intimidate them since 2007 over a parcel of land that belongs to them, saying that the land in dispute had been earmarked for school building and market for the community.
“We have said no, enough is enough. We cannot allow Mr. Bola to come here with his agents to intimidate us and take our land. This land belongs to Koko-Ama and it is an autonomous community’, the youth leader said.
Meanwhile, the paramount ruler of Kok-Ama, chief Darlingon Nwakuo told The Newswriter that Koko-Ama had been in existence since 1929 as a fishing settlement. “That land had been there for years, it is our fishing pond, I don’t know where Bola was in the year 1929 and if you go across the road is the same thing, if not that the road demarcated it. Why not go to another place? It was a difficult task to developing this land during the fishing days. Government should know that the future of our children is at stake. We cannot be selling, selling, selling” chief Nwankuo said.
In another development, the new commissioner of Police in Rivers State, Mr. Musa Kimo has ordered his officers to dismantle road blocks along the East-West road by Rumuekpe Community youths in Emuoha LGA.
We gathered that blocking of the East-West road by Rumuekpe people came as a result of misunderstanding between the communities and the multi-nationals operating in their area.
Some youths who spoke to our reporter alleged that Shell, Agip, ELF and NPR have always ignored their demands on employment, scholarship, community development, among others, and further alleged that the said companies have been using security operatives to intimidate them each time they made such requests. ###
Bennett James
