Irked by the incessant encroachment on its shrine situated along the bank of Nwangene river at Fegge, Onitsha, Anambra State, a dreadful deity, Otumoye, has reportedly vowed not to spare any land grabber that ventures to encroach on its shrine.
Making the vow while sounding the note of warning through its chief priest, Omodi Obiora Nzekwu (Diokpa), the deity recalled that, “some years ago, the then Onitsha Local Gvernment Area, wanted to use a portion of the premises of the deity for a stadium without due consultation to the deity and in anger the deity made a carterpillar and a bull dozer used for the project to plunge into the Nwangene river including some staff and they were not seen or recovered till today”.
“To stop the encroachment we raised some fund, built barriers and renovated the shrine to help protect the shrine premises from land grabbers as we don’t want anybody to die or be deformed by the deity.
So today with the renovation the shrine has worn a new look because for about 50 yeras now there was no protection/renovation of the premises which attracted encroachers without knowing that the wrath of the deity would fall upon them”
“It is opening a new era today for the Otumoye shrine, you can see the dance group/drum beaters and other stakeholders, all dressed in white which means purity. You don’t have sex four days to this event and any women menstrating are forbidden from being in attendance.
The Otumoye deity is not meant only for indigenes of Onitsha, so long you come for your problem to be solved. The deity gives child to the childless and fights for those surpressed.”
“In the past those that encroached on the shrine received severe punishment from the deity . It is fraud for Ministry of land and Survey to issue Certificate of Occupancy, C of O, to people with out compensation to the owners of the land. That is why land grabbers dish out money, no deed of conveyance, C of O, they just use force to grab our land without compensation and that is why the deity fights for us”
“We don’t want to spill blood because there will be repercussions against those who encroach on our land. We fought National Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA, and others but when the NIWA MD, George Muoghalu, came on board he changed the position by recognising the host community as owners of the land and told encroachers to go through the host community.
NIWA has told the state government that Federal Government owns the land along the creek and not state,” he hinted.END
