Tension gripped Rumuosi community in Obio/Akpor Local Council of Rivers State on Tuesday as indigenes staged a protest over alleged recurring land grabbing by an indigene of the neighbouring Rumuogholu community.

In the early hours, protesters barricaded the Port Harcourt International Airport Road, cutting down trees along the median to obstruct traffic flow. They also set fire to three bulldozers at one of the disputed plots of land.

Kelvin Amaye, Chairman of the Rumuosi Community Development Committee (CDC), accused the alleged land grabber of demolishing buildings worth billions of naira. He appealed to the Rivers State Government to intervene, restore peace, and caution the individual and his associates.

Another indigene, Promise Igwe, alleged complicity of the Inspector General of Police and the Rivers State Commissioner of Police in the matter, while calling for urgent intervention.

He said, “We are here to express our anger over this piece of land that you see here. This is our ancestral land. We have been existing for over 100 years. We have never had any dispute between Rumuosi and Rumuogholu.

“A particular individual came and invaded our land. He connived with the IGP and the Commissioner of Police with thugs to invade our land.

“So today the community has to take the bull by the horn and decide to take their future into their hands to express our anger. We are calling on all the security agencies to come to our aid. Here is not part of Greater Port Harcourt City. This is our ancestral land.”

Normalcy was later restored after operatives of the Police Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) dispersed the protesters. Officers from the Choba Division and CTU also cleared the barricades from the road.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer of Rivers State Police Command, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, said: “The case is in court. The police are not involved in land grabbing. Our primary assignment is to protect life and properties and to ensure there’s no breakdown of law and order.”