Igbo groups kick against RUGA project in South-East, warn Soludo, others

South-East stakeholders under the aegis of Concerned Igbo Groups have vowed to resist the implementation of any RUGA project in any part of the South-East.

The groups described the RUGA project as “reverse colonisation”, stressing that it offers no commercial value or benefit to the people of the region.

They also asserted that cattle rearing is a private business.

The statement released on Monday was jointly signed on behalf of the groups by Ben Nwankwo and Evans Nwankwo, Executive Directors of Ambassadors for Self-Determination, USA; Sylvester Onyia, President of American Veterans Of Igbo Descent, AVID; Maxwell Dede of Rising Sun Group and Rev Father Augustine Odimegwa.

Opposing plans by the Federal Government to establish RUGA settlements in the South-East, the groups alleged that the project is a hidden plan to take over their ancestral lands and hand them to Fulani settlers, using agriculture as an excuse.

The groups lamented shortage of land in the South-East, which has over 800 people per square kilometre, making the area the most crowded region in Nigeria.

The Concerned Igbo Groups declared that there is no land for the RUGA project in the South-East.

“We the concerned people of Igbo land have said it before and we are saying it again, there is no land for RUGA anywhere in Igbo land — not today, not tomorrow, not ever.

“We are already struggling to find land for farming, housing, and industries. 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 South-East 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,” the statement said.

The groups further expressed concern over the security implications of the project, particularly with the recent carnage and violence in Benue State which led to the destruction of lives and properties.

Urging the government to exercise caution in how it goes about the project, the groups noted that the Lokpanta cattle market in Abia State has become a hotbed of crime, kidnapping and killings and as such, they would not allow such a problem to spread or continue in the South-East.

The groups in the same vein warned Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, to tread with caution and stop any further negotiations that have to do with RUGA, saying such would amount to exercise in futility.