The Umuana Ndume-Ibeku community in Abia has again dismissed reports alleging moves to cede Government College Umuahia to Amaoba Ime community in Ikwuano LGA.
Community leaders said the online report was deliberately misleading and aimed at distorting long-established historical and legal facts surrounding the ownership of the school’s land.
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They maintained that Government College Umuahia has always been situated on ancestral land belonging exclusively to Umuana Ndume-Ibeku in Umuahia North Local Government Area.
The community described the claim as “malicious, baseless and capable of causing unnecessary tension” among neighbouring communities.
Addressing journalists on Friday, the community chairman, Mr Friday Ohaeri, urged the public to ignore what he termed “false narratives circulated online.”
Ohaeri said the community was compelled to speak out to prevent misinformation from gaining legitimacy through repetition.
He stressed that Umuana Ndume-Ibeku would not “fold its arms while its ancestral heritage is threatened or redefined through false claims.”
According to him, representatives of the Amaoba Ime community allegedly supplied incorrect information during a state boundary committee sitting on land disputes.
The committee, he noted, was
chaired by the Deputy Governor of Abia, Mr Ikechukwu Emetu.
Ohaeri called on the Abia government to remain impartial, transparent and guided strictly by verifiable historical and documentary evidence.
He said Umuana Ndume-Ibeku was fully prepared to submit all documents required to establish its ownership beyond doubt.
The chairman explained that the community’s forefathers donated the land to Rev. Robert Fisher, a British Anglican priest, in 1926.
He said Fisher later founded Government College Umuahia on the land in 1929, with the full consent of Umuana elders.
Ohaeri insisted that “there are clear documents, records and oral histories supporting this uncontested donation.”
He further explained Umuahia’s historical link to the college, noting that Umuana was the first son of Ndume-Ibeku.
He said this lineage explained why Government College carried the Umuahia-Ibeku identity from its inception.
Ohaeri added that ownership of Abia State University campus and the Timber Market land by Umuana had never been disputed.
“It is on record that the boundary between Umuahia North and Ikwuano is the Ohimiri river.
“In our language, the place is called Ogbaododo Umana, meaning land given by our forefathers to Government College,” Ohaeri said.
He stressed that the school’s official name has always been Government College Umuahia-Ibeku.
“There is no historical, cultural or administrative basis linking Government College Umuahia to Ikwuano,” he added.
Ohaeri warned that any attempt to alter the school’s identity or cede its land would meet firm resistance.
Also speaking, Chief Ikechukwu Meregini, Chairman of the GCU Boundary Adjustment Committee, supported the community’s position.
Meregini said he possessed sufficient documents proving Umuana’s ownership of the land hosting the college.
“The land where Government College Umuahia stands belongs to Umuana, and the evidence is overwhelming,” he said.
He challenged anyone disputing the claim to seek legal redress rather than spread misinformation.
“Our great grandfathers gave the land to Fisher, and the records remain clear,” Meregini added.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Government College Umuahia has produced distinguished alumni across literature, politics, arts, military and academia.
Notable alumni include Chinua Achebe, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Ben Enwonwu, Lazarus Ekwueme and Gen. Alex Madiebo. (NAN)
