The Uzo-Uwani Professionals Association (UZPA) has expressed strong opposition to the proposed ranch project by the state government in Nimbo community, Enugu State.
In a statement, UZPA described the project as insensitive, abrasive, and a violation of the psyche of the people of Uzo-Uwani, who are predominantly crop farmers and timber merchants.
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The statement, signed by the UZPA president, Chinedum Odenyi, and the secretary-general, Dan Asogwa, said governor Peter Mbah was treating Uzo-Uwani with levity, disdain, and neglecting the development needs of the area.
The association recalled the massacre of scores of people in Nimbo by armed herdsmen in 2016 and wondered why the government would reward the perpetrators with a ranch in the same community.
It called on the government to immediately halt any further design and attempt to implement the ranch project in any part of Uzo-Uwani, and also urged the government to focus on tackling the insecurity and providing basic amenities for the people.
Odenyi appealed to the government to support the state police proposal by President Bola Tinubu.
He said Uzo-Uwani people would reject the ranch project and would not lend their support to any such design, as it debases their people and invokes the memory of inflicted sadism.
The statement reads in part, “The people of Nimbo, and Uzo-Uwani in general have stoutly risen in unison in opposition to the proposal, reading a more sinister objective in the proposed project and calling on the government to stop any further exploration of the subject around the geographic entity of Uzo-Uwani LGA.
“UZPA, having considered all the reactions on the issue, finds everything wrong with the proposal and calls on the Enugu State government to immediately halt any further design and attempt to implement the proposed ranch project in any part of the Uzo-Uwani local government area.
“The Peter Mbah administration is informed that the Uzo-Uwani people reject the proposal and will not lend their support to any such design.”