Two All Progressives Congress’ (APC) chieftains in Enugu state, Messers Maduka Arum, aka, Mama and former chairman of the party, Mr. Adolphus Ude, aka, Jagaban, have stoutly defended the former Senate President, Chief Ken Nnamani for asking peasant farmers to give up their farms to make way for vehicles to park during the proposed burial of his wife, Jane Nnamani.
The burial is billed for June 16th at Amechi, Awkunanaw.
Defending the former Senate President, Arum said that none of the farmers was forced to relinquish his farm land for the burial but that they willingly gave up their farms to be leveled to enable sympathizers and mourners park their vehicles in the community square.
Arum who was the former House of Representatives candidate under the platform of APC for Enugu North/South federal constituency, was reacting to a report in Blueprint Newspaper that the burial would displace farmers, said that the farmers were given compensation.
He explained that the money he gave to some women was just his magnanimity to help some elderly women not for them to relinquish their farms.
According to him, the decision to demolish the farms to make way for more parking space was a collective decision of the grieving family members.
The APC chieftain, who was agitated by the report said that there was no truth in the report because compensation was not paid and the farmers willingly gave up their farms without any coercion.
“People were feeding you with wrong information. Nobody forced the people to give up their farms. They willingly agreed that the place should be used for a parking space during the burial.
“The money I gave to women was just that I wanted to give it to some elderly women. This family is grieving their loss and it is not fair to say that people were being forced,” he said.
On his own part, Mr. A.C Ude, aka, Jagaban, said that the Blueprint report was false and should be retracted.
“It is not true that people were forced to remove their farms. You have to do another story,” Ude said.
Meanwhile, the place has been demolished and it was the Blueprint report and other reports that probably made the entire farms not to be completely wiped out.
An affected farmer whose farms was demolished for the burial told Blueprint that the farmers were given N50,000.00 compensation for their displacement.
“The entire farms would have been demolished. The former intention was to clear the whole farms up to the main road but following media reports, they decided to stop at the INEC office. They however paid those that were affected N50,000.00 each,” the source disclosed.