Tension is escalating in Ugwuto Community, Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State, following renewed controversy over ownership of a disputed parcel of land between the community and an investment firm, Enpower Energy Ltd. On Monday, leaders of the community accused the company’s lawyer, Barrister Ricky Agu, of misrepresenting facts about the dispute and misleading the public.
Barrister Agu, who serves as legal counsel to Enpower Energy Ltd, had previously told journalists that a tripartite agreement existed between the Enugu State Government, Enpower Energy Ltd, and Oildata Integrated Construction Company. According to him, the deal, allegedly signed in 2009, empowered the state government to acquire land for public purposes under a private-public partnership designed to attract investment into Enugu State.
However, the Ugwuto community, through its representative, Elder Emmanuel Agu, firmly rejected this claim. Addressing journalists in Enugu, Elder Agu said that the people of Ugwuto never signed any agreement involving their land, insisting that the document Barrister Agu referred to was fictitious. He accused the lawyer of making a sudden “U-turn,” after previously acknowledging that his company had encroached on the land.
“How can the same man who once admitted to trespassing now turn around to deny our claims?” Elder Agu asked. “It is shameful and dishonest. The soil on which he swore is a witness.”
He further alleged that the promise by Enpower Energy Ltd to pay the community five percent equity when operations begin was nothing but “a scam,” stressing that Ugwuto was not a co-owner in the venture. He called on the Enugu State Government to step in urgently to prevent the situation from spiraling into conflict.
According to Elder Agu, the alleged illegal takeover of Ugwuto’s land began in 2019, when representatives of Enpower moved into the area with bulldozers and began destroying crops without any legal authorization. “They claimed the government gave them a certificate of occupancy, but the document they parade does not even include our Hilltop Layout,” he said. The disputed land, he explained, lies between the Toll Gate and the RCC axis along the Enugu–Onitsha Expressway.
He also disclosed that the community’s grievances were already before a court, with the case adjourned to December 19, 2025. Despite this, he said Enpower Energy Ltd continued to encroach on the land “in total disregard for the rule of law.”
Elder Agu lamented that the community had long sacrificed its land for government development projects without receiving any form of compensation. He cited several examples, including the Enugu International Market, water reservoir tanks supplying the state capital, the Ebeano bypass, and even the ancient Igbo pyramids, all situated on Ugwuto land.
“Despite donating these lands for the development of Enugu, our people have not benefited. The twin tanks that supply water to the entire Enugu metropolis stand on our soil, yet we don’t have tap water in our community after more than 40 years,” he lamented.
Efforts to obtain the Enugu State Government’s response proved futile as the Director of Information in the Ministry of Works was unavailable for comment at the time of filing this report.