Youths protest FUTO’s alleged encroachment on host communities’ land

The host communities of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) Tuesday embarked on a protest against the alleged encroachment on their land by the institution.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that youths from the six host communities trooped to the ever busy Port Harcourt Road, Owerri, displaying placards with different inscriptions.

They also chanted songs to express their displeasure over the development.
Some of the inscriptions on the placards read: “Stop the encroachment”, “It is not a crime to allow a university in our land”, “Enough is enough” and “We will not keep quiet again”.
The youths, who turned out in their hundreds, hail from Ihiagwa, Obinze, Dindi Ihiagwa, Avu, Mboke and Umuanunu communities.

Addressing newsmen, their spokesman, Mr Clarkson Ekeopara, alleged that the university did not pay compensation to the land owners before taking their land.
“The management of FUTO has continuously encroached on over 1,000 hectares of our land that is under excision.
“We are crying over the land because that is where our future generations will settle since we no longer have land.
“The reason for this protest is for the management of FUTO to stop further encroachment on our ancestral land forthwith,” Ekeopara said.

The protesters called for the immediate intervention of the state government to end the alleged encroachment.
“We know that Gov. Hope Uzodimma is a quiet but intelligent man.
“So, we call on him through this medium to intervene in this matter for us to have our land back for our upcoming generations,” Ekeopara further said.

In a reaction, the Spokesperson for the university, Mrs Uche Nwelue, said that the issue “has been overflogged”.
Nwelue urged the youths to exercise restraint, saying that the university authorities were already dialoguing with the leaderships of the host communities to resolve the disagreement. (NAN)
VIN/USO