Stay away from Igbo land with Ruga project – Diaspora group of south east extraction to FG

Group operating under the aegis of Ambassador for Self-Determination based in the United States and American Veterans of Igbo Descent, AVID on Monday told the Nigerian government to stay away from the South Eastern Nigeria with it Ruga policy, saying Igbo people will not accommodate establishment of cattle ranching packaged under Ruga.

In a statement issued by the concerned Igbo groups which was obtained by CAPITAL POST on Monday and signed by Ben Nwankwo and Evans Nwankwo as well as Maxwell Dede of the Rising Sun Group and Rev. Father Augustine Odimegwa respectively, said, the RUGA policy would be resisted anywhere in Igbo land as it is considered as a reversal of colonization and private business which offers no commercial value or benefit to the people.

Advertisements

They accused the Federal of Government of surrepticious plans to take the ancestral land of the Igbo generation and hand over to Fulani subjugators using the agriculture as a decoy.

The statement lamented shortage of land in the Eastern region with over 800 people per square kilometre thereby making the area the most crowded region in Nigeria.

Advertisements

“We are already struggling to find land for farming, housing, and industries we are saying it again, there is no land for RUGA anywhere in Igbo land—not today, not tomorrow, not ever.. So how can anyone expect us to give out land for cows?

“If the government is serious about ranching, let them go to Niger State, which has over 76,000 square kilometres of land—far more than the whole of the Southeast put together.

“We will resist it with everything in us. RUGA is not about peace or development. It is a private business disguised as a government policy. It is a hidden plan to take over our ancestral lands and hand them to Fulani settlers, using agriculture as an excuse”.

Advertisements