Umuawulu Community Petitions Anambra Attorney-General Over Land Invaders, Seeks Release of Case File
The people of Umuenu Quarters in Umuawulu Community, Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State, has petitioned the Anambra State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Tobechukwu Nweke, SAN, over what they described as the unending activities of land invaders and land grabbers threatening to dispossess them of their ancestral land, homes and farmlands.
In the petition, the community pleaded for urgent government intervention to forestall what it described as the “persistent harassment” of its ancestral land by land grabbers allegedly from its neighbouring village, Enugwu Quarters, in the same community.
The Umuenu people, as well as the families of those who allegedly died from injuries sustained during attacks by the land grabbers, are pleading with the Attorney-General to release the case file to enable the matter to proceed and justice to be served.
The petition, addressed to the State Attorney-General, was signed on their behalf by their counsel, Hyacinth Moghalu, and delivered to the Attorney-General’s office on July 6, 2026.
A copy was also made available to journalists in Awka on Tuesday, September 11, 2026.
In the petition, the Umuenu people appealed to the State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice to steer clear of the matter and allow the case, with Charge No. A/81C/2024, The State vs. Ifeanyichukwu Nwogbo & 7 Others, which is still pending before High Court No. 1, Awka, to proceed to its logical conclusion.
They also asked the Attorney-General’s office to recall the case file and urged the complainants to state the true facts of the case to enable him to properly appreciate the circumstances and form a proper legal opinion in reviewing the case file.
The petition read in part:
“Re: Recall of the case file by the office of the Honourable Attorney-General upon the complaints of the defendants for review of the case file and the need for the complainants to state the true facts about the case to enable the AG to come to a proper appreciation or form a proper legal opinion in the review of the case file.
“We have been consulted and our services retained by members of Umuenu Community of Umuawulu Town, namely, Mr Daniel Ezeh, Mr Ebenezer Eze and Mr Peter Adibe, all named as complainants in Charge No. A/81C/2024: The State vs. Mr Ifeanyichukwu Nwogbo & Seven Ors., which is currently pending before High Court No. 1, High Court of Anambra State, Awka Judicial Division, Holden at Awka, to write to you this letter. They shall hereinafter be referred to as our clients. We write on their instructions, authority and consent.
“Our clients’ complaints are as follows:
“That the named complainants in Charge No. A/81C/2024, who include Mr Daniel Ezeh, Mr Ebenezer Eze, Mr Peter Adibe and the now-late Mr Humphrey Obi, are all indigenes of Umuenu Community in Umuawulu Town, Awka South LGA of Anambra State.
“That our clients’ Umuenu Community is the owner in possession of the large area of land situated in Umuenu, Umuawulu Town, in Awka South LGA of Anambra State, known as ‘Agu Ofu’ land of Umuenu, Umuawulu.
“That in the year 1928, members of Abo Ani Community of Awgbu Town in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State trespassed into our clients’ ‘Agu Ofu’ land and started to claim same as belonging to them.
“That our clients, the members of Umuenu Community, sued the said members of Abo Ani Community, Awgbu Town, at Mbalinofu Native Court sitting at Awka in Suit No. 65/28. Judgment was delivered in favour of our clients, the members of Umuenu Community, and costs of £2.10 (Two Pounds, Ten Shillings) were awarded in their favour.
“That when judgment was given in favour of our clients’ Umuenu Community, the people of Abo Ani Community, Awgbu, who lost, appealed to the District Officer, who dismissed the appeal and upheld and/or affirmed the judgment of the Mbalinofu Native Court, Awka. A copy of the judgment is hereby attached.
“That sometime in the year 2020, members of Enugwu Village, Umuawulu, from which village all the defendants in Charge No. A/81C/2024 come, invaded our clients’ Agu Ofu land, which our clients had successfully defended against the people of Abo Ani Community, Awgbu, who had failed in their claim, and committed various acts of trespass, which included the forcible seizure of farming implements belonging to our clients, the Umuenu people, and their hired labourers.
“They uprooted the yam seedlings of some of the members of our clients’ Umuenu people.
“That the above lawlessness of the members of Enugwu Village, Umuawulu, was reported to the traditional ruler of Umuawulu, who set up a five-man special committee to resolve the issue of ownership of the Agu Ofu land.
“That the said five-man Special Committee met, heard evidence from both disputants and, at the end, declared the land to belong to our clients’ Umuenu Community. A copy of their verdict is attached.
“That it is this land, which has been variously declared as belonging to our clients’ Umuenu Community, as evidenced in the judgments and verdicts attached, that the same members of Enugwu Village, Umuawulu, led by the 1st to 8th defendants named in Charge No. A/81C/2024 and others at large, invaded and attacked our clients on June 19, 2024.
“Our clients had gone to the said land to farm when they were attacked with dangerous weapons, with the aim of either killing them or seriously inflicting bodily injuries on them.
“That they succeeded in inflicting various degrees of injuries on our clients.
“That following the report made by our clients against the people of Enugwu Village, Umuawulu, and the arrest of the 1st to 8th defendants, the defendants tried everything possible to frustrate the police from charging them to court, but to no avail. They were eventually charged to court.
“That one of the complainants, Mr Humphrey Obi, whom the defendants allegedly attempted to kill by inflicting grievous and serious bodily injuries on him through machete cuts, which injuries form the basis of Count Six, is now dead.
“He died as a result of complications arising from the injuries. Attached is a photograph of the now-late Mr Humphrey Obi showing the deep cut inflicted on him and his treatment in a hospital.
“That the people of Enugwu Village, Umuawulu, having boasted and failed to stop the police from charging the 1st to 8th defendants to court, also boasted that they would use their connections with the Anambra State Government to stop the prosecution of the 1st to 8th defendants.
“That what followed next was that the former Attorney-General, your predecessor in office, called for a recall of the case file and directed that it be forwarded to her office for review. The case file was accordingly forwarded to her office by the then police prosecutor.
“That while the former Attorney-General was reviewing the case file, she was notified that the Umuawulu Progress Union had set up a mediation panel to look into the land dispute between the complainants’ Umuenu Village and the 1st to 8th defendants’ Enugwu Village, Umuawulu, and that she should graciously allow the community to look into the dispute with a view to settling same.
“That pursuant to the above, the former Attorney-General decided to wait for the outcome of the mediation panel before deciding on the next step to take.
“That the said mediation panel, headed by a well-respected legal practitioner, Chief Azubuike Anazor, looked into the dispute, heard the parties and came up with the finding that the land belonged to the complainants’ Umuenu Village and that the Enugwu people, 1st to 8th defendants, should desist from further trespassing on the land.
“A copy of their mediation panel report is hereby attached.
“That with the above report and the refusal of the 1st to 8th defendants’ Enugwu Village to accept the report, the former Attorney-General then approved the continuation of the prosecution of the 1st to 8th defendants and issued her fiat to HNC Ogbalu, Esq., to prosecute on behalf of the State, Charge No. 81CS/2024.
“That your present recall of the case file for review is the second recall of the said file for review.
“It is in respect of all the above that our clients have consulted and retained our services to bring the above true situation of facts to your knowledge, so that you will have the benefit of the full facts to enable you to arrive at a proper conclusion in the legal review now being undertaken by your office. Your consideration will be highly appreciated.”
