The Agwa Security Volunteer Assembly (ASVA)has mobilized Agwa youths to carry out remedial road works on Ubah-Agwa- Ejemekwuru Road on Saturday, January,11,2025.
The exercise which was done in a bid to make the road motorable and cushion the effects of armed bandits- attacks, killing, kidnapping, and raping of Agwa people and other commuters on the road due to its deplorable state began at 8 am with a paleloader- caterpillar clearing the two sides of the road for easy accessibility, acceleration, and better views.
During the road work, youths of Agwa, the youth leaders, and President-Generals come out to support the work.
Speaking with journalists during the exercise, the convener of the Agwa Security Volunteer Assembly (ASVA), Hon. Kingsley Obinna Jumbo, thanked the youths for demonstrating oneness and courage at work.
He spoke eloquently about the support of Agwa Central Union (ACU), led by Barr. Benson Akunya, for all their strides in fully restoring peace in Agwa and another social advancement that the union has achieved for Agwa within a short period of time, irrespective of the crisis.
The immediate past Agwa Development Centre Coordinator warmly thanked Hon. Oscar Chima Ukemezie for footing the bill for the paleloader machine that did the job, as the President, the youth leaders, and other well-meaning Agwa people supported the exercise in one way or another.
“I want to thank the Agwa youth who are here this morning to do this job. What is happening today is a follow-up program by these volunteers after two previous meetings held at the City Chef Hotel, Owerri, and at the country home of Hon. Ukemezie in Irete on the 6th and 10th of January 2025, respectively”, he stated.
Also, to show how determined the people of Agwa are, according to him, in their intention, they decided to mobilize the youths for the job, adding that all thanks go to the Ochiagha 1 of Agwa for funding the project.
Reacting to a question from an Inside Agwa reporter, who asked what inspired ASVA to embark on the project, the convener said, first of all, we are propelled to do this because of the myriads of attacks by bandits on the road, which so many of Ndi-Agwa have fallen victim to.
Secondly, you heard my earlier appreciation of ACU, the highest social-cultural body administering the affairs of Agwa. You knew that Agwa was engulfed in a deadly communal crisis that destroyed lives and properties. This experience introduced bad elements into her social dictionary and the proliferation of guns, but” we thank God that ACU and other concerned groups like the Agwa Diaspora Forum and spirited individuals weighed in on the crisis and were able to moderate it to this level where we can talk of going back to our ancestral homes”.
In all these, he maintained that the Agwa youths who are close to home, thought it noble to support the efforts of ACU in combating the bandits and protecting the road, as witnessed in their subsequent action.
Hon. Oscar Chima Ukemezie, a former aspirant for the Oguta LGA Executive Chairmanship position and the Chairman of Niger Delta Youth Oguta- South, who also spoke to an Inside Agwa reporter, stated that the major reason ASVA mobilized for the job is to consolidate the efforts of ACU, to correct the impression that it is because of insecurity that it is the Imo State Government not to construct the road, and importantly make it passable so that those bandits who are catching in on the bad nature of the road and hidden beside the road overgrown by bushes will not have the boldness to do it again knowing that someone can see somebody afar off and sideways.
“Rumours are making rounds that the state government is not doing the road because of insecurity; while we know where that notion belongs, our collective efforts today are a laudable motivation and invitation for the government to know the truth in all these rumors.
“I have it in good authority that Ubah-Agwa- Ejemekwuru Road has been awarded to a certain contractor. So, we are appealing to the state government, ably led by the prudent watch of Gov. Hope Uzodimma, to prevail on the contractor to begin work on the road before the rainy season,” he said.
Ochiagha 1 of Agwa noted that the people of the clan had suffered badly on this road due to the bad nature of bandit attacks and kidnapping, which, in many cases, resulted in death and millions of Naira paid for the ransom.
Hon. Marvellous Egbulem, the Government Liaison Officer representing Obudi/Aro Ward, lamented how Agwa people have been subjected to incessant attacks by bandits because of bad roads.
He, however, appealed to the Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, to come to the people’s rescue.
Comr. Engr. Mike Akalador, the Chairman of the Christian and Muslim Youths’ Association of Imo State, equally lent his voice to the ongoing discourse.
He maintained that the government is capable of undertaking any project that it wants to do because of the abundance of resources at its disposal.
Akalador vehemently refuted the insinuation that it was because of insecurity that lingered through the construction of the road.”I want to quote one of the former military heads of state, Major General Sani Abacha, who said that any insecurity that lasted more than 24 hours that the government was aware of it”.
Akalador also thanked Agwa youth for coming en masse to do the job, as well as all the other leaders for their support.
The President-General of Obudi Agwa, Chief Vitalis Ekeh, contributing to the commentaries, noted that Agwa is a peaceful, loving clan from creation.
The regrettable crisis has come and gone, and the youths of Agwa, who were encouraged by the commendable efforts of ACU in bringing development to Agwa and ending this crisis, are doing this maintenance. “As you can see, we have been here since 8 am doing the job without food or water.
” We are driven by the passion of serving our people and making sure that the bandits’ attacks on this road are stopped.
President-Generals of the Autonomous Communities and their youth leaders were there in solidarity, as they urged the Governor to start proper construction on the road as soon as possible.
Comr. Laz Abiaziem, the youth leader of Mgbala Agwa Autonomous Community, also said that bandits’ attacks on the Ubah-Agwa- Ejemekwuru road are getting out of hand and need concerted measures to be taken to its end.
He regretted that the crisis lasted for two years and remarked that the youth of Agwa have risen to the occasion to clamp down on anyone who wants to create such a holocaust again in Agwa.
Furthermore, the President-General of Ubah Agwa Autonomous Community, Zimero Uzoma, stated that henceforth, Agwa youths would not allow any unscrupulous elements who mean nothing to the clan to rob them of their collective goodwill.
He lamented that the years of insecurity portrayed the clan in bad lights before the outside world, which is contrary to what Agwa used to be in the past, as peace-loving people.
Recall that the 13.9-kilometer Ubah-Agwa- Ejemekwuru road has been under the attacks of bandits suspected to be in collaboration with the locals in recent times due to the messy state of the road.
It has been a death trap for the inhabitants instead of recording over four attacks, including kidnappings and rapes, the road, which is a gateway to other states like Rivers and Delta States is begging for the attention of the government to fix it to ameliorate the plights of commuters who ply the road for their daily economic activities.
Locally, it is the major entrance to the Agwa clan, one of the oil-producing clans in Imo State and Nigeria, with Sterling Global Resources drilling oil in commercial quantities for over a decade.
Agwa, a clan with six giant autonomous communities, is also landlord to Ada Palm Limited and has three INEC wards; the largest and most populated clan in Oguta and one of the most populated clans in Imo State.
In addition to this, the Agwa clan contributes 40% of the food production in Imo and is popularly regarded as the “Food Basket of Imo State,” yet it is very shocking to see that the clan suffers such untold bad infrastructural experiences.
