By Christy Aboghe
The Ogbeozoma Community in Okpanam, Oshimili North Local Government Area Of Delta State has called on Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori to intervene in the ongoing boundary dispute between it and Issele-Azagba.
The spokesman of the community who is also the Ikejiani I of Okpanam, Chief Felix Okafor and other community leaders made the call during a press conference held at Ogbeozoma Town Hall, yesterday.
He said the long-standing boundary dispute between Okpanam and Issele-Azagba, may escalate with the ongoing demarcation exercise, alleging that it is not going as expected.
Okafor, pointed out that the new point where the boundary demarcation started is outside the area both communities have been contesting.
According to him, the newest survey and pegging carried out as part of the boundary demarcation put the line in a spot that his community does not accept. “The area in question and where they are now pegging, or demarcating the land, falls outside the area, the location, where the two communities are contesting”.
“To avoid crisis, we are calling on the Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, to step in. As a community, we have lost confidence in the ability of the committee to do justice to the dispute”. “For the committee to have moved from the right location down to Sumin Company is what we can’t take”.
Also, Secretary of Ogbeozoma Community, Mr. Godwin Nwalie, appealed to the state government to look into the issue so as not to prompt unrest, as it was their ancestral land. He urged government to come to their rescue and remedy the situation and If need be, constitute another committee to handle the responsibility.
“We cannot accept this as the present demarcation committee is doing the wrong thing, we are begging the governor to intervene”, he said.
On his part, a youth leader in Ogbeozoma Community, Mr. Stephen Ifesindi, questioned the impartiality of the current committee and surveyors, alleging that personal relationships may have influenced the outcome.
“We are not comfortable with the ongoing demarcation exercise because it is full of bias. We know some members of the committee are personal friends to the other party in the land dispute.” He called for GPS-based verification of the true boundary, “Let the committee use the GPS to indicate where the boundary is. Let them not frustrate us. We want the government to come into this issue and remedy the situation.”
