Villagers reject new autonomous community, storms Govt House

By Chinedu Adonu

ENUGU—HUNDREDS of Echara community  indigenes in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, yesterday, grounded Enugu Government House, protesting planned creation of a new autonomous community in the area.

Protesters led by the eldest men in the area, pleaded with Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to order the cancellation of plans to  merge them with a distant Nguru community.

While thanking the governor for the initiative to create new communities, they said it would be an aberration to merge them with Nguru.

They observed that the decision of the Enugu State Ministry of Chieftaincy Affairs to merge them with Nguru despite all their opposition would engender crisis in the area.

In a position paper presented to Governor Ugwuanyi and signed by Edoga Ohe Nwa Onah, Edoga Ugwu Oduma Ezema, Edoga Simeon Ozioko, alongside four others, the Echara community described the creation of new autonomous communities in Enugu State “as a magical way of bringing governance to the grassroots and also deserved commendation.”

They, however, lamented what they described as “unhealthy conspiracy and geographically impossible unification of Nguru and Echara into a single autonomous community.

“Recall that we submitted a request dated March 14, 2017 to the Enugu State Government for the grant of an autonomous  status to Echara Nsukka even before Nsukka Town Union made her appeal for more autonomous communities in Nsukka town to His Excellency on April 18, 2017.

“Nkpunano is made up of four large communities— Echara, Umakashi, Isiakpu and Nguru. Echara and Umakashi have a common geographical boundary while Isiakpu and Nguru have a common geographical boundary.”

They stressed that “any attempt to merge Echara and Nguru into an autonomous community is unworkable and geographically impossible.

“We plead that having met stipulated guidelines for creation of an autonomous community, that you use your good office to avert this unprecedented aberration and grant Echara, an  autonomous status.”

Responding, Governor Ugwuanyi urged them to maintain peace, restating his administration’s commitment towards community development.

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