Anambra community deserted as suspects indicted in land case with widow engage unknown gunmen

Detectives in Anambra state are investigating threats by members of a family in Anambra state to use unknown gunmen and eliminate a widow, her children and elders of their community over a land case before the police at zone 13, Ukpo.

The widow, Madam Modest Chinyere, a lecturer at the Federal University of Agriculture, Ogun state, earlier reported to the police that relations to her late husband invaded her family house and destroyed property worth millions of naira in a bid to forcefully throw her and her children out of their father’s property at Obeagu-Amaokwe, Ugwu, Awgbu in Orumba North Local government Area of the state.

Widow of the patriarch of the family who died in 2007 alleged that relations to her late husband invaded their home after his death and destroyed the property.  She then invited the police to intervene and investigate the threat to her life, criminal trespass, and malicious damage of the estate by members of her husband’s family.

According to the distraught widow, “my late husband, Augustine Agu Ofodile is from Umuokpala Umueze clan, Obeagu Amaokwu, Ugwu Awgbu in Orumba North Local Government Area, Anambra State.

“He died on the 4th of March, 2007. Before his death, he built a storey building containing five bedrooms, four rooms with two toilets and two bathrooms on a small plot of land which his father gave him during his lifetime.

“However, trouble started after my husband died in 2007 and I decided to rehabilitate the house that has become dilapidated and a leaking roof and falling staircase. I started the renovation and reconstruction of the said roof and staircase of the building in November 2021 without any inkling of the humongous damage that was to be done to the said building by some of the aforesaid persons.

“Workers in the compound informed me that when they went to the house to continue work on the 15th of December, 2021, they discovered that the block work that I paid them to construct was demolished, the tap water I connected to the family house was damaged and water flooded the compound.

“I employed a security man to watch over the compound since I was not around when the incident happened and nobody admitted seeing the persons that forcefully entered into the house and carried out such damage.

“Later, I received a report that a lady was abusing the said workers and threatening the workers to remove the tap connected to their house as she claimed that they do not need it again or she would remove it herself but I did not act on this information since the said lady  was said not to have interfered with the work when the workers were still in the building.

“When I travelled home, I was confronted with the damage and destruction done and I reported to all the relevant members of the family including the Chairman of our kindred and they assured that they will look into the mater after inspecting the damages. However, my late husband’s younger brothers were alleged to have been behind the damages and they openly claimed that the building is in their father’s land.

“I was dumbfounded by the action and when I travelled home, some persons forcefully climbed into our compound through the fence.  They uprooted the iron door connected to the parlor but when the security man accosted them, they disappeared.  Few days later, they also went back to the house when the security man stepped out and  broke down the staircase, destroyed the key to our new building, stole two barrow and three shovels, two Samsung television of 55 inches Crystal UHD Curved Series 8 {21kg} Smart TV-Ua55mu7350 which was bought for N459,000 and a generator with Kev 6.5Kva which was bought for N570,000.

“My security man saw them carting away the properties and immediately called to notify everybody. That same day, they went back to look for the security man they felt was stopping them from destroying and carting away things inside the compound but they missed him. They, however, threatened openly to eliminate anybody seen inside the house whenever they come back,” she said.

Explaining further, the widow lamented that every effort made to call the suspects to order failed as they insisted that there will not be any peaceful resolution and that she must leave her late husband’s house as they continued to allege that the building is on their father’s land.

It was learnt that when the police at zone 13, Ukpo in Anambra state commenced investigations, they interrogated all the parties involved in the crisis and even the elders invited for evidence placed curses on any member of the family that will stop the widow from inheriting her husband’s property.

However, few days later after the suspects noticed that the table had turned against them; they started hatching plans to transfer the matter to another police formation. This move, it was gathered, blew open prompting detectives to start fresh investigations over the case with a view to bringing all culprits to book and charging them to court.

The situation, according to the police sources, took another dangerous twist after members of the family who were indicted resorted to threats to use unknown gunmen to eliminate all the members of the family of the widow.  It was learned that twice, gun totting, hooded young men stormed their village in search of the widow, her children and some prominent elders in the community without success.

This ugly development, police sources said, prompted a directive that fresh investigations into the case be commenced without delay with a view to fishing out all those that hired the unknown gunmen that invaded the village and punishing them accordingly.

Meanwhile, the widow and her children including all the elders that testified against the suspects before the police have fled from the community for fear of the unknown gun men.

Efforts to contact the police spokesman in Anambra over the ugly development failed as he didn’t pick his calls.   (Vanguard)