A storm is brewing in the Umuire community of Orlu LGA, Imo State, as residents accuse the state government of secretly allocating their ancestral land to Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Orlu Diocese.
The land, initially taken from them for the establishment of an Imo State Polytechnic campus, is now allegedly in the possession of the church an act the community decries as a betrayal.
In a statement made available to newsmen, Umuire Progressive Union (UPU), led by Chairman Pastor Paul Duruokpo and Secretary Asuzu Osita, expressed outrage over what they described as a violation of trust. The community lamented that the land, once promised for educational development, had been transferred to the church without their knowledge or consent.
Parts of the statement read: “We were informed that the premises of Imo State Polytechnic Orlu campus, which the state government took from us without any compensation for the purpose of public interest, has now been handed overnight to Holy Trinity Catholic Church Orlu without our consent. This was done in secret, and we only became aware of it thanks to a video circulating online that exposed the whole process.”
The community’s representatives firmly denied any past agreement with the Catholic Church or the Irish missionaries regarding the land.
“It is disheartening and unlawful for the church to lay any claim to the said land without our consent or any formal agreement with us. We hereby pray the State Government to return our land to us since it is no longer being used in the public interest.”
In response, the Catholic Diocese of Orlu dismissed the allegations as “misleading and mischievous.” The Diocese’s spokesperson, Sir Jude Ayanugo, stated that the church had no plans to convert the Polytechnic campus into a pastoral centre.
According to Ayanugo, the land in question was donated to the Catholic mission by the Orlu community in 1947 for educational purposes an assertion the Umuire community has strongly refuted.
As tensions rise, the battle over this contested land is far from over, with the Umuire community standing firm in their demand for justice.