SOME concerned indigenes of the Ubulu-Unor community have raised an alarm over the continuous sale of the Ubulu-Unor farmland.
Those who spoke to Ogwashi-Uku Metro revealed that the community farmland has been mortgaged by a few individuals under the guise that their father farmed on the land.
Findings show that most of the quarters in the community have abandoned their ancestral land to a few land grabbers who now own the community land as their personal estate.
Speaking on the development, a community source, who craved anonymity, noted that unless the drifting tide was checked, the community is in for bigger trouble. “There is a big problem confronting our community. Most of the quarters have traded off their farmlands to a few individuals, both from within and outside. The latest is the Agbudu quarters. A few individuals have mortgaged the quarter’s farmland and are luring greedy farmers in the area to sell the land.
“If you question their right to do so, they will tell you their father farmed on the land. The quarter did not, at any material time, partition the farmlands to the various families in the quarter, but this is what is happening. “But the most agonising aspect is that there is virtually no person you can report to. The elders in the quarter who would have stemmed the tide have all compromised because they, too, have joined in the foray.
“The attitude of the people is such that one is forced to wonder if these people are not already besieged by a certain madness. Some of the non-indigenes whom they have sold the farmlands to are even planting palm trees on them, while some are planning to resell to estate developers. “Some members of our quarter have questioned the rationale behind the actions of these people. But nobody appears ready to give a clear answer,” he said.
Another indigene, who also chose not to be named in the print, disclosed to our correspondent that the quarter is already on the part of self-distrust.
“I’m wondering if these people selling the farmlands have plans to go and live on the moon. The truth is that no individual owns farmlands by tradition of our people. It is communally owned. What individuals can lay claim to is the space known as ‘Okpunor’, that is, the foundation of a family’s base.
“This is the area deforested by the family’s ancestor. Not farmland that is communally owned. But the recent development is that people are now laying claim to the area they have farmed. And unless something urgent is done, the community is in for bigger trouble in the near future,” he lamented.
