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There is mounting tension at Igbariam Farm Settlement in Anambra East local government area of the state following attacks on the Anglican and Catholic churches in the area by youths of the community.
Venerable Obiora Igbokwe of the Christ Anglican Church, Igbariam, who narrated the incident, said he was lucky to have escaped being lynched by the youths.
He said the attackers claimed that they were there to harvest palm fruits in the massive settlement established by the defunct Eastern Nigerian government of the late Dr. Michael Okpara.
Igbokwe said that during the attack, which took place at the weekend, he lost one 3kv generator, 30 pieces of 16mm rods,15 goats ,sheep and rams, mobile phones and their chargers, some aluminium frames and clothes.
According to him, the attackers also attempted to remove the church’s water pump machine, but found it difficult as the rope holding the sumo cut off, thus making the sumo to sink inside the borehole.
The clergyman said: “Around 7:30am on March 11, I was in the church compound when I saw a group of Igbariam youths with motorcycles and a white car stopped at the church entrance. They were about 25 in number with weapons.
“I sensed danger and quickly ran inside the parsonage with my son and we closed all the entrance doors.
“The youths started chanting war songs with musical instruments. They came directly to the parsonage and started breaking the glass windows. I narrowly escaped being killed or maimed.
“They broke the glasses of the room where I took cover and removed the burglary proof. I hid under the bed so they would not see me. They moved to the water pump installations and destroyed it, with two tanks damaged.
“They went to ACM worship center/car port and destroyed it. They also went to our Christ Foundation School block with six class rooms which was at roofing stage and pulled the blocks to ground level. 99.9 % of the money used to construct the school block came from outsiders. It was by mercy of God that I and my family were saved.”
Going down memory lane, the cleric said the problem began early last year when a group of Igbariam youths came and pulled down the fence, adding that the same day, they went to the Holy Trinity Catholic Church and beat up the people working on the church project and stopped their work.
“I called the late President General of Igbariam, Dr Chris Oforkansi and he promised that he would visit the church when he returned to Igbariam.
“After visiting Christ Church and Holy Trinity Catholic Church, he set up an enquiry committee to look into how the two churches came to be established there. The claim of the youths was that the two churches took Igbariam land,” he said.
He said that following the allegation, a panel of inquiry was set up, adding that the Anglican Bishop Diocese of Niger West, Rt Rev Johnson Ekwe and the Catholic Bishop Diocese of Aguleri, Most Rev Dennis Isiuzor, as we as Priests and Chancellors of the two churches, also testified.
“The two churches were told to bring their Certificate of Occupancy, which we did. The matter was resolved amicably with the town union and the committee.
“But since new Town Union government started in January 2026, Igbariam youths have frequently been trooping into the church compound.
“They would pass the parsonage and go directly to the back of the church, pack their motorcycles and go round looking for palm fruits to cut.
“I have appealed to them severally that the compound is a Church and they would always tell me that they are Igbariam people and that it is their fathers’ property,” the cleric said.
Anambra youths attack two churches in Igbariam farm settlement, claim ownership
