The Uzo-Uwani Professionals Association (UZPA), a foremost non-political and non-partisan group of Professionals of Uzo-Uwani extraction, has asked the Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, to halt immediately the establishment of the proposed ranch project in any part of Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of the State.
A statement on Sunday jointly issued by Barrister Chinedum Odenyi, President of UZPA and Chief Dan Asogwa, Secretary General of UZPA, said the citing of the proposed ranch project is not only insensitive, but also abrasive to the sensibilities of the people of Nimbo Community, and of Uzo-Uwani in general.
According to the statement, “The psyche of the people of Uzo-Uwani has been violated by the proposal of the Enugu State Government to establish a Fulani herdsmen settlers ranch in Nimbo community of Uzo-Uwani.
“In view of that, and all things considered, the Peter Mbah administration is informed that Uzo-Uwani people reject the proposal and will not lend their support to any such design, as it debases our people and invokes the memory of inflicted sadism.
“We do not also see any serious economic reason for the project. To tackle the insecurity which our people are facing and for which we have consistently pleaded for help, the Mbah administration should be in the forefront of implementing the State Police proposal which President Tinubu is mulling and make haste to secure our forests and homesteads from the evil machinations of marauders and blood merchants.”
The Uzo-Uwani Professionals Association vehemently rejected the citing of the project in the area in spite of the reasons adduced by the State Government and its officials.
“UZPA has watched with increasing alarm, the attempt by the Enugu State Government of Governor Peter Mbah to site the location of a ranch to settle nomadic cattle herders in Nimbo Community of Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area.
“The Association deliberately delayed in releasing any statement in order to have the benefit of a contextual analysis of the perspectives and nuances of all points of views on the issue.
“The government through the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Aka Eze Aka, released a statement clarifying the intention of government, stating that it was part of the plan of government to implement the Prohibition of Open grazing law of Enugu State through the designation of specific areas of grazing, in order to discourage and enforce sanctions against open grazing.
“The State Government also intends to use the ranch project to curb the rising insecurity, including kidnapping, murder and rape being perpetrated by mostly herdsmen in the Local Government.
“Uzo-Uwani happens to be one of the three Local Governments chosen for this initiative, the other two being Isi-Uzo and Oji River Local Governments.
“We have also heard from many other government officials clarifying and justifying the proposal and the suitability of the choice of location. We have also reached out to the Chairman of Uzo-Uwani LGA, Hon. Chukwudi Nnadozie, who gave us insights into the plans of the government on the programme.
“The people of Nimbo, and Uzo-Uwani in general have stoutly risen in unison in opposition to the proposal, reading a more sinister objective in the proposed project and calling on the government to stop any further exploration of the subject around the geographic entity of Uzo-Uwani LGA.
“UZPA, having considered all the reactions on the issue, finds everything wrong
with the proposal and calls on the Enugu State Government to immediately halt any further design and attempt to implement the proposed ranch project in any part of Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area.
“The project is not only insensitive, it is abrasive to the sensibilities of the people of Nimbo Community, and of Uzo-Uwani in general.”
The Association further decried what it described as “total lack of community engagement in the concept and design of the project, adding that “the first time anybody from Nimbo heard about the project was a phone call to the President General of the Community by the Chairman of the Local Government, informing him that the Government had decided to site a cattle ranch on the borders of Nimbo with Kogi State, on the banks of the Eshi River, and that State Government surveyors were arriving Nimbo the next day to be shown the area so that they map out 500 hectares as the site of the proposed ranch for immediate commencement.”
The Association further recalled the massacre of Nimbo people by Fulani herdsmen in 2016.
According to the statement, “On April 25, 2016, while the town slept, Nimbo was invaded by herdsmen who massacred the people at will, killing, maiming, burning homesteads and livestock pens.
“When the fire of their bloodthirsty orgy died down, about 50 indigenes and residents of Nimbo lay dead, those who survived had their limbs hacked.
“Today, eight years later, many are still carrying the physical and psychological trauma of that unprovoked sadistic revelry.
“It is astounding that it is lost on the Mbah administration the tragedy of this proposal in the context of the historical grief: that the innocent victims of a murderous invasion, would have their land, their most prized asset, expropriated by the State Government, to settle the perpetrators of the massacre.
“Such an irony; such pain. This is nothing short of rubbing salt into injury. Indeed, UZPA finds it a sign of a larger structural disdain for the people of this Local Government that the State Government even contemplated this project and had the sobriety to suggest that the location shall be Nimbo.”
