A frontline pressure group and human rights advocate, the Save Enugu Group (SEG), has urged the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian armed forces, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Chief Security Officer of Enugu State, Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah to bring halt the ongoing use of soldiers to harass and intimidate residents of Enugu State by a business man.
The SEG, in a statement issued in Abuja by its National Secretary, Comrade James Ezema, noted that “beyond brazen intimidation of residents, the man identified as Mr. Oke Hyacinth Ayogu and also known as Okechukwu Ayogu, has been using men in military uniforms to dispossess hapless citizens of their properties.”
The Save Enugu Group maintained that “the man in question, who fronts as a businessman in Enugu State as Managing Director of Hymac Real Limited, a real estate development company laid claim to the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) land and property, including other adjoining plots within the neighbourhood.
“We have it on good authority that Mr. Ayogu prides himself as an associate of the Chief of Army Staff, General Abiodun Lagbaja, thereby portraying the military authorities in a bad light among the residents of the state.
“So far, there are allegations that Mr. Ayogu has turned into a flourishing land grabber in the state, dispossessing some communities of their ancestral properties through shoddy means.
“Our preliminary findings indicate that Mr. Oke Hyacinth Ayogu is a Nigerian army deserter and have reportedly claimed the military rank of captain. His last known place of service is the 65 Brigade Sokoto.
“He has been accused of equally claiming to be a military spy on a mission to identify members of the Independent People Of Biafra (IPOB) in the state.
“He has been fingered in several land grabbing cases involving properties belonging to high profile individuals, and organisations, and widows no matter the validity of the land documents.
“In this Save-Our-Souls (SOS) alert to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian armed forces, we plead with Mr. President to order investigation into the circumstances that led to the deployment of soldiers as excorts to a suspected army deserter.
“We equally call on Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, who is the Chief Security Officer of Enugu State to take note and curb the excesses of Mr. Ayogu to avert an imminent breakdown of law and order in some communities as a result of his activities”, the statement concluded.