Two communities in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State Mbulu-Owo and Owo have asked the Nigerian Army to respect a court order and withdraw soldiers from a piece of land they are fighting over.
The land in question shares boundaries with several other communities:On one side: Akpoga-Nike, Nkwubor Nike, and Onuogba Nike in Enugu East,On the other: Amechi Idodo, Oruku, and Ubahu in Nkanu East, as well as Umuhuaji, Nkalagu, and Ama-Azu in Ebonyi State
A judge, Justice C.O. Ajah of the Enugu State High Court, had ruled on May 20, 2025, that the army and the state government must stay away from the land until the case is fully heard. The next court session is set for September 29, 2025.
But despite this ruling, some local people including relatives of Governor Peter Mbah said that the Nigerian Army returned last weekend and began patrolling and surveying the land again. A video now circulating on social media shows armed soldiers in the area.
The two communities, through their secretary Ability Chukwuemeka Mbah, released a statement asking the army to leave, saying that the soldiers’ presence is making residents scared and uneasy.
The dispute between the communities and the army has been going on since 2016. At one point, the state government tried to help settle the issue by inspecting the land. They said the survey markers (beacons) the army claimed existed could not be found and didn’t match any of the army’s documents.
In response, the Nigerian Army claimed it acquired the land back in 1970, but it had since been invaded by unknown people who were planting false beacons to take over the land.
