ANAMBRA YOUTHS ATTACK TWO CHURCHES IN IGBARIAM FARM SETTLEMENT OVER OWNERSHIP CLAIM
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By: Muftau Fatimo
Tension is rising in Igbariam Farm Settlement, Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State, following attacks by local youths on Anglican and Catholic churches in the community.
Venerable Obiora Igbokwe of the Christ Anglican Church, Igbariam, who narrated the incident, said he was lucky to have escaped being lynched by the youths.
He said the attackers claimed that they were there to harvest palm fruits in the massive settlement established by the defunct Eastern Nigerian government of the late Dr. Michael Okpara.
Igbokwe said that during the weekend attack, he lost a 3kV generator, 30 pieces of 16mm rods, 15 goats, sheep and rams, mobile phones and chargers, as well as aluminium frames and clothing.
He added that the attackers also attempted to steal the church’s water pump, but were unsuccessful after the rope holding the pump snapped, causing it to fall into the borehole.
The clergyman said: “Around 7:30am on March 11, I was in the church compound when I saw a group of Igbariam youths with motorcycles and a white car stopped at the church entrance. They were about 25 in number with weapons.
“I sensed danger and quickly ran inside the parsonage with my son and we closed all the entrance doors.
“The youths started chanting war songs with musical instruments. They came directly to the parsonage and started breaking the glass windows. I narrowly escaped being killed or maimed.
“They broke the glasses of the room where I took cover and removed the burglary proof. I hid under the bed so they would not see me. They moved to the water pump installations and destroyed it, with two tanks damaged.
“They went to ACM worship center/car port and destroyed it. They also went to our Christ Foundation School block with six class rooms which was at roofing stage and pulled the blocks to ground level. 99.9 % of the money used to construct the school block came from outsiders. It was by mercy of God that I and my family were saved.”
Going down memory lane, the cleric said the problem began early last year when a group of Igbariam youths came and pulled down the fence, adding that the same day, they went to the Holy Trinity Catholic Church and beat up the people working on the church project and stopped their work.
“I called the late President General of Igbariam, Dr Chris Oforkansi and he promised that he would visit the church when he returned to Igbariam.
“After visiting Christ Church and Holy Trinity Catholic Church, he set up an enquiry committee to look into how the two churches came to be established there. The claim of the youths was that the two churches took Igbariam land,” he said.
He said that following the allegation, a panel of inquiry was set up, adding that the Anglican Bishop Diocese of Niger West, Rt Rev Johnson Ekwe and the Catholic Bishop Diocese of Aguleri, Most Rev Dennis Isiuzor, as we as Priests and Chancellors of the two churches, also testified.
“The two churches were instructed to present their Certificate of Occupancy, which we complied with, and the matter was peacefully resolved with the town union and committee.
“However, since the new Town Union administration began in January 2026, youths from Igbariam have been frequently entering the church compound.
“They pass the parsonage and proceed to the rear of the church, park their motorcycles, and move around searching for palm fruits to harvest.
“I have repeatedly appealed to them, explaining that the premises is a church, but they insist they are indigenes of Igbariam and that the land belongs to their ancestors,” the cleric said.
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